[Firefox Tip] Remove “What’s New” Gift Icon from Toolbar and Main Menu
If you upgraded to the new version of Mozilla Firefox web browser, you might have immediately noticed the new “Gift” icon added to the main toolbar as shown in following screenshot:
The same “Gift” icon has also been added in form of a new menu called “What’s New” to the main Firefox Menu (also known as Hamburger or 3-lines menu) as shown in following screenshot:
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This new “Gift” icon or “What’s New” menu is actually a new feature introduced with new version of Firefox browser which has been developed to let the users know about new features and changes present in latest version of Firefox installed in their computers.
If you click on the “Gift” or “What’s New” icon or menu, it shows a quick overview of new features part of the new Firefox version.
If you don’t like this extra “Gift” icon and “What’s New” menu, you can get rid of it with the help of this tutorial.
Today in this tutorial, we’ll tell you how to disable or remove the new “Gift” icon from toolbar and “What’s New” option from main menu in Mozilla Firefox web browser.
Check out following steps:
UPDATE: Check out following articles containing new methods to disable or remove “What’s New” gift icon and feature from Firefox:
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[Tip] Get Rid of “What’s New” Gift Icon from Mozilla Firefox Toolbar
New Working Method to Remove “What’s New” Gift Icon from Firefox Toolbar
1. Open Mozilla Firefox and type about:config in the addressbar and press Enter. It’ll show you a warning message, click on “I accept the risk!” button. It’ll open Firefox’s hidden secret advanced configuration page i.e. about:config page.
2. Now type whatsnew in Search filter box and look for following preference in the window:
browser.messaging-system.whatsNewPanel.enabled
The preference value is set to true by default, which means the new “Gift” icon and “What’s New” menu are enabled and displayed in Firefox.
3. To remove the “Gift” icon and “What’s New” menu, double-click on browser.messaging-system.whatsNewPanel.enabled preference and set it to false. Alternatively, you can right-click on the preference and select Toggle option.
That’s it. Restart Firefox browser and now both “Gift” icon and “What’s New” menu will disappear from Firefox toolbar and main menu.
PS: If you decide to restore both “Gift” icon and “What’s New” menu in future, set the value of above mentioned preference to true.
Also Check:
[Tip] Disable Recommended Features Suggestions in Mozilla Firefox
[Tip] Disable Recommended Extensions Suggestions in Mozilla Firefox
Another awful, needless, pointless change.
hi
thanks for tip, but not working here 🙁
^^ Please provide more details. Did you restart Firefox? It might be possible that Firefox process was not terminated properly. Try to restart Firefox using about:restartrequired command:
https://www.askvg.com/tip-how-to-restart-mozilla-firefox-without-losing-tabs/
Thanks for this.
For years Mozilla has been wondering why they are losing so much market to other browsers. This is a good example of them adding things to the browser that no one asked for and no one wants.
Why would anyone want to take up a valuable real estate in that area of the browser with a button that will hardly ever get used and just adds clutter?
I have been using FF since it was Netscape, and they have continually made changes that have driven off most of their users. I’m actually surprised they can still keep this browser going considering the flocks of users who have abandoned them.
This kind of works but not quite. The icon stays away for a little while but then spontaneously reappears…..
Does not work, icon keeps coming back.
Don’t bother, this article is pointless, doesnt work and obviously the writer didnt even try it for himself before writing it.
Thanks a lot. Worked successfully.
Here’s my solution. I tested it for 1 day without seeing “What’s New” button.
Download: custom_css_for_fx_v2.9.5_v3.zip (Classic CSS tweaks for Firefox Quantum v2.9.5)
Link: github.com/Aris-t2/CustomCSSforFx/releases
In this compressed file “custom_css_for_fx_v2.9.5_v3.zip”, search:
/css/buttons/whatnew_button_always_hidden.css
Add this: @import “./css/buttons/whatnew_button_always_hidden.css”;
on the first line of userChrome.css.
Don’t forget to add:
whatnew_button_always_hidden.css
in this directory:
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\[firefox profile directory].default\chrome\css\buttons\whatnew_button_always_hidden.css
Hope it’s a permanent solution for the next Firefox releases.
“What’s New” “Gift” icon is back in Firefox 72.0
Firefox Tip] Remove “What’s New” Gift Icon from Toolbar and Main Menu …does not work in Firefox 72.0 ….for me.
What works for me with version 72.0:
about:config
browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.asrouter.providers.whats-new-panel
Replace in the string: “enabled”:true with “enabled”:false
Thanks. Worked perfectly in version 72. No need to restart browser.
This worked at one time. In the newest version, which I just downloaded (72.0.1), it came back. I did this fix again, and here it is the next day and it’s back again. I just checked “browser.messaging-system.whatsNewPanel.enabled” and it’s set to “false”. Yet I still have that damn icon.
I will never understand why Mozilla likes to make changes to that portion most often used by the end users and not make it simple to remove. I don’t understand why it’s not as simple as right clicking, customize and remove.
What APM posted seems to be working so far.
APM’s advise got rid of the What’s New Icon, it has not been back
Thank God, it’s gone now!