Firefox Notes

The these are some general notes about Firefox.


Settings

Enable DNS over HTTPS

Disable Geolocation:

  1. In the URL bar, type about:config and click the "I accept the risk!" button.
  2. Search for "geo.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  3. Search for "geo.wifi.uri". Double click it and set the value to "http://127.0.0.1".
Source: Jay, Configuring your browser for best privacy and security — Firefox, Security Spread (Aug. 13, 2013).

Enable Extended Validation Certificate information:

  1. In the URL bar, type about:config and click the "I accept the risk!" button.
  2. Search for "security.identityblock.show_extended_validation". Double click to set the value to "true".
Source: Martin Brinkmann, How to restore the green lock icon in Firefox's address bar, ghacks (Oct. 28, 2019).

Identify Insecure Connections:

  1. In the URL bar, type about:config and click the "I accept the risk!" button.
  2. Search for "security.insecure_connection_text.enabled". Double click to set the value to "true".
  3. Search for "security.insecure_connection_text.pbmode.enabled". Double click to set the value to "true".
Source: Martin Brinkmann, How to restore the green lock icon in Firefox's address bar, ghacks (Oct. 28, 2019).

Prevent Javascript attempts to interfere with cut and paste:

  1. In the URL bar, type about:config and click the "I accept the risk!" button.
  2. Search for "dom.event.clipboardevents.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
Source: Chris Siebenmann, A Firefox surprise from disabling dom.event.clipboardevents.enabled, CSpace (Apr. 16, 2021).

Disable Javascript in PDFs:

  1. In the URL bar, type about:config and click the "I accept the risk!" button.
  2. Search for "pdfjs.enableScripting". Double click to set the value to "false".
Source: Martin Brinkmann, How to disable JavaScript in PDF documents in Firefox, ghacks (May 5, 2021).

Enable Privacy Features:

  1. In the URL bar, type about:config and click the "I accept the risk!" button.
  2. Search for "app.normandy.enable". Double click to set the value to "false".
  3. Search for "app.normandy.optoutstudies.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  4. Search for "beacon.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  5. Search for "browser.aboutHomeSnippets.updateUrl". Double click to set the value to a blank string ("").
  6. Search for "browser.safebrowsing.downloads.remote.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  7. Search for "browser.search.geoip.url". Double click to set the value to a blank string ("").
  8. Search for "browser.send_pings". Double click to set the value to "false".
  9. Search for "browser.send_pings.require_same_host". Double click to set the value to "true".
  10. Search for "browser.sessionstore.privacy_level". Double click to set the value to "2".
  11. Search for "browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone". Double click to set the value to "ignore".
  12. Search for "browser.urlbar.speculativeConnect.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  13. Search for "dom.battery.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  14. Search for "dom.push.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  15. Search for "dom.push.connection.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  16. Search for "dom.push.serverURL". Double click and set the value to a blank string ("").
  17. Search for "dom.webnotifications.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  18. Search for "dom.webnotifications.serviceworker.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  19. Search for "extensions.getAddons.cache.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  20. Search for "extensions.pocket.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  21. Search for "gfx.downloadable_fonts.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  22. Search for "gfx.downloadable_fonts.woff2.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  23. Search for "identity.fxaccounts.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  24. Search for "identity.fxaccounts.toolbar.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  25. Search for "media.navigator.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  26. Search for "media.peerconnection.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  27. Search for "messaging-system.rsexperimentloader.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  28. Search for "network.dns.disablePrefetch". Double click to set the value to "true".
  29. Search for "network.dns.disablePrefetchFromHTTPS". Double click to set the value to "true".
  30. Search for "network.http.speculative-parallel-limit". Double click to set the value to "0".
  31. Search for "network.predictor.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  32. Search for "network.predictor.enable-prefetch". Double click to set the value to "false".
  33. Search for "network.prefetch-next". Double click to set the value to "false".
  34. Search for "network.IDN_show_punycode". Double click to set the value to "true".
  35. Search for "network.websocket.enabled". Double click to set the value to "false".
  36. Search for "privacy.firstparty.isolate". Double click to set the value to "true".
  37. Search for "privacy.query_stripping.enabled". Double click to set the value to "true". (works in Firefox 102 and later)
  38. Search for "privacy.query_stripping.enabled.pbmode". Double click to set the value to "true". (works in Firefox 102 and later)
  39. Search for "privacy.trackingprotection.enabled". Double click to set the value to "true".
  40. Search for "privacy.trackingprotection.cryptomining.enabled". Double click to set the value to "true".
  41. Search for "privacy.trackingprotection.fingerprinting.enabled". Double click to set the value to "true".
  42. Search for "webgl.disabled". Double click to set the value to "true".
Sources:

Prevent Accidental Quits:

  1. In the URL bar, type about:config and click the "I accept the risk!" button.
  2. Search for "warnOn". Double click on any of the settings that are set to "false" to toggle them to "true".
Source: Adam Dachis, How to Prevent Yourself from Accidentally Quitting Firefox or Chrome, LifeHacker (July 8, 2011).

Alternate Location for Bookmarks:

  1. In the URL bar, type about:config and click the "I accept the risk!" button.
  2. Search for "browser.bookmarks.file". Double click it to specify the new location for the bookmark file.

Addons

Recommended:
Other:

Appearance

Rounded Tabs:

Enable User Chrome and User Content on Firefox 69 and newer:

  1. In the URL bar, type about:config and click the "I accept the risk!" button.
  2. Search for "toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations.stylesheets". Double click it to set it to "true".
Source: Martin Brinkmann, Firefox 69: userChrome.css and userContent.css disabled by default, ghacks (May 24, 2019).

Green Padlock Icon

  1. In the URL bar, type about:config and click the "I accept the risk!" button.
  2. Search for "security.secure_connection_icon_color_gray". Double click it to set it to "false".
Source: Martin Brinkmann, How to restore the green lock icon in Firefox's address bar, ghacks (Oct. 28, 2019).

Disable Blinking Text

  1. In the URL bar, type about:config and click the "I accept the risk!" button.
  2. Search for "browser.blink_allowed". Double click it to set it to "false".

Disable Scrolling Text:

  1. In the URL bar, type about:config and click the "I accept the risk!" button.
  2. Search for "browser.display.enable_marquee". Double click it to set it to "false".

Internal Information

Get Networking Information: In the URL bar, type about:networking

Source: Chris Siebenmann The "why" problem with on-host (host-based) firewalls on your machines, Wandering Thoughts (Oct. 4, 2021).

uBlock Origin Settings

See: Sam McLeod, Firefox Addons - 2022 Edition (May 17, 2022); Marin Brinkmann, How to block sign in with Google popups on sites, ghacks.net (Dec. 24, 2022); Marin Brinkmann, How to block web fonts to improve privacy, ghacks.net.

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