For years Linux users have complained that applications like Firefox don’t quite fit into their desktop environments. While it seems like a minor detail, it’s an irritating one, especially when other operating systems have no such issue with desktop integration.
Recently, with the release of Firefox 60, Mozilla finally added support for Client Side Decoration(CSD) to the Linux version of Firefox. For the first time Firefox fully integrates with GTK-based Linux desktop environments, like GNOME and XFCE. Even better, it’s very easy to enable this long-awaited feature.
Enable CSD in Firefox
In order for this to work, you need to have Firefox 60 or later installed. A lot of distributions have made the move to Firefox 60 already. Ubuntu, Fedora, and Arch are among them, so just update your system before you start if you’re running one of them.
Open Firefox and click on the main menu. When the menu pops up, click on “Customize.”
Firefox will open up the customization tab. There are a lot of options on there, and if you’re not familiar with it, have a look around. Firefox Quantum added a lot of great features. What you need now, though, is at the very bottom-left of the screen. There’s a checkbox labeled “Title Bar.” By default, it’s checked. Uncheck it to enable CSD. As soon as you do, the change will take effect.
There you have it! CSD is enabled in your Firefox install.
Minor Issues
Since CSD is relatively new to Firefox on Linux, there are still some issues. As you can see from the above screenshot, there’s an obnoxious little white triangle at the corners of the window on Ubuntu. You might run into little bugs like that right now.
Interestingly enough, this was also tested out on Debian with XFCE, and the same problem didn’t present. If you are seeing it, try a different theme or just wait for an update to hopefully wipe out this pesky bug.
Subscribe to our newsletter!
Our latest tutorials delivered straight to your inbox
Sign up for all newsletters.
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and European users agree to the data transfer policy. We will not share your data and you can unsubscribe at any time. Subscribe
Nick Congleton
Nick is a freelance tech. journalist, Linux enthusiast, and a long time PC gamer.
Comments (7)