Page opened by Firefox does not fill the screen

Condobloke

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Until i accessed a few settings on this page (https://restoreprivacy.com/firefox-privacy/)
specifically from Firefox About:Config settings, down.....all was well....the duckduckgo page would fill to the sides and top and bottom of the screen (without hiding the panel

I have tried reversing the changes I made with no effect.

I also tried erasing the entire about:config file....no effect

I made a new profile in Firefox, used the same addons....started it in safe mode to disable all add ons....no effect.

I completely removed one add on (Decentraleyes) because I had only added it after reading the before mentioned page.

I only changed one (1) setting in Firefox, and that was to enable https-mode in all windows.

What am I missing ????....this driving me nutty (nuttier)

I also used Timeshift to go back to the 18th May 2021.......no change.

EDIT TO ADD
By Firefox page , I mean opening a search page with my keyboard shortcut (which I have used for years), or by clicking on a link in an email (usually from Linux.org)......or if I click on the Firefox link in the panel which opens four home pages......
IF a page is already open, and I then click on a link or hit the keyboard shortcut, the opening page will be the same size as the already opened page/s

I am running Linux Mint (Cinnamon) 20.1....updated daily.
 
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Have you tried deleting the entire .mozila file from your home directory ?

for example "rm -rf /home/<your username>/.mzoila"
 
Wouldn't a new profile override that ?
 
The button left to the x on the top part of your Firefox window should be to maximize the the window or that doesn't work either?
 
Yes it does, but given the number of pages i open and read and close and on to the next one etc etc etc in a day, I am loath to change my habit.....Plus, I really would like to know what happened, or at the very least get it fixed so that my established habits are not changed.
I will give @tom777's suggestion a try.

It will look like : rm rf//home/brian/.mozilla/firefox
 
You can just rename the directory and then see if you can figure it out later?
1. Close Firefox
2. mv /home/brian/.mozilla/firefox /home/brian/.mozilla/firefox_broken
3. Start Firefox and the directory should be recreated.

You can then always later rename the current way to firefox_working and then the broken one to firefox if you want to try to see if you can figure it out later.
 
*(*%4#2.....it has to be a bloody add on
When I first opened Firefox via a link from Linux.org, it opened beautifully...as it should.....

I then allowed firefox to 'sync'....which put my add ons all back in place.
I then closed firefox....and reopened it from the link
Back to the small page again !!!
Leave it with me...I will manually disable all the addons again...maybe i missed one of them before
 
Did you try this one on about:config
privacy.resistFingerprinting = true

Reverse that to:
privacy.resistFingerprinting = false

See if that fix your issue.
 
FIXED.
@MatsuShimizu .....Thank you so much.
You have preserved my sanity.....well......whats left of it !!

How did you know ??
 
How did you know ??
Because I'd experienced the same a few months ago. I've been following that blog, Restore Privacy since January this year.
I also implemented even more settings here: https://privacytools.io/browsers/#about_config
But, it takes a lot of trial and error to get things right.

If you experience more error, you might need to reverse this one:
privacy.firstparty.isolate: true

reverse that to false. See this comment.

privacy.resistFingerprinting
This setting has something to do with browser fingerprinting, and you can read the details here: https://restoreprivacy.com/browser-fingerprinting/

You don't need to enable that about:config settings if you don't want to. You can use browser extensions like User-Agent Switcher or Trace like being mentioned in the article above and get the same, even more just like privacy.resistFingerprinting.

My favorite extension is Trace, but it will break lots of websites, that I took time to configure everything up.
 
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I must have missed that one when I reversed the changes I had made in about:config

So now I know, changes made in about:config actually survive enabling a new profile, and also deleting the .mozilla file in the home folder.

I just read your post above. I wimped out of reading that page before. I think it was around 2.30am

I have just scanned it now and noticed the extensions for Firefox.

I will reread it tomorrow and maybe implement one/some of them.

Thanks again !
 
Though not the solution Brian was after... F11 is a nice key to remember. Just toggle it to get maximum full screen, and toggle it again to return to previous size. I think this works in all browsers.
 
I was aware of the f11 fix, but as @stan said it was not the solution I was after. It's not that I'm lazy (much), it's more so that I have a lot of stuff to get through, and I really dont need the extra movements/clicks etc etc added to an already busy time.

AS a matter of interest I just added Trace .
I can see why it takes quite a bot of configuration. Tomorrow will have to suffice to crawl my way through it.
Very Impressive.
 
AS a matter of interest I just added Trace.
For start and testing purposes, I would use that on a second browser, other than Firefox. It also available for Brave or other Chromium-based browser. I wouldn't mess up Firefox on Linux/Ubuntu unless I know what I am doing.

Once you figure out how to use Trace properly, only then you can migrate all the settings to Firefox. Yes, there is an option to export the settings via .json file.
 
My favorite extension is Trace, but it will break lots of websites
One of my favorites is NoScript, and it also breaks many websites. It wasn't my intent, but NoScript also helps to mitigate some of the browser fingerprinting categories. That's a plus. :)

I'll look at Trace today... thanks for the tip on that, and also the Restore Privacy blog. The quest for better privacy and security never ends.
 
The resist fingerprinting thing makes your browser window the same size as others using that same setting, making it harder to fingerprint as browser size is recorded by most metrics gathering scripts. Your browser being full screen tells me what size screen you're using - which is one more way to isolate your traffic against the noise of other traffic. (The above presumes I care enough to do so, which I do not.) But, that's what the setting is there for.

It's also why the Tor Browser opens at the same size by default.
 
The resist fingerprinting thing makes your browser window the same size as others using that same setting, making it harder to fingerprint as browser size is recorded by most metrics gathering scripts.
Actually, it did even more. It will spoof my OS type (user agent), making the website think that I am using a different OS. This way, I can hide my device type.

Below is my result before and after enabling that setting. I test it on deviceinfo.me.
Before I enable privacy.resistFingerprinting. This is my real system
before.png


After I enable privacy.resistFingerprinting. This is a spoof (fake) version.
after.png


But you can do the same with Trace extension. This is my result with Trace extension.
I actually use Brave on Linux for this test, but that website, deviceinfo.me thinks that I am using Safari on Windows.
With Trace extension
trace.png
 
Actually, it did even more.

I didn't know it did more - but I was merely remarking about why it was that size. It makes you (theoretically) stand out even less. However, so few people do that, so I suspect it'd actually have the opposite effect. At least I don't know anyone that doesn't have their browser in full screen most of the time. I suppose those people must exist that do.
 


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