Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- firefox_web_browser [2026/03/08 09:28] – ↷ Page name changed from firefox_annoyances_list to firefox_web_browser mike
+++ firefox_web_browser [2026/04/08 08:30] (current) – mike
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-====== Conquering Various (and mostly unnecessary) Firefox Shenanigans ======
+====== Firefox Web Browser ======
-----
+Tips, tricks, tweaks, fixes and anything else related to the [[https://www.firefox.com|Firefox Web Browser]] can be found here.
-Here’s where I’m going to be documenting the “fixes” I find for the annoying “features” in Firefox.  Most of these features, mind you, are pretty stupid and shouldn’t have been put into the browser in the first place, but I digress.  Right now I’m using all my energy to avoid filling this page with “four-letter words”.
-So with that, let’s go.
+===== Tweaks =====
+==== Page Cache Fix ====
 **Issue:** Firefox is ridiculous when it comes to caching web pages, to the point that when a particular page’s content changes, the browser doesn’t even notice.  A “normal” refresh (clicking the refresh icon or pressing F5) is not enough to goose it; rather, you have to “force refresh” the page by typing CTRL-F5.
@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 My extensive testing so far has been very positive, thankfully.
+==== Disable Backspace -> Previous Page Function ====
 **Issue:** Hitting the backspace key takes you to the previous web page.  Whose drug-addled idea was this?  Nothing is more annoying than having to hit backspace to correct some typing faux pas (some of us have to do it more often than others) and suddenly finding yourself on the previous web page.  I have been browsing the internet for roughly 3 decades now and I have yet to find a reasonable use case for this feature.  Here’s how to kill it:
@@ Line 30: / Line 31: @@
 You’re welcome.
+==== Disable Download Popup ====
 **Issue:** Initiating a download/save of a file from Firefox results in the download popup showing up, which one must close or otherwise be annoyed by.
@@ Line 37: / Line 39: @@
   * Set the value of browser.download.alwaysOpenPanel to **false**
+==== Disable Crash Recovery ====
 **Issue:** Firefox restores (or at least tries to) open tabs after a controlled reboot or system crash.  This is a huge personal annoyance of mine as, more often than not, the tab recovery doesn’t go well.  I have never found an instance where I wished the browser restores an open tab, so I dug around to figure out how to disable it:
@@ Line 44: / Line 47: @@
   * Set the value of browser.sessionstore.resume_from_crash to **false**
+==== Disable QUIC ====
 **Issue:** Google search results take FOREVER to load.  This aggravated me so much that I finally fired up a packet capture to see what was going on.  Lo and behold, I found that Firefox is now attempting to communicate w/ Google via **QUIC**, a supposedly faster option than communicating over TCP.  I dug around and found that we can force the browser to go back to TCP via disabling http3 (allegedly the future of the internet but, from where I’m sitting, I’m not buying it).  Mikey’s rule #1 – if it’s working, don’t try to fix it.  So let’s “unfix” this issue…
@@ Line 50: / Line 54: @@
 Enjoy the speedy search results.
+==== Copy Is (Still) Broken ====
 **Issue:** Highlighting information on a web page, followed by right-clicking, displays a menu with the ‘Copy’ option grayed out.  Holy shit, Mozilla, are you really trying to get me to go back to Chrome?  Because I’m almost there.
 I thought I had this fixed but it no worky.  The only workaround I have found that has consistently worked thus far is to ALT-TAB to another program, then back to Firefox.  Copy should no longer be grayed out when you right-click.  Careful though, it still seems iffy.
+==== Disable Tab Preview "Balloons" (your mileage may vary) ====
 **Issue:** Firefox pops up preview balloons when you hover over a browser tab.  You say picky, I say annoying.
@@ Line 59: / Line 65: @@
 <color red>**08/22/2024 – Note:**</color> The above “fix” only seems to hold for the current browser session; if you close the browser, then the **browser.tabs.hoverPreview.enabled** option gets reset to true when the browser starts again.  Still working on a fix for this, but it might involve dumping Firefox for a different browser.  More to come.
+==== Disable "What's New" page after a Firefox software update ====
+  * In about:config, search for **browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone** and set it to ''ignore''.
+----
+===== Browser Management =====
+==== Disabling Application Updates ====
+Create a **policies.json** file with the following contents:
+<file json policies.json>
+  {
+    "policies": {
+      "DisableAppUpdate": true
+    }
+  }
+</file>
+Based on the operating system involved, save this file at the following location:
+  * **Windows** - ''C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\distribution\policies.json'' (admin rights required)
+  * **MacOS** - ''/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/Resources/distribution/policies.json''
+  * **Linux** - ''/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/policies.json'' (or ''/etc/firefox/policies/'')
+==== Moving To Another Machine (Windows) ====
+  - Within the browser, go to ''about:support''
+  - On the resulting screen, locate the **Profile Folder** and click the **Open Folder** button.
+  - The profile folder will open within File Explorer.  Make note of the directory name and then click back one level to the **Profiles** directory.
+  - Find the folder noted in the previous step and copy it in its entirety to a USB stick or network drive share.
+  - On the new machine, perform steps 1-3 above.
+  - Make sure Firefox is closed, then rename the existing profile directory to something else.
+  - Copy the saved Profile directory to this location, making sure to rename it to match the profile name the new machine is expecting.
+  - Navigate to the profile directory in File Explorer and either delete or rename the following files: ''addons.json'', ''compatibility.ini'', and ''extensions.json''.
+  - Start the browser; it should reflect how it was set up in the previous location.