Viewing Web Sites in Full Screen Mode

One of the design goals in Firefox is to maximize the amount of space available for viewing Web sites. Still, the other developers and I can do only so much. You always need a menu bar and some toolbars, right?

Well, not necessarily. Full Screen mode allows you to hide all the clutter and use the entire screen to view a Web site. If you're using Windows, even the taskbar at the bottom is hidden in Full Screen mode. Only a thin version of the Navigation Toolbar remains, as shown in Figure 19-6, so you can access common commands or exit Full Screen mode.

Figure 19-6: It's much easier to enjoy this scenic country shot in Full Screen mode.

Full Screen mode is especially useful for viewing slideshows or presentations or playing games within the browser, since it offers much more viewing space and less surrounding clutter.

Tip 

Although Full Screen mode hides the menu bar, keyboard shortcuts still work. For example, you can still open the Bookmarks Sidebar by pressing Ctrl+B. Full Screen mode is not available in Firefox for the Mac.

To enter Full Screen mode, choose View Full Screen or press F11. Firefox stays in Full Screen mode until you exit it, which you can do by clicking the Restore button in the top-right corner or by pressing F11 again.

Warning 

Don't click the X button to exit Full Screen mode, since doing so closes the window as usual.