Malwarebytes Browser Guard extension in Firefox: where is the MB logo?

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[WCHS]

lmacri wrote:

I’ve also added {to Firefox} two reputable content blockers – uBlock Origin and Malwarebytes Browser Guard (which offers the same Web Protection feature as Malwarebytes Premium) – that work well together …

Hi Imacri:
I thought I would try Malwarebytes Browser Guard as a Firefox extension after I read your post <here>.

I added it in Firefox, and in the process it said that the Malwarebytes logo would appear at the right end of the URL field.

But, I am not seeing it. Instead, I see a fingerprint symbol for the Firefox Multi-Account ‘Tech’ container that I have set for the AskWoody site (in the red square) and a grid symbol for the Firefox Multi-Account Containers extension itself (in the blue square). Even if I disable the Firefox Multi-Account Containers extension, those two symbols are still there.

However, Tools>Add-on and Themes>Manage Your Extensions says it’s Enabled.

Does one have to have Malwarebytes installed also for the Malwarebytes symbol to appear in the URL field for the Malwarebytes Browser Guard? Or does the Firefox Multi-Account Containers symbols take precedence and leave no room for the Malwarebytes symbol, too?

BTW, I also have uBlock Origins Enabled, too.

• This topic was modified 3 months, 3 weeks ago by WCHS.

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Hi WCHS:

It’s hard to tell what you’re seeing because it looks like you’ve cropped out the location in your image where your browser extension icons should appear on your toolbar (i.e., to the far right of the address bar).  As far as I can tell from your image the icon for your uBlock Origin extension is missing as well.

Here’s what I see when I open Firefox v114.0.1 (with the blue icon for Malwarbytes Browser Guard v2.3.6 and red icon for uBlock Origin v1.49.2 extensions highlighted):

If you don’t see the icons for your extensions in your browser toolbar then right-click anywhere in a blank space on your toolbar and select “Customize Toolbar” from the pop-up context menu as shown in my image above. If you see the extension icons in that “Customize Toolbar” window just drag and drop them on to your toolbar as suggested in the Mozilla Firefox board at Extension Icons Don’t Appear in the Address Bar, No Way to Access Them.

A second possibility is that your extension icons can’t all fit on your toolbar and are hidden in the toolbar overflow menu. If you see a double chevron (>>) on your toolbar where your extension icons should appear see the the AddictiveTips article How to Hide Firefox Add-ons in the Overflow Menu for instructions on how to add and remove extension icons from the toolbar overflow menu.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.2965 * Firefox v114.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.3-1.1.23050.3 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.30.269-1.0.2037 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279

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lmacri wrote:

… A second possibility is that your extension icons can’t all fit on your toolbar and are hidden in the toolbar overflow menu …

Hi WCHS:

If neither of the suggestions in my post # 2565009 solve your problem and you are using the current Firefox v114 then note that you should also see the Unified Extensions (jigsaw puzzle) icon in your browser toolbar that was introduced in Firefox 109 to manage newer Manifest V3 extensions – see the Mozilla support article Manage Your Extensions Using the Extensions Button in the Toolbar.

This new unified Extensions button is supposed to save space on your toolbar but I didn’t like the default behavior so I went into my advance configuration settings (i.e., by entering about:config in the address bar) in Firefox v112, changed the value of extensions.unifiedExtensions.enabled to False, and restarted my browser.

According to Method 2 of the AskVG! article Disable or Remove “Extensions” Button From Firefox Toolbar [UPDATED] toggling that advanced setting to False should completely remove the Unified Extensions button from the toolbar.  However, I tested again today in my Firefox 114 browser and it doesn’t seem to matter whether extensions.unifiedExtensions.enabled is set to True or False – regardless of that setting’s value, I always see my individual browser extension icons in my toolbar, and if I click on the Unified Extensions (jigsaw) button it simply opens my Firefox Add-ons Manager (i.e., as if I had chosen Tools | Add-on and Themes).  Mozilla has been changing the behaviour of this Unified Extensions button in almost every version of Firefox since it was introduced in Firefox 109 so I’m not sure now if the default behaviour has changed again in Firefox v114 or if the behaviour differs from user to user depending on their personal mix of older Manifest V2 versus newer Manifest V3 extensions.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.2965 * Firefox v114.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.3-1.1.23050.3 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.30.269-1.0.2037 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279

2 users thanked author for this post.

WCHS, Cybertooth

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WCHS wrote:

I added it in Firefox, and in the process it said that the Malwarebytes logo would appear at the right end of the URL field.

“… to the right of …”

Windows 11 Pro version 22H2 build 22621.2361 + Microsoft 365 + Edge

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WCHS

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Hi you need to enable Malware bytes in extensions

 

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Thomas wrote:

Hi you need to enable Malware bytes in extensions

It is/was enabled. I wanted to know where the icon for it was and how the parameters for it had been/were set. See the penultimate paragraph in my reply to Imacri <here>.

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lmacri wrote:

If neither of the suggestions in my post # 2565009 solve your problem and you are using the current Firefox v114, then note that you should also see the Unified Extensions (jigsaw puzzle) icon in your browser toolbar that was introduced in Firefox 109

Hi Imacri:
I noted @b ‘s correction of “at the right end of the URL field” to “to the right of”.

Here is my complete FF browser toolbar, even what’s under the double-chevron.

I do have the jigsaw puzzle icon. I guess I had always right-clicked on it before and never just clicked. When I just click, there’s a list of extensions (see image below) and I see them all, including Malwarebytes Browser Guard and uBlock Origins. (That uBlock Origins is there is not a surprise, because I know that it is filtering out ads and pop-up videos. If it misses something, I can right-click on the page and select uBlock Origin’s ‘Block Element’ to get rid of it.) In the list of FF extensions, I saw that Malwarebytes Browser Guard was not pinned, so I pinned it. I don’t really know what difference pinning or unpinning makes as I see no changes either way. The Cisco Webex Extension is greyed out for some reason, so I don’t know whether it is pinned or not. But it is enabled, according to Tools>Add-ons and Themes. Maybe, the Cisco Webex app has to be up and running for it not to be greyed out. No matter, I’m not going to try to figure this out, since I rarely use Cisco Webex (it’s a ‘Zoom’-type app that my city government has used for city meetings since the pandemic).

Thanks for the link to AskVG’s article on the Unified Extension button. Looking in about:config for the preference extensions.unifiedExtensions.enabled, I learn that his Method 2 no longer works in FF 114.0.1 to turn if off! Maybe Method 1 (using CSS Style Code) is viable, but I’ll just stick with the icon, since it I’ve learned more about it now and I already have a lot of icons in the browser bar that I want to keep front and center. If I want to get to the FF Ad-ons Manager, Tools>Ad-ons and Themes still works for that.

Thanks to you, my question is answered by your having me focus on the jigsaw puzzle icon: clicking on that produces an extension list that indicates the extension is working. Clicking on it in the list (not on the gear) takes me to a Malwarebyes Browser Guard screen that shows the work that it has done so far. Clicking on the gear in that screen has prompted me to turn on one more switch (for gTLD domains, evidently the default for this is ‘off’, but I turned it ‘on’). Clicking on the 3 vertical dots next to the gear allows one to whitelist and shows items that have been blocked.

So, I’m good for the moment — until FF changes things again.

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lmacri

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Check >> top right (near the hamburger)

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Alex5723 wrote:

Check >> top right (near the hamburger)

Clicking on double-chevron near the hamburger doesn’t get me anywhere remotely related to Malwarebytes Browser Guard settings. It gives me a few ‘utility’ icons initially and clicking on “Customize Toolbar” give me the overflow screen with more icons specific to FF, but no extension icons are there, at all.

The key is to click on the FF jigsaw puzzle icon in the FF browser toolbar, scroll down the Extensions List to Malwarebytes Browser Guard, and click on the gear icon that is in that pop-up Malwarebytes Browser Guard page, where you find switches to turn ‘off’ or ‘on’. There are also three vertical dots next to the gear that lead to some other Malwarebytes Browser Guard settings. (See <here>).

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Alex5723

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WCHS wrote:

The key is to click on the FF jigsaw puzzle icon in the FF browser toolbar, scroll down the Extensions List to Malwarebytes Browser Guard,

I have to add here that the reason I am getting the Extension list when clicking on the jigsaw puzzle/aka Unified Extension icon is that I already have too many icons on the FF browser toolbar and the Unified Extension icon compensates for that by gathering the extension icons all together under it in the form of a clickable list.

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WCHS wrote:

scroll down the Extensions List to Malwarebytes Browser Guard

The Statistics in the Malwarebytes Browser Guard page are interesting. Yesterday, it blocked 269 Ad/Trackers and today it’s blocked 68 so far. I wonder if this is in addition to what FF blocks with my FF Privacy and Security ‘Standard’ setting.

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WCHS wrote:

The Statistics in the Malwarebytes Browser Guard page are interesting …I wonder if this is in addition to what FF blocks with my FF Privacy and Security ‘Standard’ setting.

Hi WCHS:

I’m not sure. I never look at those statistics (I think they’re a bit of a marketing gimmick) but I’m guessing those block counts are above and beyond what your Firefox browser is currently blocking. If Malwarebytes Browser Guard was uninstalled it’s possible your Firefox browser (or uBlock Origin) would still be able to catch many of those ads / trackers.

Just an FYI that a User Guide for Malwarebytes Browser Guard is available at https://support.malwarebytes.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038520414 and if you run into problems there is a separate board for Malwarebytes Browser Guard for Firefox, Malwarebytes Browser Guard for Chrome, etc. in the Malwarebytes forum at https://forums.malwarebytes.com/forum/252-malwarebytes-browser-guard/.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.2965 * Firefox v114.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.3-1.1.23050.3 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.30.269-1.0.2037 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279

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WCHS

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WCHS wrote:

I do have the jigsaw puzzle icon… When I just click, there’s a list of extensions (see image below) and I see them all, including Malwarebytes Browser Guard and uBlock Origin … I’m good for the moment — until FF changes things again.

Hi WCHS:

Thanks for letting us know your missing extension icons were located in the the Unified Extensions (jigsaw puzzle piece) panel.

If I recall correctly, I wanted my browser icons to appear on the toolbar instead of being hidden in the Unified Extensions (jigsaw puzzle piece) panel when Firefox v109 was released so I dragged my extension icons back onto the main toolbar, right-clicked each icon and chose Pin to Toolbar to make sure they stayed there – see the section titled “Manage Pinned Extensions” in the Mozilla support article Manage Your Extensions Using the Extensions Button in the Toolbar.

I’ve only added a few of Firefox’s built-in toolbar buttons to my toolbar (I prefer to use the old-style Menu Bar in the top-left of my browser as shown in the image above for common tasks like File | Save Page As; Tools | Settings ; Help | More Troubleshooting Information, etc. – see the Mozilla support article Restore the Menu Bar in Firefox) so I don’t know if you’d have room to do this on your own toolbar. You might have to drag some of your less-used toolbar buttons like Firefox Pocket, New Private Window, Synced Tabs, etc. into your overflow menu (double chevron >>) and then right-click and choose Pin to Overflow Menu to ensure they stay there if you ever need to make room on your toolbar for your extension icons.

I’m not entirely sure these drag-and-drop / pin instructions still work as described above in Firefox v114 so you’ll have to experiment a bit until you get all your toolbar buttons and extension icons configured to your own preference.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.2965 * Firefox v114.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.3-1.1.23050.3 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.30.269-1.0.2037 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279

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lmacri wrote:

I’m not entirely sure these drag-and-drop / pin instructions still work as described above in Firefox v114 so you’ll have to experiment a bit until you get all your toolbar buttons and extension icons configured to your own preference.

You are on spot!! — if I drag all of the ones that are there (Pocket, new window, private browsing, tabs from other devices, screenshot, open settings, save this page, bookmarks, and zoom controls) to the Overflow Menu, then the extension icons appear on the browser tool bar. Yes, too-many-icons-already-there is why I am not seeing the extension icons up front on the browser toolbar!

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lmacri

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lmacri wrote:

I dragged my extension icons back onto the main toolbar, right-clicked each icon and chose Pin to Toolbar to make sure they stayed there

What are the first three icons (the 3 before the Malwarebytes Browser Guard icon) on your FF browser toolbar?

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Right click on the bar, choose “Customize Toolbar,” drag the icon to the bar.
It works.
You can also reach it through the “Hamburger” on the right.

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PKCano wrote:

Right click on the bar, choose “Customize Toolbar,” drag the icon to the bar.
It works.
You can also reach it through the “Hamburger” on the right.

I’m in FF 114.0.1. I’ve posted a screenshot of my browser toolbar and the screen that pops up when clicking on “Customize Toolbar” <above). Here it is again.

No icon for any of my FF extensions is there is the “Customize Toolbar” popup. I can see the extension icons ONLY by clicking on the Unified Extensions (jigsaw puzzle) icon.

But, Imacri had some advice on how to get them front and center on the browser toolbar. See last two paragraphs of #2565152.

What are the ABP and D. extensions? Is S is NoScript?

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WCHS wrote:

… What are the first three icons (the 3 before the Malwarebytes Browser Guard icon) on your FF browser toolbar?

Hi WCHS:

The three buttons on my Firefox toolbar immediately to the right of my Malwarebytes Browser Guard and uBlock Origin icons (as shown in post # 2565057) are, from left to right:

• Show Sidebars (grey built-in Firefox button, available in the Customize Toolbar panel)
• Save Page WE (saves web pages as a single .html file)
• Bitdefender TrafficLight (shows green / orange / red safety rating icons in my Google search results – *** see note below)

The Video DownloadHelper extension is also installed but rarely used so it’s normally disabled and only appears on my toolbar when enabled. You can use the Firefox Task Manager (about:performance) to see how much memory is consumed by each browser extension and open tab.

I rarely use my MS Edge browser and the only extensions I’ve installed in this browser are Malwarebytes Browser Guard for Chrome and uBlock Origin for Chrome.
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*** Note that the Safe Browsing feature of your McAfee WebAdvisor application already performs the same function as Bitdefender TrafficLight so I wouldn’t use both at the same time.

Using three different content blockers like Malwarebytes Browser Guard, uBlock Origin and McAfee WebAdvisor is probably redundant as well. I personally don’t like McAfee WebAdvisor – it has a reputation for consuming high amounts of memory and CPU (it has a background controller and if you open Task Manager you might find a process for McAfee WebAdvisor running on the Processes tab and collecting telemetry data about your system, even when your browser is closed), and unlike “normal” browser extensions it’s installed on your system as a separate application at Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features. I uninstalled McAfee WebAdvisor (it was installed on my Dell Inspiron at the factory along with the McAfee LiveSafe antivirus, which I no longer use) and I now use both Malwarebytes Browser Guard and uBlock Origin as a replacement since these content blockers are known to work well together.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.2965 * Firefox v114.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.3-1.1.23050.3 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.30.269-1.0.2037 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279

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Cybertooth

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