How to hide Firefox add-ons in the overflow menu

Firefox add-ons can, and often, add an icon to the toolbar. In most cases, when an add-on adds an icon to the toolbar, it does it so when it has menu items that a user will need to access in order to use it. Add-ons that don’t need additional user-interaction won’t add themselves to the toolbar in most cases. That said, if you feel the add-ons are still adding clutter to the browser, you can hide Firefox add-ons in the overflow menu.

Firefox, like Chrome, has an overflow menu. You may not know about it because adding anything to it takes a few clicks. It isn’t like the overflow menu menu that Chrome has.

Firefox add-on overflow menu

Open Firefox and click the hamburger icon at the top right. From the menu that opens, select Customize.

You’ll see the Overflow Menu. Any add-ons that you have on the toolbar can be dragged and dropped on to this menu. In fact, you can also add some of Firefox’s own icons  to the overflow menu if you want to.

Once you’ve added as many add-ons as you need to, click Done and return to the browser. When there are add-ons present in the overflow menu, you see a double-arrow button on the toolbar. Click it, and it will reveal the add-ons you’ve hidden in there. You can click an add-on and access its options.

If you want to remove an add-on from the overflow menu, you will need to go back to the Customize menu. Once you have the Curstomize menu open, drag the add-on that you want to remove from the overflow menu out of it, and drop it on to the toolbar.

The oveflow menu is meant to help reduce clutter but it will add one extra click whenever you want to access an add-on.

The overflow menu has been a feature in Firefox for a long time. Firefox has undergone quite a UI change over the past few versions and this menu was added during the redesign. It’s a bit clunky if you compare it to Chrome overflow menu. The Chrome overflow menu lets you drag & drop extensions to add and remove them. It’s much easier, and takes fewer clicks.

Chrome does have a new overflow menu, or rather a new extension menu that you can enable and it’s a lot like Firefox’s overflow menu for add-ons. It works via a button that you have to click to access extensions, and you have to go through menus to add or remove extensions. Basically, Chrome has a clunky version to match Firefox.