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How to disable auto-bookmarking before I've slected where I want bookmark organized

  • 12 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by rscrouse

Hi. When I decide to Bookmark a page, I click "Bookmark" in my file menu. While spending a few seconds to decide where in my Bookmark folder I want to place the bookmark, Firefox suddenly defaults to save the bookmark at the highest/default level of my bookmark folder. So I then have to open Bookmarks and select "Show All Bookmarks" to then cut and paste the bookmark from the default top level into the organized folder that I want to place it into. This just started happening in the last few days (I can't remember if I updated Firefox versions, but I am at version 47).

How do I disable this behavior so I have more time to navigate through my Bookmark folders? Or, can someone tell me how to avoid this behavior?

Thank you.

Hi. When I decide to Bookmark a page, I click "Bookmark" in my file menu. While spending a few seconds to decide where in my Bookmark folder I want to place the bookmark, Firefox suddenly defaults to save the bookmark at the highest/default level of my bookmark folder. So I then have to open Bookmarks and select "Show All Bookmarks" to then cut and paste the bookmark from the default top level into the organized folder that I want to place it into. This just started happening in the last few days (I can't remember if I updated Firefox versions, but I am at version 47). How do I disable this behavior so I have more time to navigate through my Bookmark folders? Or, can someone tell me how to avoid this behavior? Thank you.

All Replies (12)

Before Firefox 47, there were two different behaviors:

  • click the star icon, no dialog panel appears
  • use the menu or Ctrl+d, persistent dialog panel appears

Now there is one behavior, no matter how you add the bookmark, the dialog panel displays for 3 seconds and then if Firefox doesn't detect that you interacted with it, it closes.

Can you keep the panel persistent by immediately moving the cursor? For example, you could:

  • press the left or right arrow on the keyboard
  • press the Tab key to move the focus from the bookmark name to the recent folders button

Those work for me, but another user said the panel closed anyway. ??

You can always redisplay the dialog panel for the current page by clicking the blue star icon or pressing Ctrl+d, and it should display persistently when you open it yourself.

Thank you for your suggestion. But that doesn't seem to work. My Firefox seems to be behaving the way your referenced user said. That is, I tried several different interactions (moving the cursor, clicking within the bookmark name field, clicking the drop down to navigate to a bookmark folder) and in each case if I paused for a few seconds the bookmark automatically saved to the root level of my bookmark folders and the dialog box closed.

Regards,

Hmm, I don't know what is cause the dialog to close. If you use Ctrl+d to re-open it, will it stay open or does it close again?

Hi. Yes, CTL+d reopens the dialog box. The problem is that once the dialog box closes, Firefox has bookmarked the page at the root-level default bookmark folder location. I then have to edit the bookmarks to move it to the folder I wanted the bookmark to be organized within.

I understand the unwanted result, but I don't know the source of the problem, that is, interacting with the dialog should keep it open until you finish changing the location on the initial save but for some reason it's closing prematurely.

Could you test in Firefox's Safe Mode? In Safe Mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.

If Firefox is not running: Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox.

If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
  • Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

and OK the restart.

Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).

Any improvement?

Are you using Sync to sync the bookmarks?

Hi. In answer to the first question, The problem goes away when in safe mode. In answer to the second question, no I am not using Sync.

Regards.

Rich

You can try to disable hardware acceleration in Firefox.

  • Options/Preferences -> Advanced -> General -> Browsing: "Use hardware acceleration when available"

You need to close and restart Firefox after toggling this setting.

You can check if there is an update for your graphics display driver and check for hardware acceleration related issues.

If it works in Safe Mode and in normal mode with all extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) disabled then try to find which extension is causing the problem by enabling one extension at a time until the problem reappears.

Close and restart Firefox after each change via *"3-bar" menu button -> Exit (Power button)

  • Windows: File -> Exit
  • Mac: Firefox -> Quit Firefox
  • Linux: File -> Quit

Hi. Disabling H/W acceleration and restarting did not fix the problem. And actually even if it is caused by an extension, I prefer to keep the config that I have. So I think the best thing is for me to just drop the issue and accept that the bookmarking behavior is an annoying design point. Maybe Mozilla will realize at some point that this is NOT a desirable feature and will discontinue doing it in a future release.

Thank you very much for your efforts anyway.

Rich

There at least 5 "ways" to save a new Bookmark in Firefox: 1. {Ctrl + D} 2. Right-click and select Bookmark this Page. 3. Bookmarks > Bookmark this Page 4. Using the Star that is on the Navigation toolbar. 5. This one I call "drag'n'drop to save" a bookmark. Left-click hold and drag the website image (Favicon) on the active Tab, then release the mouse button when you get it where you want it

A. into the Sidebar view of Bookmarks {Ctrl + B}
B. or to the Bookmarks button that looks like a Clipboard to the right of the Star (the drop-down will open) and then onto the drop-down listing of your bookmarks and folder of bookmarks (the folders will open if you hover the cursor there)
C. or onto the Bookmarks Toolbar - the new bookmark will be saved when you release the left mouse button


Chances are if you wait for Mozilla "to come to their senses" and change that, you're liable to be unhappy with that change. too!

I have been unhappy with what Mozilla has done to "bookmarks" all the way back in Firefox 3.0 (June 17, 2008) - I continue to do as I have done since I last used IE6.0 in 2002 when Phoenix came about, by accessing and saving new bookmarks via the Bookmarks Sidebar!

Hi Rich, I can appreciate not wanting to experiment with disabling individual extensions, as it often is time-consuming and can be inconclusive if the problem is caused by a unique interaction with settings.

Do you want to post a list of your enabled extensions for potential future reference? You can copy/paste from the table on the troubleshooting information page. It will look a bit messy, but we're used to it. Either

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

The scroll down to Extensions and you can copy/paste the table into a reply.

Hi. In response to "the-edmeister," thank you for the info. I always wonder why design teams would add behaviors that seem so obviously bad. My personal biggest example of this is Microsoft's inclusion of a "Send Email" hot key combination. I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally fired off an email while still typing it. I now make sure I have no addresses in the send field until I'm absolutely ready to send.

To "jscher2000," sure. Below is my extension cut & paste:

Name Version Enabled ID Firebug 2.0.17 true firebug@software.joehewitt.com Firefox Hello 1.3.2 true loop@mozilla.org Font Finder 1.2.1 true fontfinder@bendodson.com Multi-process staged rollout 1.0 true e10srollout@mozilla.org Pocket 1.0.2 true firefox@getpocket.com iSkysoft iMedia Converter Deluxe 5.1.0 false ISVCU@iSkysoft.com Logitech SetPoint 6.5 false {F003DA68-8256-4b37-A6C4-350FA04494DF} McAfee WebAdvisor 5.0.169.0 false {4ED1F68A-5463-4931-9384-8FFF5ED91D92} Nuance PDF Convert 1 false nuance@pdf8