Mozilla’s Firefox web browser supports two display densities by default. These determine the size of the toolbar and the elements that are displayed on it.
The two options are normal and touch. Normal is the default value, unless Firefox is used on a touch display.
Firefox supported a third for a very long time officially. Called compact, it reduced the size of the main toolbar to free up room for the display of websites in the browser.
While the mode is not shown anymore by default to users of the web browser, it is still available, albeit officially as “not supported”.
Still, if you are like me, you prefer your browser’s interface as tidy as possible to give website content more room.
Here is a step-by-step guide to enabling compact mode in the Firefox web browser.
Note: This works only in Firefox for the desktop. Also, since the feature is not supported officially, there is a theoretical chance that Mozilla is going to remove it at one time. The interface would revert to the default density in that case though.
Enable Compact Mode in Mozilla Firefox
The first step enables the Compact Mode option in the interface, the second sets the interface to the mode.
- Load about:config in the address bar.
- Confirm the warning page to continue.
- Search for browser.compactmode.show.
- Click on the toggle icon to set the value of the preference to true.
- Select Menu > More Tools > Customize Toolbar.
- Locate the “Density” menu at the bottom and click on it to display its options.
- Choose “Compact (not supported)” from the available options.
Firefox changes the density of the toolbar and its elements immediately. The toolbar’s height should be a bit smaller than the height of the normal or touch toolbar.
Note that you may undo the change at any time starting at 5) above and switching to Normal or Touch under 7).
Now You: What is your preferred display mode? Smaller, with more space for websites and content, or larger?
I hope Moz won”t disable it. I always remove that Bookmarks toolbar as well.
But I think you also published that tip on your former Ghacks site if my memory serves me correctly. But I could be wrong…
Helpful–thanks!
I don’t know if versions of Firefox later than 115 (ESR here) have the following pref available as well :
// You can also modify another hidden preference/flag browser.uidensity using about:config page to direct change Density options.
// 0=normal mode, 1=compact mode, 2=touch mode
pref(“browser.uidensity”, 1);
I’ve always used the compact mode as a basis but heavily modified Firefox’s display to finally end up with a layout which is somewhere between compact and normal modes.
IMO :
1- Perhaps no formal rule given subjectivity rules both harmony and easiness of navigation.
2- Maybe nevertheless formal rules which characterize aesthetic, with relations between colors (some wealthy people wear expensive clothes but look like bums given they ignore all what concerns colors which go together or not), between sizes (ratio, think about the “golden number”), the right space (neither squeezed nor dispersed). You may learn these things but fundamentally you feel them or not).
From there on, my feeling is that if there are many talented coders, on the other hand graphic designers very seldom do a nice job. So, personally I fix many Web sites among those I often visit, with dedicated CSSs : visiting a lousy (IMO) Website in terms of eyes’ pleasure hurts me as the sound of chalk on a blackboard 🙂
Contradiction between (1) and (2)? Not really : the former is what I say, the latter what I think, lol.
My Firefox looks nothing like that screenshot. Mine is not fugly.
May I suggest an article about custom css code usage?
Someone over at GitHub had made it easy for everyone.
https://github.com/Aris-t2/CustomCSSforFx
I recently tried the technique you mentioned, hoping it would improve the menu density, especially bookmarks. It only made a very small change. What DID work for me was setting up userChrome.css with this code:
/* Reduce padding and font size in bookmarks menu */
menupopup > menuitem, menupopup > menu {
padding-block: 2px !important;
font-size: 12px !important;
}
@Martin: Compact mode–AFAIK, been doing that; since when,
don’t remember now. Thanks for the reminder, though.
@TelV: “I always remove that Bookmarks toolbar as well.”
+1. What an annoying, unneeded, space-devouring feature.
Best regards to every one: Otoh, for First of May.
Sounds like more than a few of us are on the same page… I’ve been using compact mode, without the bookmarks toolbar, for as long as I can remember.