also - this happens even if I don't access the url box (as it's the first field) every time I open a new tab. This is the kinda thing that made US Postal workers famous.

Hi Bob, no need to "Go Postal" in this case. Take a look at the following setting (this replaced the megabar setting):

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button accepting the risk.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste URLB and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the browser.urlbar.update1 preference to switch the value from true to false

This does not change in currently open windows, but you'll notice the change in new windows (Ctrl+n) and of course in future sessions.

Update 4/13/2020

This preference to turn off the "Megabar" works in Firefox 75 and probably will work in Firefox 76. Eventually it will go away when the old code is removed. The other way to tame the enlargement problem would be custom style rules in a userChrome.css file. There's more info on that in newer threads from this past week.

Cheers ! That is a huge relief.

See also these bugs:

• Bug 1561531 - (megabar) [meta] Quantumbar design update 1
• Bug 1603163 - [meta] Quantumbar design update 2
• Bug 1603165 - [meta] permanent search button

(please do not comment in bug reports
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/page.cgi?id=etiquette.html)

THANK you!! I hated that thing. It was partially obscuring my bookmarks toolbar, which I use heavily, which was hugely annoying. I wish you wouldn't apply stuff like that without real world testing, or a very visible option built in to turn it off. I am very busy, and having to stop in the middle of my day and research how to fix my primary tool, which has suddenly become less useful, is not cool.

Note that browser.urlbar.update1 prefs will only work temporarily during the development stages of this new design. The main browser.urlbar.update1 pref is already gone in the current Nightly 77.0a1 builds. There is a bug to remove browser.urlbar.openViewOnFocus, so in a few months when Firefox 77 is released a workaround via prefs is likely no longer possible and you need userChrome.css to revert style changes.

• /questions/1283992 How do I disable the enlarged address bar when I focus on it?
• /questions/1284030 Address bar changes?
• https://www.userchrome.org/megabar-styling-firefox-address-bar.html

Are you saying that the development plan is to make it harder for people to remove a style that they don't want and is causing problems ?

Why can't you just drop this whole pop-out address bar thing ? Who is asking for it ? I don't see questions asking "How can I make the url bar pop out and cover half my stuff when I click on it" .

Hi Bob, just to be clear, support forum volunteers do not program Firefox or have special influence. We can offer you information on settings and workarounds, many of which we use ourselves.

To submit suggestions on feature changes, you have many choices, depending on your desired style of interaction.

Discussion Sites/Advocacy

• Mozilla Discourse: https://discourse.mozilla.org/
  • If none of the categories seem to fit, try https://discourse.mozilla.org/c/firefox-development
• Reddit (monitored by Mozilla): https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/
• I saw someone created a Change.org petition but I don't know who sees those

Limited Length Comments

• Feedback site: https://qsurvey.mozilla.com/s3/FirefoxInput/
• Twitter (Mozilla official): https://twitter.com/firefox

Cheers. I sent some feedback.

Hi jscher2000. You'd mentioned in an earlier post that a fix to this, um, poor design choice would probably work for FF 75 and FF76, but would get phased out as old code was replaced. I'm not completely clear on what you were saying, there: are you implying that this design misstep is going to be considered old code and phased out, or that the solution is going to be considered old code and phased out?

It sounds like you're just a forums guy, but you are QUITE the forums guy, and you seem to have insight into what's coming down the line in FF75 and 76, at least. Do you have any sense that the developers are aware that they've created a pretty unpopular feature? This thing is really obnoxious.

Thanks for all that you do in terms of support

Hi catnapster, users of the "Nightly" version of Firefox which is destined to be Firefox 77 reported on Reddit (/r/Firefox) that the "update1" preference no longer exists in recent Nightly releases. That is the basis for the prediction that when Firefox 77 is finalized, the old bar will no longer be an option.

Many aspects of the user interface, including the "pop-out" behavior of the focused address bar (megabar) are built using style rules. Firefox provides a mechanism to inject overriding style rules (userChrome.css), so currently I've used that method on my Firefox to reduce the pop-out from 7 pixels in all directions to 1 pixel. Very subtle. More people may need to adopt this tactic if Firefox doesn't provide built-in controls over this feature.

That is unacceptably complex for the average user. Is there a way to set up a comment where people could up/down vote the feature?

oranji said

That is unacceptably complex for the average user. Is there a way to set up a comment where people could up/down vote the feature?

I think there already are polls and lengthy discussion threads on the subreddit I mentioned earlier.