Hi folks! The updated sidebar and vertical tabs are now rolled out and available to all release users on Firefox 136.
How to enable it
Go to Firefox Settings → General → Browser Layout and check Show sidebar. Then, choose the settings icon in the sidebar to customize which tools appear. You can turn on vertical tabs from sidebar settings or simply right-click on the Firefox toolbar or tab strip and select Turn on Vertical Tabs.
Firefox Settings: Browser layout
Customize sidebar options
Key improvements
✅ Horizontal tab users can now hide and show the sidebar with one click using the sidebar toolbar button.
✅ Sidebar settings have been streamlined, making customization easier.
✅ Close vertical tabs in one click without expanding them. The close button now appears when hovering over a tab favicon.
✅ We’ve removed auto-collapse behavior of vertical tabs, as it proved cumbersome for many folks.
What’s next?
We’re working on more improvements to enhance the sidebar and vertical tabs experience. Some top priorities include:
- Remembering your last opened sidebar panel. When you hide the sidebar and then reopen it, the last opened panel will already be expanded. We hope to ship this as soon as Firefox 137 (April 1).
- More sorting options for history and better keyboard navigation, to match the functionality of the previous sidebar version.
- Expanding vertical tabs on hover for easier navigation.
As usual, we appreciate your patience and continued use as we refine these features and experiment to help us get to a better, more polished experience.
