Brave lacks key UI function: customizable toolbar shortcuts?

[msopek]

I’m currently using LibreWolf/Firefox and I’m very accustomed to my layout. Unfortunately, performance has become an issue, and both browsers feel noticeably slow on my system.

Chromium-based browser (Brave) seems like a strong alternative: it’s significantly faster while still offering solid privacy and security. However, I’m running into a major usability problem. I can’t find any way to customize the UI layout to place bookmarks on the same row as the address bar (instead of in a separate bar beneath it).

This is a dealbreaker for me due to my screen size (13"). Vertical space is limited, and losing an entire row to the bookmarks bar has a real impact on usability.

I’ve tried a “custom button” extension that allows a single bookmark to appear in the toolbar, but it only supports one button, which makes it impractical as a solution.

Is there any workaround, flag, extension, or CSS-based solution that allows multiple bookmarks to be displayed on the same row as the address bar in Brave? Or is this simply not supported by Chromium-based browsers?

[CTRL+T → Bookmark] is a solution, but aligns with a well-known user pattern: people tend to accumulate a large number of open tabs over time. This is precisely the problem that the Firefox/LibreWolf Customize Toolbar functionality helps mitigate. It is, in fact, a core browser feature. By maximizing window space while reducing the number of steps required to navigate to the next website—and by avoiding unintentionall systematic tab creation — it makes web navigation significantly more fluid and manageable.

Additionally, LibreWolf allows the sidebar (with vertical tabs) to remain completely hidden until the sidebar button in the toolbar is clicked. In Brave, however, the sidebar appears to always be present. Clicking the sidebar button only expands or collapses it, rather than fully hiding it.

Is there any way to make the sidebar fully disappear in Brave when not in use, similar to LibreWolf/Firefox?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. I’ve already spent far more time on this than expected, and **the lack of UI flexibility is driving me crazy.

———————————————————————————————————————————–**

**Edit: Screenshots of Broken/non-functioning Brave UI design **
[In response to suggested “Bookmarks sidebar” solution.]

“Mattches” Browser Support:
Bookmarks Sidebar:* The bookmarks option on the sidebar is an easy way to display bookmarks and is also easily hidden. The sidebar itself can be hidden with a customizable keystroke (Ctrl + B) or set to only expand on hover. You can also set a bookmarks panel button to display in the toolbar which will expand it when clicked (brave://settings/appearance --> Customize your toolbar).*

Screenhots: “show sidebar button” (Broken/non-functioning)

[289wk]

@msopek

Windows OS / Linux OS - keyboard combination Control + Shift + B should cause the ‘bookmarks bar’ to show, and hide.

MacOS - keyboard combination Command + Shift + B should cause the ‘bookmarks bar’ to show, and hide.

[msopek]

@289wk Thank you for taking the time to assist. While a keyboard shortcut for showing or hiding the ‘bookmarks bar’ is preferable to navigating via New Tab → Bookmarks, it does not constitute a complete solution.

I am seeking a more seamless browsing experience - one that avoids introducing an additional complexity as a recurring roadblock each time I switch between sites

[289wk]

My first computer, that I trained on in the 1960s, as part of basic training that led to FORTRAN (punch cards, etc.):

‘https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIVAC’

I am from the era when there were flight engineers. Switches.

So, the toggle switch mentioned, is the best that I can do.

You might want to edit the topic area of your Original Post (“OP”) above, in order to change to:

That would help Brave, and you, getting attention for your issue.

And . . . you have got that; good.

[msopek]

I tried Vivaldi browser (Chrome-based). Unfortunately, I hit another hard limitation:

- Bookmarks (or bookmark folders) cannot be added as buttons to the address bar toolbar. That option simply does not exist.

- Vivaldi does allow Web Panel buttons in the toolbar using the same URL as a bookmark, but those buttons only open the site inside the side panel, not directly as a normal tab. There is no setting to change that default behavior.

- You can customize the toolbar with command buttons (mapped to internal actions or keyboard shortcuts). For example, I successfully added buttons to toggle UI elements like show/hide the tab bar. But bookmarks themselves are not exposed as toolbar-capable items.

So even in Vivaldi - which is often cited as the most flexible Chromium browser - it’s still not possible to place multiple bookmarks directly on the same row as the address bar.

At this point, I’m quite surprised that such a basic layout feature is missing across Chrome, Brave, and Vivaldi. Firefox/LibreWolf can do this cleanly, but Chromium-based browsers appear to have a hard architectural limitation here?

It feels so basic, honestly. I mean, Vivaldi lets you customize every toolbar button under the sun… just don’t try bookmarks - they clearly have their “special spot” and nowhere else.

If there is a Chromium-based browser that genuinely supports bookmark buttons in the address bar (not panels, not extensions, not one-off hacks), I’d be very interested to see it.

[Mattches]

@msopek

It is, in fact, a core browser feature.

I think the fact that only a couple browsers offer this option is telling in and of itself. While I apologize for the inconvenience, Brave offers a number of ways to view, organize or display your bookmarks – all of which are solutions to the issues you stated:

@msopek

maximizing window space while reducing the number of steps required to navigate to the next website—and by avoiding unintentionall systematic tab creation

Here are your best options at this time:
Bookmarks Toolbar: While this does take up real estate, you can easily hide it using Ctrl + Shift + B (note that you can also change the specific shortcut key/combo used to do this in brave://settings/system/shortcuts). Alternatively, you can have it set to show only on the NTP and hide itself on all other tabs.

Bookmarks Sidebar: The bookmarks option on the sidebar is an easy way to display bookmarks and is also easily hidden. The sidebar itself can be hidden with a customizable keystroke (Ctrl + B) or set to only expand on hover. You can also set a bookmarks panel button to display in the toolbar which will expand it when clicked (brave://settings/appearance --> Customize your toolbar).

Additionally, you can add specific sites to the sidebar directly as well, allowing you to visit those sites straight from the sidebar, rather than having to view the panel. The sidebar, as stated before, is easily hidden and would prevent taking up any additional screen space if set to auto-hide.

New Tab Page Tiles (favorites): Up to 24 tiles can be displayed per page on the NTP, all of which can be arranged to your liking and allows you to open a new tab and click to view the bookmarked site in the same tab.

[msopek]

Thanks for the detailed suggestions, Mattches. I appreciate the workarounds, but they don’t address the core issue I’m raising.

Brave does not allow multiple bookmarks to be placed on the same row as the address bar, unlike Firefox or LibreWolf. Workarounds such as hiding the bookmarks bar or relying on the sidebar introduce additional clicks and reduce overall usability. This lack of basic toolbar flexibility makes Brave less practical on smaller screens.

I hope the Brave team will consider implementing a more flexible toolbar system that allows bookmarks and other frequently used controls to sit inline with the address bar. The address bar currently claims a significant amount of unusable dead space, and preventing users from leveraging this area for practical purposes constitutes suboptimal spatial design—especially when the only customizable UI options available instead consume even more screen space by default through separate bookmark bars or sidebars that duplicate functionality which should already be available directly adjacent to the address bar.

To be clear, unless there is an actual solution out there, this is intended as a feature request for proper toolbar flexibility, rather than a request for additional workarounds.

[msopek]

@Mattches

Bookmarks Sidebar: The bookmarks option on the sidebar is an easy way to display bookmarks and is also easily hidden. The sidebar itself can be hidden with a customizable keystroke (Ctrl + B) or set to only expand on hover. You can also set a bookmarks panel button to display in the toolbar which will expand it when clicked (brave://settings/appearance --> Customize your toolbar).

**Do you mean the buggy sidebar button that doesn’t work and doesn’t appear in the toolbar whenever the sidebar strictly contains user-created links? -**It only functions or appears if default Brave options like Wallet, Bookmarks, or Leo AI are present in the sidebar.
[Note: I’ve uploaded screenshots in the main post to illustrate this bug.]

Come on… Brave’s UI flexibility is beyond reproach—for all the wrong reasons. Just because people aren’t familiar with good design principles and therefore don’t ask for them doesn’t mean the solutions offered are actually effective.

Brave seems like a fantastic browser—I’d love to switch, especially since Firefox and LibreWolf lag on demanding sites, and privacy/security are extremely important to me. But navigating your interface feels like dragging a block of concrete through molasses. It’s awkward, clunky, and slow, turning an otherwise great browser into a frustratingly heavy experience.

I suggest a survey to see how many of Firefox’s 305 million users actually use the Customize Toolbar.

Historical data shows 30–40 % of users tweak settings or install add-ons, meaning there’s clearly interest in UI customization.

The fact that only a few browsers offer this, yet potentially tens of millions of Firefox users rely on it, is telling in and of itself. Most users don’t realize what they’re missing simply because they’ve never had the option to try.

---

[289wk]

Is there

@msopek

a Chromium-based browser that genuinely supports bookmark buttons in the address bar (not panels, not extensions, not one-off hacks)

?

---

I asked Perplexity.ai, and it found the following issue at Reddit:

Chrome lacks key usability function? Unable to display bookmarks in toolbar??
‘https://old.reddit.com/r/chrome/comments/1qbzlkt/chrome_lacks_key_usability_function_unable_to/’

The lone response at Reddit:

There is no way to change the bookmark bar’s position. It is set to allow the option of auto-hiding the bookmarks when a webpage is opened. The only way you will get to make UI decisions is by coding your own browser around the chromium base.

---

The keyboard combination - already mentioned above, here at the Brave Community - to show / hide the Bookmarks Bar, is the built-in option for Chromium browsers.

-Brave lacks key UI function: customizable toolbar shortcuts? - #2 by 289wk

-Brave lacks key UI function: customizable toolbar shortcuts? - #6 by Mattches

[Mattches]

@msopek

**Do you mean the buggy sidebar button that doesn’t work and doesn’t appear in the toolbar whenever the sidebar strictly contains user-created links? -**It only functions or appears if default Brave options like Wallet, Bookmarks, or Leo AI are present in the sidebar.
[Note: I’ve uploaded screenshots in the main post to illustrate this bug.]

Yep, looks like there’s a bug. Not sure what the hostility is about – was just trying to help, not argue. I’ll look into the bug.

[msopek]

Sorry if my wording came across as hostile — that wasn’t my intention, and I appreciate you taking the time to help.

I had been trying intensely to solve this UI issue, and when I finally tried to adapt to a workaround following your suggestions, the bug appeared, which was the last straw. Please forgive the unprofessional tone.

Thanks again for looking into it.

[Mattches]

All good, water under the bridge.

Looks like it’s specifically the Leo AI icon that causes that bug. It is not likely intentional – if it is then we should certainly change it. Filed an issue for this here along with a recording:

Sidebar does not work when Leo icon is removed

I know this wasn’t the point of you opening this feature request but I do appreciate that we found this bug because of it.

[msopek]

I finally solved the problem by cloning the “Custom Button” extension to create multiple toolbar buttons in a Chromium-based browser.

**

Step-by-Step:
(Chrome / Brave / Chromium Browsers)**

This method is technically correct and fully compatible with Manifest V3.

---

1. Get the Extension Files

1. Install the “Custom Button” extension once.

2. Locate its extension folder or download its source files.

3. Copy the entire folder to a permanent location, for example:

Documents/custom-buttons/

---

2. Create Multiple Copies

1. Duplicate the folder as many times as needed.

2. Name them clearly, for example:

button 1  
button 2  
button 3  
...  
button 15

Each folder will become one independent toolbar button.

---

3. Edit manifest.json in Each Folder

Open manifest.json with → TextEdit in each folder and do the following:

3.1 Change the name fields

Example for button 1:

"name": "Custom Button 1",
"short_name": "Custom Button 1"

Example for button 2:

"name": "Custom Button 2",
"short_name": "Custom Button 2"

…and so on.

3.2 Remove the "key" field entirely

If your manifest contains this line:

"key": "MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEA..."

Delete that line in every copy.

Why this is mandatory:

• "key" locks the extension to a fixed ID

• Copies with the same key get the same ID

• Same ID = only one copy can load

• Removing it lets Chromium generate a unique ID per folder

3.3 Do NOT change anything else

Leave these fields untouched:

• manifest_version

• permissions

• background

• action

• options_ui

• version

---

4. Load Each Copy in the Browser

1. Open:

brave://extensions

(or chrome://extensions)

2. Enable Developer mode (top right).

3. Click Load unpacked.

4. Select one folder at a time:

button 1  
button 2  
button 3  
...
button 15

Repeat until all copies are loaded.

---

Step 5 — Pin the Buttons

1. Click the extensions (puzzle) icon in the toolbar.

2. Pin each “Custom Button” instance.

3. You now have multiple independent toolbar buttons.

---

Technical Facts

• Each folder = one independent extension instance

• Each instance has a unique ID

• Same version number is valid

• No automatic updates

• Fully compatible with Manifest V3

• Works in Brave, Chrome, Edge, Vivaldi

---

Important Maintenance Warning

• These copies will not auto-update from the Chrome Web Store

• If the original extension is updated:

  • bug fixes will not propagate

  • security fixes will not propagate

  • API changes may break functionality

• Browser updates (Chromium/Brave/Chrome) can also break older extension code

Conclusion:
This method is stable, but you are responsible for manually updating all copies if the extension or browser changes in the future.