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20 Essential Tweaks and Tips Every Firefox User Should Know

Norman Chan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:00:00 -0600

Firefox may be your default browser, but that doesn’t mean you really use it to its full potential. Mozilla’s browser is a big threat to Microsoft not because it’s fast and full of unique features, but because it’s also extremely customizable. Add-ons, style scripts, and hidden preferences let you personalize your Firefox experience to meet your tastes and needs. Sure, you may know about hidden easter eggs like the about:robots page, but we’re going show you the 20 most essential tips, tricks, and tweaks to this super browser.

Undo Closed Tabs and Windows

This is actually a feature that has been around since before Firefox 3, but we’re often surprised by how many people don’t know about it. Firefox stores a record of every open and closed tab in all windows for each browsing session. So if you accidentally closed a tab, you can bring it back by pressing Ctrl + Shift + T. The restored tab retains its surfing history as well, and you can bring back old tabs even after you’ve opened several new ones since the initial close.

Speed Up Browsing

Firefox 3.5 is fast at loading pages, but its operational speed can get bogged down by overloading extensions. But you can add further optimizations to the browser by making a few tweaks behind the scenes. Load up the about:config page (by typing about:config in the location bar), and make the following changes:

Set network.http.max-connections to 96 – This sets the total number of HTTP connections Firefox can make to a web server. The default value is 30 (raised for the previous default of 24), but if you have ample bandwidth, increase the number speed up the loading of multiple-tab bookmarks.

Set network.http.max-connections-per-server to 32 – The default is 15, but you can raise it to increase the number of connections made to a single server. This is useful if you’re planning on browsing a site while downloading many files from it at the same time.

Set network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server to 8 – Raising this setting from 6 to 8 improve performance when working through multiple pages of a site. We don’t recommend setting this value to anything higher than 8.

Set network.http.pipelining to true – Pipelining is an application of the HTTP 1.1 protocol where multiple requests can be sent to a web server before any responses are received. Not all servers support it, but this will improve your browsing speed if you’re on a high-latency (slow) connection.

Set network.http.proxy.pipelining to true – Same as the setting above, but only applies if you’re using a proxy connection.

Set network.http.pipelining.ssl to true – If you’re encountering problems with pipelining enabled, the root of the problem may be a broken proxy server sitting between you and the target server. SSL (secure) sites don’t have this problem, so this setting will let you turn on pipelining for those sites only, regardless of the other pipelining settings.

Set network.http.pipelining.maxrequests to 8 – With pipelining enabled, this preference specifies the maximum number of requests to make to a server at once. Raising the default value from 4 to 8 will speed up your requests to a server, but will cause a small delay if one of the requests fail.

Use Gmail as Your Default Mail Application

When Firefox 3 was first released, one of the new features was the option to associate html protocols with web applications, such as launching a webmail service when clicking a “mailto:” link. Unfortunately, at the time of launch, only Yahoo’s mail client was officially supported, and users had to either use extensions or manipulate some javascript code to enable Gmail as the primary mail handler. The current iteration of Firefox has included Gmail in the web app client list, and here’s how you turn it on.

Go to Tools-> Options, and select the Applications tab. This is a list of protocol and content associations, with their respective plug-ins for each type of content (ie. Mp4 video). In the search field, type “mailto”. Then, in the Actions drop down menu, select Gmail as your default client. That’s it! The next time you click on an email link, Firefox will open up Gmail in a new tab to send an email. Bonus tip: download and install the Better Gmail 2 add-on to add extra UI features if you’re planning on using Gmail as your primary mail client.

Disable the Awesome Bar

We think that the Awesome Bar lives up to its name – its auto-complete feature lets us get to our favorite websites even if we don’t remember the exact URL. But not everyone wants Firefox to auto-complete location bar text, especially if you visit sketchy or embarrassing sites that share common URL characters (ebay and piratebay, for example). You can disable the Awesome bar by turning off the XUL richlistbox widget that powers it.

First, open up the about:config page. Type browser.urlbar.matchBehavior in the Filter field, and right click the sole resulting entry. Click Modify, and change the value of the setting from 1 to 2. Now, whenever you start typing a URL in the location bar, you only get suggestions from websites that start with that text, not just any with those string of characters.

Now, if you want to make the Awesome Bar to not show any suggestions for pages that you have visited or bookmarked, and only show suggestions for URLS that you have manually typed, go to the browser.urlbar.default.behavior preference in about:config and change its value from 0 to 49.

3 Quick Location Bar Style Fixes

Always show the GO button

By default, the GO button the far right of the location bar only shows up if the bar is empty or if you’ve typed in something new. To make the button stay visible, go to your user Profile directory (C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ in Windows XP), navigate to the Chrome subdirectory, and create a new blank file called userChrome.css. This file lets you make stylesheet changes to Firefox. Open up the file with Notepad and type the following at the end of the file:

#go-button { visibility: visible !important; }

Restart Firefox to put this change into effect.

Disable the RSS Feed Button

If you’re not a fan of web feeds, you have no need for the RSS button at the end of the location bar. Disable it by opening up the Chrome.css file you created before in your Profile directory, and add the following line:

#feed-button[feeds] { display: none !important; }

Restart Firefox to put this change into effect.

Use Small Location Bar Icons

The location bar itself isn’t terribly tall, but every pixel counts when you’re using a tiny screen netbook or have stacked additional toolbars like the Booksmarks bar or a StumbleUpon bar. Shrink the Location Bar by right clicking the any toolbar and clicking the “customize” option. At the bottom of this screen, check “Use Small Icons.”

Reasonably Cut Ram Usage

Firefox is generally good about memory management, so we don’t normally recommend memory allocation tweaks because of the performance tradeoff. But there is one setting in Firefox that may be useful if you tend to have many browser windows and tabs open but minimized at the same time.

Open up the about:config page, and right click anywhere in the window. Select New->Boolean to create a new preference setting, and type “config.trim_on_minimize” in the pop up box. Next, choose True as the default value. This preference will offload memory using from RAM to virtual memory on your hard drives when windows are minimized. The only caveat is that “waking up” this minimized window will take a little longer than usual, since Firefox will need to transfer its state back to physical memory.

Additionally, we recommend that you try the RAMBack add-on, which gives you notifications when and how much memory can be freed up from RAM.

Browse Privately on a Public Computer

A feature actually first introduced in IE 8, Firefox’s private browsing mode lets you surf the web without retaining any URL history, form and search fields, passwords, cookies, or web cache on the local machine. This is particularly useful for surfing at work or on a friend’s computer, when you don’t want them to snoop around your shameful habits. Turning on private browsing is as simple: just hit Ctrl + Shift + P. Firefox will save your existing windows and open a new session (unfortunately, you can’t have both private and non-private mode windows open at the same time). In the privacy options settings, you can even set Firefox to start in private browsing mode by default.

Customize the New Tab Page

One thing that Chrome and IE 8 do better than Firefox is the new tab page. When you open a new tab in Firefox, it defaults to about:blank, which, appropriately, is a blank page. Mozilla actually acknowledges this shortcoming, and has been experimenting with various new types of new-tab landing pages in their Mozilla Labs department. The latest prototype shows you a page with Frequently Visited Sites, and a “You Might Want to” suggestion based on what’s in your clipboard.
You can download and install it here.

6 Essential about:config Tweaks

About:config is amazingly powerful – it lets you change almost every aspect of how Firefox functions. Going through and explaining what every preference does would not only be an impossible task, but also unnecessary since most people are happy with the default settings. There are, however, a few settings that we think are essential to change. Make these tweaks first when you encounter a fresh install of Firefox.

browser.urlbar.autoFill = True
Enable auto-complete for URLs when typing into the location bar.

browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo = 15
Increase the number of closed tabs that firefox has stored in its cache to 15.

browser.tabs.tabMinWidth = 75
Show more tabs in a single window by narrowing the minimum width of a tab.

browser.search.openintab = True
Automatically open new search results in a new tab

middlemouse.paste = True
Use the middle mouse button to paste text from your clipboard.

browser.blink_allowed = False
Disables annoying text with the Blink tag.

Make Smart Bookmarks

A really sweet feature in Firefox 3 is the ability to program your own smart bookmarks. These are dynamic bookmark groups that change depending on your browsing history. For example, you can have it set to show the 10 most popular pages you’ve visited within a certain domain, or the 15 most popular sites you’ve visited that contain a specific keyword in its title.

Open up your Organize Bookmarks window by typing Ctrl + Shift + B. Choose the folder you want to create your new smart bookmark, and create a new bookmark with the Organize menu. In the location bar, enter a string using the following syntax:

place:queryType=A&sort=B&maxResults=C&domain=D&terms=E

Replace A, B, C, D, and E with whatever you choose, based on these rules:

Querytype= 0 to only search your history, 1 to only search your bookmarks, 2 to search both

Sort = 1 for A to Z, 2 for Z to A, 3 to sort by most recently visited, and 8 to soft by most often visited

Domain = the domain you want to show results for, such as “maximumpc.com”

Terms = the word or words you want to show results for.

For more syntax options and explanations, visit Mozilla’s reference page.

Back Up Your Bookmarks

Keep your bookmarks backed up and synchronized across multiple computers using the popular Xmarks add-on. Formerly known as Foxmarks, this extension securely stores your bookmarks (and even passwords) on their servers, and can even analyze your saved links to give website and tagging suggestions. It’ll even sync across multiple browsers, in case you use both Firefox and IE (Chrome support eventually coming).

Know the Location of Your Profile and Settings

What if you accidentally delete your bookmarks or profile settings before storing them in the cloud? Not to worry – Firefox makes periodic backups of your bookmarks, safely backing them up in a hidden folder. You can find and retrieve them in Windows easily. First, open up Windows explorer, go to folder options, and enable viewing hidden files. If you’re using Windows XP, your Firefox profile backups will be located in the following directory:

C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\

Just replace USERNAME with your Windows user account name, and sort the .json files by date. Copy and save the desired backup file to your Desktop, open up Firefox, and choose the Import and Backup option under the Bookmarks menu. Locate the .json file on your Desktop, and open it to restore your bookmarks.

In Windows Vista and 7, the backups are stored in:

C:\Users\USERNAME\Application Data\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

4 Scroll Wheel Secrets

Open a link in a new tab by hovering over it and clicking the middle mouse button.
Close a tab by hovering over the top of the tab and clicking the middle mouse button.
Hold Shift and scroll your mouse wheel to move forward or backward through your history.
Enlarge or shrink the size of text on a page by holding Ctrl and scrolling up or down.

Advanced Spell Checking

Firefox’s built-in spell checker is useful for using web content management systems like Wordpress for blog entries or Google docs, but the default setting only spellchecks fields that are bigger than one line. Enable single-line spellcheking (like for Google searches) by changing the following preference in about:config: layout.spellcheckDefault = 2

Additionally, you can add different language dictionaries to the spell-check database by picking and installing the right packages from Mozilla’s language packs page. Right click any multi-line text field and you can choose to alternate between different languages for spell checking.

And in case you’ve ever unintentionally added a word to the Dictionary, you can remove the entry by opening the persdict.dat file stored in your user Profile directory. Using a text editor like notepad, delete the line containing your unwanted word, and save the file.

14 Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

Ctrl+T – Open a new tab
Ctrl + Tab – Next tab
Ctrl + 1-9 – Jump to a specific tab
Ctrl+W -- Close the current tab
Ctrl+N – Open a new window
Alt+Home – Go to your home page
Ctrl + R – Refresh the current page. F5 also works
Ctrl + Shift + R – Refresh the current page after flushing its current cache
Ctrl+F – Find specific text in the current page. You can also use /
Ctrl+D – Bookmark the current page
Spacebar – Scroll a page down
Shift+Spacebar – Scroll a page up
Ctrl+K – Put the cursor in the search field
Ctrl+L – Put the cursor in the location bar

Make Websites Work and Look the Way You Want

Browse websites the way you want. Use the Greasemonkey add-on with user-created scripts to automate and customize the way the way websites behave and look. You can make MP3 file links play with an in-line MP3 player, or make Google display Twitter search results at the top of all search pages. There are thousands of Greasemonkey scripts that you can use, and they’re all free to download.

Stylish lets you easily employ themes (called Styles) for any website without having to mess with CSS code. Like Greasemonkey, there is a sizeable database of preconfigured styles that users have created for you to try.

Disguise Firefox as Internet Explorer or an iPhone

Even if you don’t want to run Internet Explorer, there are some web services that only work if you use Microsoft’s browser (such as web outlook or Windows Update). IE Tab gives you the option to render pages using Internet Explorer or open new tabs using the IE engine. You can make specific sites always open with IE Tab as well.

User Agent Switcher is an add-on that doesn’t change the rendering engine, but allows you to make Firefox pretend to be a different browser when it retrieves information from a server. For example, you can have Firefox pose as an iPhone to view mobile-specific pages.

Make use of the Favicon

The favicon -- a website’s shortcut icon – is pretty to look at, but for the most part is pretty useless. Firefox lets you click the favicon next to a site’s URL in the location bar to display identity information, but most sites don’t utilize this feature. However, you can use the favicon as a quick way to access and manage stored cookies for specific websites. Just hit the “more information” button after clicking a favicon to open up that site’s page information window. Here, you can view and delete individual cookies for just this site, and even access saved passwords stored for users. It’s a really sneaky way to steal someone’s email password if you’re using their computer.

Manage Auto-Complete Suggestions

Forget to turn on private browsing mode and leave an embarrassing site in your URL history? You can delete individual auto-complete suggestions by hovering your mouse over the suspect URL and pressing the Delete key (not backspace) on your keyboard. The same trick also works for stored search history in your search bar, or any other auto-complete forms like user login.

Download like a Pro

From our power downloading guide: The Alpha and the Omega of downloading extensions, DownThemAll! is as simple to use as its name implies. When you activate this add-on for a page you're surfing, DownThemAll gives you a list of every potential downloadable item on the page--everything from ZIP archives to JPEG images. You can grab the entire page's contents and dump them in a folder, or you can selectively filter for only the file extensions that you're actually interested in. Never before has pilfering the entire contents of a Web site been quite so easy.

Mozilla Will Take Any Means Necessary to Make Sure You're Using Firefox 3.5

Paul Lilly — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:35:49 -0500

Mozilla isn't putting a gun to anyone's head and forcing them to upgrade to Firefox 3.5 (such a tactic wouldn't be feasible - we ran the numbers), but don't put it past the open-source browser maker to try and nag Firefox 3.0 users to death.

We suppose if you've gone this long without upgrading, you probably have your reasons why, or maybe you're just an overweight, forgetful gamer living in Seattle (it wasn't us that said it). Whatever the reason, Mozilla plans to send out messages to Firefox 3.0.13 users urging them to upgrade to Firefox 3.5 because it's "twice as fast."

Staunch holdouts who refuse to see what all the fuss is about are welcome to ignore the upgrade offer, but will again be reminded in 24 hours. Or select the option to never upgrade, but according to news and rumor site The Register, doing so will only remove the upgrade prompt for "several weeks or months," not permanently.

If the reminders don't bother you, the lack of security updates and patches might. Firefox 3.0 users have until January 2010 to upgrade before Mozilla cuts off support.

Mozilla Rids of .Net-hatin' Firefox 3.5, Replaces it with a Friendlier Version

Paul Lilly — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:08:04 -0500

If you're a Firefox user, you may want to check which version you're running. That's because Dana Blankenhorn over at ZDNet has apparently discovered that Firefox 3.5 kills support for Microsoft .Net Framework Assistant 1.0, and while that may put a smile on some open-source fans' faces who despise everything Microsoft, it's a different story for programmers who require .Net support.

As long as you're running the most recent version of Firefox, this looks to be a moot issue. Released earlier this month, Firefox 3.5.2 appears to play nice with .Net, with our add-ons manager showing Microsoft .Net Framework Assistant 1.1 installed. We're also given the option to uninstall it, which hasn't always been the case with previous versions.

5 Awesome Mozilla Labs Projects for Firefox 3.5

Florence Ion — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:30:28 -0500

Throughout the five years, Mozilla has dramatically improved the Internet browsing experience by producing stable, open-source applications that bring simplicity to our virtual lives. The latest version of Firefox is a prime example of how Mozilla integrates practical features into its products, like the inclusion of private browsing, tear away tabs and location awareness, while still maintaining a strong user base and delivering a stable browser.

However, the buck doesn’t stop there: Mozilla Labs has conjured up several new open source Firefox add-ons that aim to further enhance your web experience and promote better, more efficient browsing. Long time Firefox users are already familiar with the browser’s ability to become fully customizable with the inclusion of add-ons, so the concoctions coming out of Mozilla Labs should be no surprise. Read on to discover some of the latest releases from our favorite open sorcerers, but be aware that most Mozilla Labs projects are still in a prototype stage, so install at your own risk.

Bespin

Code editors, if you’ve ever needed a more organized way to increase productivity, while simultaneously supporting the open source community, Bespin is an integral add-on. Bespin’s HTML 5-based experimental code editor contains all the basic features you need to write code by giving you an almost-infinite amount of code lines and allowing syntax highlighting in Javascript, HTML and CSS—it also includes a nifty code bank.

This application will also make your entire web code available to other Bespin users, so you can receive feedback on your work, as well as have others contribute to it. Sometimes, you want to learn from other people; this web based editor easily pulls plug-ins from other people’s source codes, allowing you to mash up the two or receive inspiration from someone else.

The user interface of the editor is simple and easy to use; it even includes both vertical and horizontal scroll bars, both of which help innovation with the code editor and prevent UI restrictions. Additionally, it doesn’t matter how fast you type, Bespin’s intuitive design works so that it’s never a letter behind you.

Personas

Let’s face it: Computer user interfaces can be severely dull. There’s never a wrong time to spruce up your web browser and Mozilla’s Personas does just that. It runs on the philosophy that themes today can be too difficult to find and install and that graphic designers should be allowed a way to express themselves and showcase their art work without having to construct any code.

Personas is simple: Install the add-on, fire it up and browse the already expansive library showcased on the web. You can choose from the default skins, including beautiful nature scenes and Firefox’s own adorable mascot, Foxkeh, browse and search some of the custom made skins from other Personas users, or create your own.

Prism

It’s definitely a conundrum as to why services like Google calendar don’t have their own application. Thankfully, Mozilla’s Prism allows you to extract the link, place a shortcut on your desktop and run it as a separate process, even if you haven’t fired up your browser.

The Prism applications can be accessed just like any other program cluttering your desktop. In Windows, you can launch it straight from the Start menu and access it via the taskbar. And, when you’ve got applications you want running all the time—like Flickr, Gmail and Facebook—Prism can enable these web apps to start up when you boot your computer, or idle in the system tray.

One of the greatest uses for this application is to integrate any web links that you use like applications. For example, if you’ve got a mailto: link that opens your mail client, but you’d rather use your web-based email address that does not offer POP3, you can save the webmail link as its own process and execute it straight from the desktop every time you need it, as opposed to bookmarking the site, copying the web address you want to send an email to, and logging in.

Additionally, sometimes our browsers crash and we lose all of our work in one fell swoop. Prism makes sure that the web apps run separately from Firefox’s processes so that you’ll continue getting your Gmail regardless of your browser’s hiccup.

Weave

Mozilla believes that, as the web evolves, Firefox should do more to increase user control over data and personal information, while still maintaining a rich browsing experience.

The first component that is ready for testing this philosophy is Weave Sync, which encrypts and securely synchronizes passwords, bookmarks, history, tabs and preferences to the Mozilla cloud, somewhere in the infosphere.

In addition to your username and password, Weave also encrypts your data with a passphrase that only you know. This is especially useful for heavy Internet users who run on more than one machine—Weave will help maintain the same Firefox experience for every computer that you use.

Operator

If you don’t mind a bit of extra clutter in your navigation bar at the top at your browser window, Mozilla Labs’ Operator brings a whole new level of usability to websites with microformats—little bits of semantic markup that live symbiotically within the web. For example, if you visit Maximumpc.com and can’t seem to locate the Digg button on our page, simply hover over the Resources tab on the toolbar and Operator will provide an instant link.

Operator will also provide you links to search for a specific tag within a blog entry (provided it is tagged), of if you’re on a site like Upcoming.org, you’ll can export the event, map it on Google maps under Locations, or contact the venue where the event is taking place.

Firefox 3.5.1 Update Now Available

Paul Lilly — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:01:11 -0500

Less than a month after release, Firefox 3.5 receives an incremental update bringing the most current stable version to 3.5.1. As might be expected, the 3.5.1 update addresses several security and stability issues, as well as an issue that was making Firefox take a long time to load on some Windows systems, Mozilla says.

"We strongly recommend that all Firefox 3.5 users upgrade to this release," Mozilla said in a statement. "If you already have Firefox 3.5, you will receive an automated update notification within 24 to 48 hours. This update can also be applied manually by selecting 'Check for Updates...' from the Help menu."

On a related note, Mozilla said it is no longer supporting supporting Firefox 2.0.0.x, which "contains known security vulnerabilities." So in other words, pretty much every Firefox user should go grab the latest update.

Release Notes
Firefox 3.5.1 Download

Mozilla Fesses Up to a Critical Vulnerability in Firefox 3.5

Pulkit Chandna — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:21:58 -0500

Mozilla has confirmed the presence of a critical vulnerability in Firefox 3.5. The vulnerability is nestled in the browser’s Just-in-time (JIT) JavaScript compiler – part of the new TraceMonkey engine – and can be used to execute malicious code. Hackers may lure gullible Firefox 3.5 users to websites containing code meant to exploit the flaw. While Mozilla burns the midnight lamp in finding a solution, you can simply disable the JIT. However, it must be noted that disabling the JIT will have an adverse effect on JavaScript performance.

Image Credit: FavBrowser

How To Protect Yourself from Newly Discovered "Critical" JavaScript Vulnerability in Firefox 3.5

Paul Lilly — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:30:11 -0500

According to Mozilla, a bug was discovered last week in Firefox 3.5's Just-in-Time JavaScript compiler and was disclosed publicly on Monday. Mozilla classifies the vulnerability as "critical," saying it can be used to execute malicious code. More specifically, by exploiting the bug, a hacker could trick a victim into viewing a malicious website containing the exploit code.

"This vulnerability is due to an error in the way JavaScript code is processed," the US-CERT acknowledged. "Exploitation of this vulnerability may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code. Additionally, exploit code is publicly available for this vulnerability."

While Mozilla said it is currently working on a fix, Firefox 3.5 users don't have to be sitting ducks. Mozilla says the vulnerability can be mitigated by disabling the JIT in the JavaScript engine, which you can accomplish by doing the following:

Enter about:config in the browser's location bar
Type jit in the Filter box
Double-click the line containing javascript.options.jit.content and set the value to false

Mozilla warns that this is a temporary fix and will reduce JavaScript performance. Once an official fix has been put in place, you'll want to go back in and change the value back to true.

If you'd rather not mess around with about:config settings, you can still disable JIT by running Firefox in Safe Mode, which is accessible from the Mozilla Firefox folder.

Mozilla Plans 'BugDay' to Exterminate Bugs in Firefox 3.5

Paul Lilly — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:45:33 -0500

After several delays and a lot of anticipation, Mozilla on Tuesday released Firefox 3.5, officially joining the next-generation of browser wars where heavy focus has been put on JavaScript performance. But is the new browser ready for prime-time?

Due to the number of complaints users have been posting -- ranging from longer load times to intermittent crashes believed to be a result of the TraceMonkey JavaScript engine -- Mozilla has issued a community "BugDay" set for July 7 to stomp out the bugs.

"We will try to narry down any important bugs that were missed, or were regressions from Firefox 3.5, and get them into a point update quickly," reads a post on quality.mozilla.org.

Some 55 known bugs exist in the latest release, some of which will be addressed in Firefox 3.5.1 expected to be released by the end of the month.