Sidebar / Vertical tabs: Option to Keep Vertical Tabs Visible in Full-Screen Mode

[nation_mangoes]

Summary

Add a setting or flag that allows the vertical tabs sidebar to remain visible while Firefox is in full-screen mode on a Desktop.

Background

Previously, when using Firefox with vertical tabs, entering full-screen mode would keep the vertical tabs and the sidebar visible. This made it possible to switch between tabs without leaving full-screen mode or moving the mouse to the top of the screen to reveal the browser's top bar and sidebar.

With the recent update that hides the vertical tabs sidebar in full-screen mode, accessing tabs has become significantly less convenient.

I really like the idea of being able to go full-screen while keeping the vertical tabs visible. It provides the benefits of full-screen browsing without sacrificing the convenience and accessibility of vertical tabs.

Current Behavior

When Firefox is in full-screen mode, the vertical tabs sidebar is hidden.

To switch tabs, I now have to:

1. Move the mouse to the top of the screen to reveal the browser's top bar and sidebar.
2. Move the mouse over to the side of the screen to access the vertical tabs sidebar.
3. Select the desired tab.

This is particularly inconvenient because the vertical tabs require an additional mouse movement along a very narrow strip along the edge after revealing the browser UI.

Proposed Solution

Provide a setting, preference, or about:config flag that allows users to keep the vertical tabs sidebar persistent and visible while in full-screen mode.

For example:

Keep vertical tabs visible in full-screen mode

When enabled, the vertical tabs sidebar would remain visible while the rest of the browser UI stays hidden.

Benefits

• Allows users to switch tabs directly while remaining in full-screen mode.
• Avoids unnecessary mouse movement to the top of the screen and then to the side for tab selection.
• Gives users control over the full-screen experience rather than enforcing a single behavior.
• Maintains the previous workflow for users who preferred the sidebar remaining visible.

This could simply be an opt-in setting so that users who prefer the current behavior are unaffected.

[the_tea]

I also have the same opinion on this matter,
especially since now when you want to switch tabs on the sidebar, you can't hover the middle of the bar, you have to hover at the very edge and pause to select the tab. But if you have tab groups open, you literally can't switch to the tabs in that group because as soon as the cursor reaches the group, the sidebar hides itself, and you either have to ctrl+tab to switch or exit full-screen.
In short it's very inconvenient to use full screen with the sidebar now and the option to customize it would be great.

[_t_h_u_]

Hello !

Personally, I feel kind of the opposite: for me, the whole point of going full screen is the ability to not see anything but the website your browsing.
On some fancy website (with a lot of css, animation, iframes or moving videos), like presentation websites of big dashboards, I don't want to see a bunch of little icons on the left of my screen.
But I can understand that some people just want to hide the url bar. So yeah, It seems like a very good idea to have a parameter / option / flag, to change this if needed!

On the other hand, on ubuntu, I feel like my firefox has an issue:
When I go fullscreen with `Expand sidebar on hover` checked, everything disappears except for the vertical sidebar. --> Is it the normal behavior? I guess it's not. So.. how can I tell the devs that there is an issue?

If you know how to solve my issue, please tell me.

Thank yall.

[Agentvirtuel]

Bonjour

Take a look at https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1927457
https://www.firefox.com/en-US/firefox/154.0/releasenotes

Firefox release notes https://www.firefox.com/en-US/releases

[nation_mangoes]

Thanks for the links and release notes, but those refer to hiding the vertical tabs and sidebar when entering full-screen mode.

My use case is the exact opposite: I want to keep the vertical tabs/sidebar visible even while in full-screen mode (F11) on Windows and Linux. I prefer browsing with vertical tabs always visible since I have more horizontal space than vertical space.

Could this be a built-in setting or an about:config preference that allows keeping the vertical sidebar accessible even when F11 full-screen is active?

Thanks!

[LuHasNoClue]

Hi,
I would also like to have my sidebar when in fullscreen mode.
I get that most people prefer the tabs being hidden in fullscreen mode,
which is why I would prefer to have it as some flag in about:config.
Hopefully this gets added soon 🙂

[SamratPaul]

A thinner Vertical Tab Sidebar needed (ver 157.0.1).

Settings > appearance > Window density > Compact = Adjust the spacing around window elements like toolbar, tabs, and sidebar. (ver 157.0.1).

I want to see more of the contents of the website I'm looking at, and I don't want a thicker vertical tab sidebar and a thicker title bar.

I'm choosing the "compact" windows density mode in Firefox, and that really makes my title bar very slim, but the vertical tab sidebar for some reason is not getting thinner at all.

The Firefox's vertical tab sidebar used to be really thin, like that of the Zen browser or Microsoft Edge, or brave browser. But now the vertical tab sidebar of Firefox is as thick as Google Chrome.

Please don't imitate Google Chrome.

The "vertical tab sidebar" of Firefox is very thick even on the "compact" window density mode.

Please try to fix it on the next update.

Thank you.

[harry37]

I agree with this suggestion. Vertical tabs are one of the main reasons I prefer this layout, and hiding the sidebar in full-screen mode makes switching between tabs more inconvenient than it needs to be.

It would be great to have an option to keep the vertical tabs visible while the rest of the browser interface stays hidden. That way, we could switch tabs quickly without moving the mouse to the top and then back to the side of the screen.

An optional setting in Firefox would be the best solution since everyone has different preferences. Users who like the current full-screen behavior could keep it, while those who prefer always-visible vertical tabs could enjoy a smoother browsing experience.