With the latest update of Firefox to version 10.0, they included some new developer tools which are similar to what is available via Firebug or WebKit’s developer tools. About time! Unfortunately, I still am so used to firebug that will continue using it instead of these new native development tools. One thing that really grinds my gears was the native “Inspect Element” context menu item because it lives directly above the Firebug one. This was extremely frustrating for me because I kept clicking on that instead of the “Inspect with Firebug” menu item. This would bring up the native inspector console, which I would then have to close, then go back and right click again and make sure I click on the inspect with firebug menu item. Sigh…..how annoying.
Anyway, there is a simple way to disable the native inspect element context menu item. In the Firefox address bar, put “about:config” and press Enter. This will bring up Firefox’s preference configurations. In the “filter” search box enter “inspector”. This will bring up three configuration preferences. Simply double click on the “devtools.inspector.enabled” preference to change it to “false” and viola! No more native inspect element in the context menu! Horray.
UPDATE:
A recent update to the firebug extension add’s config preferences for hiding the default inspector (thanks Ilya). Now when you filter your config preferences by searching for “inspector”, some new firebug config settings appear as well. Simply set “extensions.firebug.hideDefaultInspector” to “true” in addition to setting “devtools.inspector.enabled” to “false”.
Don’t muck around in here too much or you will mess up your firefox configuration. I hope someone finds this useful =)
It was annoying thank you for the fix!
You sir, are a hero!
OH MY GAWD. THANK YOU so very VERY much for this fix!!! I was close to fixing it myself with a sledgehammer!!!!
Thanks James – given the popularity of Firebug, Mozilla should give users the option to enable their native tools rather than turning them on by default.
Very nice! THX
WOOT!! You sir I bow before.
/bow
I much prefer Firebug, thanks for sharing this easy fix 🙂
Thanx man, great help. Was v. frustrating.
Thanks so much, it was starting to do my head in.
Thanks for this! It was really confusing to have tow inspect element options.
Thanks so much, I was having the same problem with the new native Firefox debugger.
Maybe it’s just what I’m used to, but Firebug is still my fave of all of them.
Thank god!! I thought it was just me stuck in my ways – The amount of times over the past few days I’ve let out an angry GRRRRRR… Hey – NO MORE! Thanks!
Martin
You just saved me from rage against firefox. Your site should have a ‘donate beer money’ button.
You are so right…I should… I’m going to add that tonight =)
May God bless you with unlimited non-soul-crushing hookers and cocaine…that freaking grey screen was driving me nuts.
Thanks a bunch! This was really helpful… the native inspect is definitely not as good as Firebug
Let me be the next in this long line of folks to thank you for your tip! As a near-constant firebug user, I’ve been stumbling over this for a few weeks now! Thanks!
You may just be the greatest human being alive. I don’t understand why they are bothering with redundant efforts. Firebug works wonders.
What a piss off that Mozilla would try an infringe on my Firbug. Their inspector is so inferior that it makes me wonder the level of sanity over at Mozilla.
Thanks for this! Gotta love Mozilla for making it easy to customize everything.
You sir are a scholar and a gentleman. This was annoying the absolute crap out of me!
Not anymore! 🙂
Wow, thanks. I was feeling the same frustration. Worked like a champ.
Now, what about fixing tabbing in this comment form? I’m sure it’s just a matter of finding the time to look into the issue, but when I tab between fields I’m sent off to the middle of the article just where the comments are below the fold.
Oh, actually, I think I’m landing in the search form’s text input when I tab from the Name field, then on the search submit button when I tab from the Email field. When I tab from the Website field, I land in this textarea. So, since tabindex is implied when form elements are in order in the character stream of the document (as they are looking at your source), you can just omit them. Check here:
http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/interact/forms.html#adef-tabindex
Thanks again,
—
Drew
Nice fix, thanks
Thank you very much !!!!!!!!
The firefox 10 inspect option was like a pain in the ass.
I also kept clicking the wrong “Inspect element” menu all the time.
You Sir, are my hero now – may your children prosper and radiate karma!
Definitely found this useful. Thanks for the write up on how to fix this annoying situation.
Thanks! That was getting aggravating.
thanks, i finally googled for this after getting tired of doing the same thing
Thank you!
It’s probably going to come in handy someday but I can’t work without Firebug and it’s so annoying they gave it the same label!
Teresa
Thx a lot!
Yes, nice tip. NOW, do you have any idea what the pop-up toolbar that has no name or apparent function is. It starts every time i go to my real Google search bar and attempt to search for any thing. some forums say it’s a”Bing” thing, but i have completely cleared my system of anything that has any affiliation with Bing. Can’t find anything in my add-ons or extensions. looking for help? thanks.
Thank you so much! This has been driving me NUTS. I keep thinking I’ll get re-trained but it just ain’t happening! 🙂
Sorry =/ I’ve never experienced anything like that… are you on Windows or OS X ?
I hate this native stupid inspector.
Thanks a lot for this tip. I am going to disable it right now and will continue to enjoy Firebug.
Thank you, thank you, thanks you! That’s been driving me nuts for days now!
Whew. Thanks!
thanks you soooo much!
You are a saint!
Thank’s a bunch
Thank you very much. I was so tired of click again and again in the wrong item.
Awesome! I kept clicking the native inspect by mistake 😛
I had a feeling that it would be an about:config option. Thanks for the tip!
Thanks man.
I used this not exactly knowing what it was, and I pretty much fucked up the appearance of Facebook and I have no clue how to change it back. I thought disabling it would do that, but nope. Help would be greatly appreciated.
Hmmm, that sounds like a bummer. You can easily reset any of your settings in about:config by doing the following:
You can view a list of preferences in about:config. When you change a preference setting or add a new preference, the associated about:config entry will appear in bold type with a user set status. To restore a preference setting to the default value or to remove an added preference, context-click (right-click) on the preference and select Reset.
If you are not sure what you changed, I would suggest restarting Firefox in Safe Mode and resetting to the Firefox default settings. Check out this link:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Resetting_preferences
And follow the instructions under the “Firefox Safe Mode” heading.
I did mention not to muck around in your settings too much or you will mess up your Firefox configuration… I’m sorry Facebook is fucked up for you =/ Good Luck!
Exactly what I needed, this was driving me crazy as well. Thanks!
I had firebug installed as well, and making that change did not work for me, but this did:
extensions.firebug.hideDefaultInspector = false
Firebug overwrites it with a new property.
Be sure to also set
to true
Thank you James 🙂
If you get the chance, please could you update the screenshot that goes with your article as it’s a bit confusing for those of us who’ve already used your fix, and don’t bother to read your amended text properly!
As Firebug now has its own hook to disable the native inspector, I had a good look through the settings to see if there was a way to change this setting in the Firebug control panel, without going into about:config, but I couldn’t find one. Maybe it’s something that’s planned for a future release?