Firefox window will not shrink

Question

Since I upgraded to Firefox 31 clicking on the shrink button causes only minimal reduction in window size, while windows open in other programmes reduce to half size. In addition, the task bar disappears. This is more than annoying. Is there a fix?

Answer 1

When you switch between a maximized window and a resizable window, Firefox generally uses the last size. If you resize the current window, then usually Firefox will use that going forward.
If the window hides the Windows Task Bar, however, that can indicate a corrupted settings file. In particular, that file stores information about what toolbars are displayed and how large various windows and dialogs were the last time you displayed them. You can rename the file to return to the default settings. Here's how:
Open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either
* "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
* Help menu > Troubleshooting Information
In the first table on the page, click the "Show Folder" button. Windows should display a list of the files and folders in your Firefox profile folder.
Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Exit, either:
* "3-bar" menu button > "power" button
* File menu > Exit
Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename '''localstore.rdf''' to something like localstore.old
Start Firefox back up again. Are window sizes more normal?