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Once upon a time, right-clicking on whitespace in Firefox (to bring up the context menu) and then pressing the keyboard's b button, was equivalent to pressing the browser's back button.

IMO, this is an incredibly convenient shortcut for minimising wrist movements, and consequently RSI, compared to the alternatives* because the right-click button is usually immediately under a digit of the right hand, and the b button is so close to the index finger of the left hand (assuming home position on a QWERTY keyboard). So, it requires just one click, one key press, and negligible movement.

However, over the last few years, Firefox has changed so that pressing b while that context menu is active instead bookmarks the page. This is not what I want.

How can I disable the new functionality and re-enable the old functionality?

* For anyone interested, the alternatives that I know about are:

  • Alt+left (only two key presses, but much more wrist movement and digit movement required compared to my preferred solution);
  • right-click, then navigate or mouse to the back-arrow button on the context menu, then left-click it or press enter (at least three key presses and much more wrist movement and digit movement required compared to my preferred solution);
  • move mouse to back button, then left-click it (much more wrist movement required compared to my preferred solution, and bad from the standpoint of Fitt's law).
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    This still works as you described for me. I am running version 60.0b10, what are you running? Pressing Backspace is another shortcut to go back. – A.J. Ruckman Apr 07 '18 at 18:30
  • In this particular case, it is 52.7.3 ESR on GNU/Linux. Backspace doesn't act as a "back" key for me: AFAICT, unless I am editing text in a text box or text field, backspace has no effect at all within Firefox. –  Apr 07 '18 at 18:33
  • I would say upgrade to Quantum but I'm guessing you are using ESR for a good reason. You might have to use an extension. – A.J. Ruckman Apr 07 '18 at 18:36
  • @A.J.Ruckman, thanks. do you know of an existing extension that does this? Actually taking the time to write one isn't what I had in mind, but perhaps it will come to that... –  Apr 07 '18 at 18:37
  • Maybe [this](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/keybinder/)? – A.J. Ruckman Apr 07 '18 at 18:41
  • Thanks again, but Keybinder doesn't seem to be able to alter the context menu's keyboard shortcuts. –  Apr 07 '18 at 18:51
  • I'm pretty sure nothing will be able to do that. The best you can do is probably to add another shortcut or get used to Alt Left. – A.J. Ruckman Apr 07 '18 at 18:53
  • I had hoped there might be an option somewhere in `about:config` or similar. Ah well. I'll put this aside for now, and look through [these possibilities](https://duckduckgo.com/html?q=firefox%20edit%20context%20menu) when time allows. –  Apr 07 '18 at 18:59
  • *"Once upon a time, right-clicking on whitespace in Firefox (to bring up the context menu) and then pressing the keyboard's* `B` *button, was equivalent to pressing the browser's back button."* I am running Firefox 59.0.2 on a Windows 10 machine, and that still works. In other words, it seems as though the problem you have encountered is being caused by your particular version of Firefox. Please remember that Firefox 52.x ESR will only be supported until 20 August 2018. After that, the only ESR version of Firefox will be 60.x. – Run5k Apr 07 '18 at 19:35
  • Left-click in whitespace (if something has focus) and press the backspace key is another alternative. – Andrew Morton Apr 07 '18 at 20:07
  • @dsstorefile, *"Set `browser.backspace_action` to `0` to make backspace navigate to the previous page."* Ah, that works, thanks. It's still not as ergonomic as right-click+b, though :) From home position, backspace is a bit of a stretch... –  Apr 07 '18 at 20:40

1 Answers1

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For compatible versions of Firefox (i.e. pre-Quantum), this can be achieved with the Menu Wizard add-on. For one possible way to do it:

  1. Install Menu Wizard.
  2. Restart Firefox.
  3. Right-click on some whitespace.
  4. Click the new "configure this menu" button at the bottom right of the context menu.
  5. Uncheck the "Bookmark this page" item.
  6. Click the wrench icon next to the "context-back" item, and add b as the access key.