While I'm in complete agreement re the many benefits of Linux it probably doesn't help
Loose rivets with Firefox right at this juncture ...
So in trying to interpret the problem and having thought about this I wonder if the issue has been caused by the latest 'AI' changes to FF? I've got all that stuff turned off and/or am using a version that doesn't have it (and I don't really use bookmarks anyway) but I've read some pretty scathing things about it. To that end I wonder if using the ESR (Extended Support Release) version of FF might rollback any unwelcome changes and address the problem?
If you wanted to try the ESR version (currently 115) I think it should just be a matter of downloading from
here (select the right file for your platform) and installing. I say 'I think' because I don't use M$ products and so can't even test, let alone have any platform specific knowledge, but I'm reasonable sure it has 'just worked' in the past for people when I've suggested this. Doing this
may bring back your anticipated
modus operandi and remove any later unwanted 'features' present in the version of FF you're currently using.
As with any upgrade/change I recommend backing up the program directory before installing, not entirely sure where this is on M$ but the Interweb tells me that '\Users\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\\Profiles\' is a contender, and you can access it following
this advice.
FP.