Firefox hides the downloads toolbar button the moment your queue is empty, so the panel looks like it vanished. Nothing was deleted. A setting called Hide Button When Empty pulls the button after every finished download.
The fix takes seconds. Open the Customize Toolbar screen, drag the Downloads button back onto the toolbar, then uncheck Hide Button When Empty. For a permanent change, set browser.download.autohideButton to false in about:config.
In this guide, I have covered:
Contents
Why your Firefox downloads button keeps vanishing
You finish a download, look up at the toolbar, and the 
button is gone. Nothing was deleted. Firefox ships with a preference that removes the downloads button as soon as your queue empties, so the panel looks like it disappeared along with the file.
What you get instead is a small popup in the corner confirming the download. Start another file and the button returns, then vanishes again. That on-off pattern is the tell: the panel is intact, the button is just being hidden.
The switch behind it is Hide Button When Empty, and it lives in the toolbar’s Customize view. Uncheck it and the button stays put. If you can’t find the row there, the same setting exists in about:config as browser.download.autohideButton.
Open your downloads without the toolbar button
Before you change any settings, check that your files are still there. Firefox gives you several ways into the downloads list even when no button is visible on the toolbar.
- Press + (or + on macOS) to open the downloads panel.
- Click the
menu and choose Downloads. - Type about:downloads in the address bar and press .
- Press ++ to open the Library window with the Downloads tab already selected.
If any of those opens your existing list, the panel works and only the toolbar button is missing. The next section puts it back.
Pin the downloads button back to the toolbar
This is the fix most people need, and it takes under a minute. You drag the button back onto the toolbar from Firefox’s Customize screen, then tell Firefox to stop hiding it.
- Right-click the navigation toolbar (or the empty area to the right of the address bar) and choose Customize Toolbar.
- Find the Downloads item in the panel of available buttons.
- Drag it onto the toolbar in the spot where you want it to stay.
- Right-click the Downloads button you just placed on the toolbar.
- From the small pop-up menu, click Hide Button When Empty to remove the check mark.
- Click at the bottom right of the Customize screen.
You’ll know it worked when the button is still on the toolbar after your next download finishes. Open the panel once to confirm your earlier files are listed.
If you don’t see the Hide Button When Empty entry, your Firefox build may word it differently, for example “Show Button Only When Downloading”. The effect is the same: uncheck it to keep the button pinned.
Disable auto-hide permanently with about:config
Sometimes the Customize menu doesn’t expose the toggle, or the button slips away again after you pin it. Then it’s time to set the preference directly. It’s the same switch the menu controls, just at a lower level.
- Type about:config in the address bar and press .
- Click to open the advanced preferences page.
- In the search box at the top, type browser.download.autohideButton.
- Click the button at the right end of the row to switch the value from true to false.
- Close the about:config tab. The change takes effect right away.
The button now stays in place whether or not a download is running. Nothing else about how Firefox saves files changes.
TIP: To double-check, reopen about:config and confirm the preference still reads false. Firefox writes the new value to your profile the moment you click .
What to do if the panel opens but is empty
A visible button with an empty panel is a different problem. Your files are probably still on disk. Firefox has either cleared its history list or lost track of the folder it saves to, so work through these checks in order.
- Open the downloads panel and click Show All Downloads at the bottom to open the full Library view.
- If the Library is empty too, click at the top right to confirm whether items had been hiding behind a filter.
- Open Settings → General → Files & Applications and confirm that Save files to still points to a folder that exists on your drive.
- Try a small test download. If the new file appears in the panel, the list was just stale and the issue is resolved.
If Clear Downloads When Firefox Closes is on in the same General section, your list will appear empty every time you restart Firefox. Turning that off keeps the history of past downloads in the panel.
Try a clean session if the panel still won’t appear
You’ve pinned the button and flipped the preference, and the panel still won’t open. At this point the cause is usually a stale session file or an extension interfering with the toolbar.
Work through these in order, cheapest first. If you’d rather not disturb your current session while you test, open a private window and start a small download there.
- Restart Firefox completely. Closing all windows and reopening clears the in-memory UI state.
- Open the menu, choose Help, then Troubleshoot Mode, and click . Firefox reopens with all extensions and themes disabled.
- If the downloads button reappears in Troubleshoot Mode, an extension is the cause. Re-enable your add-ons one at a time to find the offender.
- If the button is still missing, choose Help → More Troubleshooting Information and click in the upper right. This resets preferences and add-ons while keeping your bookmarks and passwords.
After a refresh, pin the button and disable auto-hide again. puts every preference back to its default, including the one you just changed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my downloads button keep coming back after I pin it?
The toolbar context menu has an option called Hide Button When Empty that is checked by default. Dragging the button onto the toolbar doesn’t turn that off. Uncheck it as well, or set browser.download.autohideButton to false in about:config for a permanent fix.
Is the downloads panel the same as the Library window?
Not quite. The panel is a small pop-up that lists recent files and opens with +. The Library window is a larger full-browser view of the same list, opened with ++ or by clicking Show All Downloads at the bottom of the panel.
Will pinning the button affect my download behavior?
No. The button is just a shortcut. Pinning it doesn’t change where files are saved, whether Firefox asks where to save each download, or how finished files are handled. Those options live in Settings → General → Files & Applications.
Can I move the downloads button somewhere else on the toolbar?
Yes. Right-click the toolbar, choose Customize Toolbar, then drag the Downloads item to any spot. You can also drop it into the overflow menu at the right end of the toolbar if you want to keep the navigation bar minimal.
What happens if I clear the downloads list by accident?
Clearing the list only removes the history view inside Firefox. Your downloaded files stay on disk in the folder set under Settings → General → Files & Applications → Save files to. To find a file you cleared from the panel, open that folder from your file manager.
