Many software packages include menu bars from which you can access many of their primary options and tools. Yet, most browsers don’t include menu bars. Google Chrome, Opera, and Edge are three of the biggest browsers without menu bars.
It’s surprising more browsers don’t at least include optional menu bar features for users to enable. Firefox is one browser you can enable a menu bar in, but no such feature exists in Chrome, Edge, and Opera. However, you can still add a customizable menu bar to those browsers with the Proper Menubar extension.
How to Add a Menu Bar With the Proper Menubar Extension
Proper Menubar is an extension that adds a menu bar to the top of webpages within the Chrome, UR, Safari, Firefox, Opera, Yandex, and Maxthon browsers. That bar includes File, Edit, View, History, Bookmarks, Window, and Help menus, from which you can select options. You can access most of the standard tab management, bookmark, and page view options for browsing from those menus.
To add that extension to your browser, open the Proper Menubar extension webpage (linked below). Scroll down to the Download Now buttons on that page. Then click a Download Now button to open the store page for your browser, from which you can select to install Proper Menubar.
When you’ve installed the extension, a Proper Menubar welcome message will open in your browser. Click Skip on that message if you prefer not to install an additional Turn Off Lights extension for watching YouTube videos. Then you can close the Proper Menubar tab.
After adding the extension, you’ll see a Proper Menubar button on the browser’s toolbar. However, Chrome users will need to click the Extensions button to select the extension. Clicking the Proper Menubar button will open the extension, as shown directly below.
Proper Menubar is disabled by default. To turn on the extension, click the Propermenu Bar is Off button. Then open some websites in your browser. Now you’ll see a black menu bar at the top of pages, as in the screenshot directly below. Click the menus on that bar to select their browsing options.
You can change the colors of the menu bar with Proper Menubar’s design customization settings. To do so, click the Proper Menubar extension button and select Options. Select the Design tab to view the options shown directly below. Click the Background Color option’s palette to choose a different menu color. Or click the palette box for the Font Color option to choose a different text color.
Would you prefer to have a menu bar that includes shortcuts to Google web apps, such as Docs, Gmail, YouTube, and Slides? If yes, click Basics on the Proper MenuBar tab. Select the Show the Google Product names radio button to active a menu bar with Google shortcut links like the one in the snapshot directly below.
You can also change the menu bar’s position from the Basics tab. Select the Bottom radio button for the Position of the bar option. Then the menu bar will appear at the bottom left of open webpages.
Download: Proper Menubar (Free)
How to Enable Firefox’s Built-in Menu Bar
You don’t need to add a menu bar to Fox with Proper Menubar. Fox has an optional menu bar you can enable via its Customize Firefox tab. This is how you can turn on Fox’s built-in menu bar:
- Click the Open application menu button near the top right corner of Firefox’s window.
- Select the More tools submenu.
- Click Customize toolbar to bring up the tab for customizing Firefox.
- Next, click the Toolbars drop-down menu and select the Menu Bar option.
- Press Done to save the settings.
You’ll see a new menu bar along the top of Firefox’s window. You can access bookmarks, page history, and useful browsing options there. Unlike Proper Menubar, however, there aren’t any customization settings available for Fox’s built-in menu bar.
Revive a Menu Bar in Your Browser
Why menu bars have gone out of fashion in web browsers is a mystery. Some users have missed the classic menu bar from Internet Explorer. Now you can restore an Explorer-style menu bar in Edge, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera with the Proper Menubar extension. That extension provides direct access to all the standard browsing options you’ll need.
