Menu Reference

This menu reference describes each menu item in the main browser window.

Contents

File

New Window

Opens a new browser window.

New Tab

Opens a new browser tab in the current window.

Open Location...

Points the cursor in the location bar so you can enter a web address.

Open File...

Displays an Open File dialog where you can select a file from your local disks or network. You can view several file types in Firefox, such as HTML/XML files, image files, text files and more.

Close (Window)

Closes the current window, including all opened tabs. In case more than one tab is open, a "Confirm Close" dialog box is displayed if it is enabled in options. This menu item is labelled "Close Window" if more than one browser tab is currently open, otherwise it's labelled "Close".

Close Tab

This menu item is visible only if more than one browser tab is currently open. Closes the current tab and selects the rightmost tab.

Save Page As...

Saves the page you are currently browsing. You have the option to save the whole page (complete with graphics), just the current HTML page, or to save it as plain text.

Send Link...

Opens a email message compose window with your default e-mail client to send the current page as a link to someone.

Page Setup...

Displays a Page Setup dialog where you can specify printing options such as margins, headers/footers and page orientation.

Print Preview

Displays a preview of how the current document will appear on paper. It reflects the options chosen in the Page Setup dialog.

Print...

Displays the Print dialog, where you can specify the target printer, number of printed copies, etc. Press OK to print the page.

Import...

Opens the Import Wizard, which allows you to import options, bookmarks, history, passwords and other data from browsers like Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla or Opera.

Work Offline

Allows you to view Web pages you've previously visited without being connected to the Internet.

Exit/Quit

Closes all opened windows in Firefox, including any active downloads, and exits Firefox completely. Use with caution! In Linux, this menu item is called "Quit" instead of "Exit".

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Edit

Undo

Undo the last action in a web form. If you later decide you didn't want to undo an action, use the Redo command.

Redo

Redo the last Undo command.

Cut

Cuts the selected text from a web form and stores it in the clipboard. Paste the text somewhere else by using the Paste command.

Copy

Copies the selected text to the clipboard. Paste the text somewhere else by using the Paste command.

Paste

Pastes text stored in the clipboard into a text field.

Delete

Deletes the selected text from a web form.

Select All

Selects all text on the page.

Find in This Page...

Displays the Find Toolbar at the bottom of the browser window. Enter the text you wish to find in the toolbar, and as you type Firefox will automatically find and select the first occurrence of the entered text on the page. Click Find Next or Find Previous to find the text at other locations in the page, and click Highlight to highlight all occurrences of the text on the page.

Find Again

Searches for the next occurrence of the text specified when using the Find in This Page command.

Preferences...

Displays the Preferences window, where you can change many preferences in Firefox. This menu item is not visible in Windows because Tools > Options... is used instead.

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View

Toolbars

Navigation Toolbar

Toggles the visibility of the navigation toolbar, which usually contains the standard buttons (Back, Forward, Stop, etc.).

Bookmarks Toolbar

Toggles the visibility of the bookmarks toolbar, which contains bookmarks to various sites.

Customize...

Displays the toolbar customization dialog where you can drag and drop toolbar buttons to/from the toolbars. You can also right-click on the navigation toolbar and select Customize... to show this dialog. (A more detailed description of how to use this dialog, including screenshots, will be added in the future.)

Status Bar

Toggles the visibility of the status bar, located at the bottom of the window. The status bar displays useful information about the page, but may not be needed by everyone.

Sidebar

The sidebar can display your downloads, bookmarks or the browsing history. You can always close the sidebar by clicking on the X in the upper-right corner.

Bookmarks

Displays the Bookmarks sidebar, which keeps your bookmarks visible all the time. Very useful if you use bookmarks often.

History

Displays the History sidebar, which keeps track on which sites you've previously visited. To change how many days a site should be remembered, select Tools > Options... > Privacy.

Stop

Stops loading of the current page you're browsing. Same as clicking on the Stop button on the toolbar.

Reload

To refresh the current page, or get the most up-to-date version, use this command. This is the same as clicking on the Reload button on the toolbar.

Text Size

Lets you control the size of the text displayed in a web page.

Increase

Makes the text larger on the web page. You can also do this with the mouse. A quicker way to increase the text size is to hold Ctrl (Cmd in Mac OS X) and scroll down with your mouse.

Decrease

Makes the text smaller on the web page. You can also do this with the mouse. A quicker way to decrease the text size is to hold Ctrl (Cmd in Mac OS X) and scroll up with your mouse.

Normal

Restores the text size to the default size. A quicker way to restore the text size is to press Ctrl+0 (Cmd+0 in Mac OS X).

Page Style

Lets you control the appearance of the web page. Depending on the web page visited, the alternatives can range from just "Basic Page Style" to several different styles.

Character Encoding

Allows you to manually change the character encoding on a web page. Firefox is usually capable of detecting this automatically.

Page Source

Displays the source code for the current document. Displays the source code for the current web page using the built-in source viewer in Firefox. You can also view the source using your favorite text editor.

Full Screen

Displays the window in full screen. If you have the navigation toolbar hidden, you can always restore the window anyway by pressing F11.

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History

The History menu contains a list of the most recently visited websites.

Back

Navigates back one page in history. Same as clicking on the Back button on the navigation toolbar.

Forward

Navigates forward one page in history. Same as clicking on the Forward button on the navigation toolbar.

Home

Displays your home page. This is the same as clicking on the Home button on the navigation toolbar. To change the home page, select Tools > Options... > Main. There you can specify to use a blank page, the current page (or the current tab group), a bookmark, or simply enter the address manually.

Recently Closed Tabs

Allows you to restore a tab you closed recently in the current window by selecting it from the list.

Show in Sidebar

Displays the History sidebar. This is the same as the View > Sidebar > History command.

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Bookmarks

This menu contains all your stored bookmarks.

Bookmark This Page...

Adds the current page to your bookmarks. A dialog will be displayed, allowing you to choose a title for the bookmark and specify the bookmarks section in which you want it to be stored.

Subscribe to This Page...

Shows a preview of the feed offered by the current site. From the preview page, you can subscribe to the feed using a Live Bookmark, a feed reader on your computer, or a web service. If you have chosen to always subscribe using a Live Bookmark or a feed reader in the Feeds panel of Tools > Options..., the preview page will be skipped.

Bookmark All Tabs...

Adds all the tabs in the current window to a new bookmark folder. A dialog will be displayed, allowing you to choose the name of the folder and specify where you want it to be stored.

Organize Bookmarks...

Displays the Bookmark Manager window where you can modify your bookmarks. You can sort, rename and change the properties of the bookmarks. Bookmarks Manager also allows adding, removing and moving the bookmarks. In other words, Bookmarks Manager gives you full freedom to manage efficient filing of your bookmarks.

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Tools

Web Search

Selects the Search bar where you can search the current page or the Web, using all kinds of search engines. Note that if the Search bar isn't visible on the toolbar, it will take you to the the default search page.

Downloads

Opens the Download Manager, where you can see the current, as well as finished downloads.

Add-ons

Opens the Add-ons manager, where you can view, install, configure, update, and uninstall your extensions and themes.

Error Console

JavaScript is a scripting language commonly used to construct web pages. Programmers use JavaScript to make web pages more interactive; for example, to display forms and buttons. The Error Console is useful to debug javascript code embedded in web pages.

Page Info

The Page Info dialog displays extensive information about the current web page, such as the document type, encoding, size and security information. In addition, lists of the media and links used on the page and form and security information are also available.

Clear Private Data...

Clears the items which are selected in the Clear Private Data dialog in the Privacy panel of Tools > Options.... Displays a confirmation dialog by default.

Options

Displays the Options window, where you can change many options in Firefox. This menu item is only visible in Windows. In Linux/Mac OS X, Edit > Preferences... is used instead.

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Help

Help Contents

Starts the built-in help system, which is partially based on this help site.

For Internet Explorer Users

Users who previously used Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser can read this document to make the transition to Firefox smoother.

Release Notes

Provides information about installing, uninstalling and configuring Firefox, as well as other important information and late-breaking notices. Requires an active Internet connection.

Report Broken Web Site...

Allows you to report web sites that do not work correctly in Firefox to the Firefox developers.

Report Web Forgery...

Allows you to report what you believe are forged or "phishing" sites. Phishing Protection in Firefox is powered by Google, and the information you submit will be sent to Google and used to improve this feature. Your report will be anonymous in accordance with Google's privacy policy. This feature requires an active Internet connection.

Check for Updates...

Displays a dialog which checks for updates to Firefox and asks you whether you want to download updates if any are available. After an update has been downloaded, the dialog asks you to restart Firefox so that the update can be installed. Note that the name of this menu item will change when an update is being downloaded or is ready to be installed.

About Mozilla Firefox

Displays the version number and current user-agent string used in Firefox. Credits with names of various contributers to the Mozilla Firefox project can be viewed by clicking on Credits button.

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© 2002-2006 David Tenser.