Firefox More Tools Menu: Where It Is and What It Contains
The More Tools menu in Firefox is a submenu of the main menu button (the three-line icon in the top-right corner). Click the menu button, then More Tools, to reach Customize toolbar, Task Manager and Firefox's developer entries such as Web Developer Tools and the Browser Console. If you show the classic menu bar, the separate Tools menu next to Help holds the same developer entries under Browser Tools.
This guide explains where both menus live today, what each entry does, the keyboard shortcuts that skip the menus entirely, and what happened to the old More Tools Menu add-on that this page first covered in 2011.
Where is the More Tools menu in Firefox?
Firefox places More Tools inside the application menu, not on the toolbar. To open it:
- Click the menu button (three horizontal lines) at the right end of the toolbar.
- Select More Tools near the bottom of the panel.
- Pick the entry you need from the submenu that slides in.
Mozilla's own help articles use this path for several features, for example "click More Tools, and choose the Customize toolbar option" in its toolbar customization guide. The submenu bundles functions most people use rarely, which keeps the main panel short. Extensions do not add entries here: modern Firefox add-ons appear in the Extensions panel (the jigsaw puzzle icon) and can be pinned to the toolbar from there, according to Mozilla's Extensions button help page.
What is in the Firefox More Tools menu?
The More Tools submenu holds maintenance and developer functions. The entries Mozilla documents are:
| Entry | What it does | Shortcut or alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Customize toolbar | Drag buttons onto or off the toolbar, overflow menu and tab strip; turn toolbars such as the Menu Bar on or off | Right-click an empty toolbar area, then Customize Toolbar |
| Task Manager | Shows memory and CPU use per tab and per extension | Shift + Esc, or about:processes |
| Web Developer Tools | Opens the inspector, console, debugger and network panels for the current page | Ctrl + Shift + I or F12 (Cmd + Opt + I on macOS) |
| Browser Console | Shows messages logged by the browser itself and by add-ons, not only by the page | Ctrl + Shift + J (Cmd + Shift + J on macOS) |
Sources: Mozilla's Task Manager article, the Firefox DevTools user docs and the Browser Console documentation. The exact list can shift between Firefox releases, so check the submenu in your own version for additional developer entries.
How do I show the Firefox Tools menu in the menu bar?
The classic Tools menu belongs to the Firefox menu bar, which is hidden by default on Windows and Linux. You have two options:
- Temporarily: press and hold the Alt key. The menu bar (File, Edit, View, History, Bookmarks, Profiles, Tools, Help) appears until you click elsewhere. If Alt does nothing, Mozilla suggests trying AltGr.
- Permanently: right-click an empty area of the toolbar or tab strip and click Menu Bar. You can also go to menu button > More Tools > Customize toolbar, open the Toolbars dropdown at the bottom, enable Menu Bar and click Done.
Both methods are described in Mozilla's article on the File, Edit and View menus. On macOS the menu bar is always present at the top of the screen, so Tools is always one click away. In the Tools menu, developer entries sit in the Browser Tools submenu.
More Tools menu vs Tools menu: which one should you use?
The More Tools submenu and the Tools menu reach largely the same functions; the difference is layout. More Tools lives in the menu button panel and works with the default, menu-bar-free interface. The Tools menu needs the menu bar but sits permanently visible once enabled, which suits keyboard users who navigate with Alt and access keys.
For anything you open often, skip both menus. Use the shortcuts in the table above, or place the matching button directly on the toolbar via Customize toolbar. If toolbar space is tight, the overflow menu holds buttons you want reachable but not always visible, and Firefox's compact density reclaims a few pixels of vertical space. You can also tidy the tab strip by removing the List all tabs button.
What happened to the More Tools Menu add-on?
More Tools Menu was a 2011 Firefox extension that moved every Tools menu entry added by other add-ons into a new More Tools menu between Tools and Help on the menu bar. It only worked with the classic menu bar visible.
The extension belonged to Firefox's legacy add-on system. Mozilla stated in August 2017 that there should be no expectation of legacy add-on support in Firefox 57 or later, so the add-on no longer runs in current Firefox. Its job has disappeared too: today's WebExtensions place their controls in the Extensions panel rather than in the Tools menu, so add-ons can no longer clutter it. To find modern replacements for old favorites, see our list of the best Firefox add-ons.
FAQ
Why is there no More Tools option in my Firefox menu?
More Tools sits near the bottom of the menu button panel. If the panel is cut off on a small screen, scroll inside it, or use the shortcuts (Shift + Esc for Task Manager, F12 for developer tools) instead.
Can I add a Task Manager button to the Firefox toolbar?
Open menu button > More Tools > Customize toolbar and look for the matching button in the palette; drag it to the toolbar if your Firefox version offers it. Otherwise Shift + Esc opens Task Manager directly.
How do I hide the Firefox menu bar again?
Right-click an empty area of the toolbar or tab strip and uncheck Menu Bar. The Tools menu then stays reachable with a tap of the Alt key, and More Tools remains in the menu button.
Related: how to enable tab groups in Firefox, a detailed look at about:profiles, Firefox command line options
I’d rather they add some easy way to let users install addons that say, “Does not support Firefox x.x”. They can put a big disclaimer/warning/alert to make sure the user knows what they are doing, but with the Firefox rapid release schedule I am tired of having my addons break because of version string issues. One example is the Stylish addon. I am using the Firefox 6 beta in Ubuntu 11.10 alpha and Stylish refuses to install due to the version string. The addon info says it supports Firefox 3.6 – 6.0a2 (key part being “6.0.a2”). That tells me that it should work in later alpha/beta version 6 builds. Firefox really needs to address the issue of how addons determine whether or not they are out-of-date. The browser version is no longer a useful metric for that. I have got back to Avant browser and will back if you fix the addons problem.
Joden, Mozilla has actually made available exactly what you’re asking for in the form of an extension called Add-on Compatibility Reporter.
Also, although I realize you were only using Stylish as an example, version 1.2.1 is out and good to go for Firefox 6.0 stable. It has actually been available for downloading since Aug. 15th via the “View all versions” link (bottom of the page under Version Information). Sometimes Mozilla can be really slow about testing add-on updates so that the “experimental” warning can be removed and its main link can be updated. So I try to remember to glance at an add-on’s “View all versions” page for updates that may have been uploaded to AMO already.
I was able to add the More Tools menu to the FF button using the Edit This Menu control in the FF button dropdown..
It seems to work fine.
And “Edit This Menu…” is probably there because you installed the (awesome!) Personal Menu extension. Am I right? :-) Personally, the default items of the app button are so annoying there’s no way I can deal with the app button without Personal Menu.
@ Martin, I’m loving– and learning from– the Firefox coverage here on Ghacks.
You are right. Thanks for pointing that out. I’ve got a fair number of extensions and I’m not always sure what is doing which.
I’m glad you like it ;)