Firefox automatically hides the close button on tabs when your tab shrinks within a certain width. It sounds like maybe you have edited that setting.

To change it, do the following:

1. Type about:config in your Firefox address bar
2. Bypass the security warning (yes, we'll be careful)
3. Find the browser.tabs.tabClipWidth preference
4. Right-click it and select Reset
5. Restart Firefox

If that doesn't help, try manually setting this option to a specific number. The larger the number, the wider the tab has to be to display the close button. The smaller the number, the skinnier the tab can be before the close button is hidden.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for your reply. As it happened, I did change the width, but I want a fixed width tab and it's more than large enough to accommodate the X to close button. The value is 125.

The issue is that regardless of the minimum width of the tab (which is larger than the default) the tab's X to close button disappears when the tab scrolling arrows appear. I tested this out before I posted, and should have mentioned that. Sorry about that.

It appears to be a default event when the number of tabs exceeds the browser's display area and the tab scrolling buttons appear. I'd be fine if the tab scrolling buttons were visible all the time if it got me the X to close the tab. But I haven't found any add-ons or other tweaks that might do it. I could literally only have one tab (by setting the mintabwidth value to something very high) and have NO visible close tab X. Weird, yes, but there it is.

The solution might be in a userChrome.css code somewhere (I use that for a variety of modifications to the display because I prefer one address bar rather than one inside of each tab, and like it in a more legacy configuration), but apparently what I'm calling or trying to do it isn't something Google recognizes for what I want to do, or no one else in the world of Firefox wants to do what I want to do. I'm not that up on .css coding and rely on the expertise of those who are to help with that kind of thing.

Have you tried using a middle-click on the inactive Tab that you want to close?

Unfortunately, that's not a solution for me.

My mouse doesn't middle-click. Using both buttons at the same time does not "middle-click" either. I have this mouse because it doesn't hurt my hand, and works, and I don't think I should have to buy a new mouse for something that should be fixable by other means.

I should be a bit clearer about why I posted the request. I am fairly proficient in dealing with computer issues. I almost never post in "help" forums unless there is no viable solution available through extensive searching of the Internet. I've spent hours on all of the known solutions that I could find, all to no avail.

So the "simple fix" things should be scratched off the "try this!" list. If it was that simple of a fix, I'd have done it by now.

The ONLY options left that I know about are changing settings - be it through the about:config, another about:x, an add-on or userChrome.css code. I don't see anything in the about:config that would do it, haven't found an add-on that does it, and suspect it's a .css code thing, since it relates to the appearance, function and layout of Firefox.

I have spent several days researching this, and have not found such a solution already out there. It's possible one is, buried somewhere in the millions of results that typically populate a search result, but diminishing returns suggests asking those who are experts at tweaking Firefox would yield better results.

If this fails, my next step is simply learning .css code and doing it myself. I'd prefer to pick someone's brain who knows that stuff better than I do so I can thank them profusely for their expertise.

If there IS a solution out there, a link to it would be equally appreciated.

Thanks for the suggestion, but all the easy fixes have been tried.

I finally found a [[.css code|https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1194322]] that does enough of what I need it to do, combined with a fixed tab width, that allows me to close any tab with one left click (which is essentially what I wanted to do) regardless of how many tabs are open.

I simply copied the code and pasted it into the userChrome.css file I already had for other customization. It makes the X to close button hidden until hover. I can probably modify it to make the X to close button always visible, but I think this is a more elegant solution, since it leaves more of the tab's title visible.

Many thanks to everyone who helped. Firefox rocks that these options are available to better suit the individual's needs and wants.

Well, glad to here that everything is working the way you went it to. you should be able to mark your post as the solution.