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Here are settings and extensions that I use in Firefox.
Above is the native Global Privacy Control (GPC) setting in Firefox version 120 and later.
Here, make sure to include the smart quotes or just search for Do Not Track.
I recently noticed that you can use an asterisk * wildcard to search for keys in about:config. For example, zoom*spec will show the browser.zoom.siteSpecific preference.
When you load a large image in a new tab, Firefox will resize the image to fit the window.
automatic_image_resizing allows you to load or refresh a stand-alone image without having to click to zoom.
This setting allows you to zoom (Ctrl + Mouse Wheel) a specific tab without affecting other tabs or the whole website. I found this useful on Gmail. I can open an e-mail in a new window and zoom the message there without affecting the rest of Gmail.
This setting will not attempt to restore your tabs after a crash. I use some of my Firefox profiles to retrieve up-to-date information, e.g., the weather forecast. And, these profiles will have a set of custom home pages. If I leave the default setting and restore tabs after a crash then I get stale data. Instead, it is preferable to simply launch the home pages to retrieve fresh data after a crash. Changing this setting to False accomplishes that.
Firefox Multi-Account Containers
I create many Firefox profiles. And, while it is nice to have these steps enumerated, the process of creating a Firefox profile is not as easy as it could be.
To that end, I have a new process where I create a new Firefox profile, copy my default settings from a template, and then customize the new profile. I am following the instructions for backing up and restoring Firefox profiles. The instructions are linked below. In this way, I have most of the settings saved in the template. And then all I have to do for the new profile is add a home page and log in. I no longer have to go over the list above and change every setting.
Make sure to check your search engine after customizing. I've found Firefox likes to reset the search to Google.
A bookmarklet is a small piece of JavaScript that can be saved in the Address field of a bookmark. Then, when the bookmark is clicked, the JavaScript is executed.
The bookmarklets below generate a formatted link for the current page. Click on the bookmarklet and copy the link from the prompt.
These bookmarklets don't work on every Web site. I believe the issue is some sites restrict the JavaScript URI via their Content Security Policy.
javascript:(function(){
var myText = '=> ' + document.URL + ' ' + document.title;
prompt("Gemini Link", myText);
})();
javascript:(function(){
var title = document.title;
var url = document.URL;
title = title.replace(/\u005b/g, "\\[");
title = title.replace(/\u005d/g, "\\]");
var myLink = "[" + title + "](" + url + ")";
prompt("Markdown Link", myLink);
})();
I find it difficult to use the scrollbar in Firefox. It is too small. And, I miss having the arrow buttons which allowed me to scroll continuously.
Below, I suggest some changes to make scrolling easier on the desktop.
In Firefox settings, I suggest disabling auto-hide.
In about:config, the following two settings widen the scrollbar.
After navigating to the about:config URL in Firefox, search for each setting and modify its value. Below, the name of the setting is to the left of the colon and my suggested value is to the right.
Also, these advanced preferences have the advantage of working in the Reader View and while viewing PDFs. Customizations made by add-ons won't work on privileged pages.
You have the option of using an add-on to modify the scrolling behavior.
While I prefer scrollbar arrow buttons, those are not available in Firefox. And, the specific issue I am trying to address are "infinite scroll" pages like some search results and news articles. This is where the page keeps loading new content at the bottom and where an arrow button would be useful.
Right now, I'm trying out the ScrollAnywhere Firefox add-on. I have the multiplier set to 3.0. And this allows me to scroll to the bottom of an article in one gesture which solves my problem.
Note that middle clicking to paste continues to work normally on Linux. And the option to enable middle clicking only enables the clipboard permission for the add-on: resulting in a loss of privacy.
I'm new to bookmark tags. And, I want to mention a few problems I've been having.
Tags allow you to add extra information to bookmarks so that you can find bookmarks by searching with a tag name. You can type the name of a tag into the address bar, and bookmarks associated with that tag will show in a drop-down list. If you search for multiple tags separated by commas then the results will match all the tags.
However, intuitively, I expect to be able to type tags in any order and to get the same results. For example, "University, Books I Read" makes more sense to me than "Books I Read, University". And, if I type the tags in either order then I should get the same results. But, that is not what happens.
Instead, only "Books I Read, University" works because that lists the tags in alphabetical order. "University, Books I Read" (reversed order) fails with no obvious problem. And that's confusing.
The only way to fix the issue is to search for tags in alphabetical order. So, you always have to search for "apple, zebra" and never the other way around.
Note that if you open the bookmarks Library, there is a Tags column that shows tag names listed in the proper order. Sometimes I look there for an example. For example, I might click on the University tag on the left and then find a bookmark which also has the Books I Read tag. In the Tags column, that will be displayed as "Books I Read, University". And I can type that example into the Library search field to find all matching bookmarks.
Update:
I've noticed that searching for bookmark tags without using commas lets you type the tags in any order. For example, if I search for "University Books I Read" (no comma separating the tag names) then that works.
So, what works consistently is listing tags in alphabetical order and separating them with commas, or typing the full tag names in any order without using commas. And, the only time you have to use commas is when you're adding tags to bookmarks by manually typing them in.
There was also another problem.
If there is a tag called "Due Books" and you search for "due" then that works: You are shown bookmarks which match the tag.
In connection with this, if I remove a tag from a bookmark then I don't want that bookmark to show in future searches for the tag. For example, if I have "Tadpole" and "Frog" tags and I remove the "Tadpole" tag from a bookmark, then searching for the "Tadpole" tag should only show bookmarks that currently have that tag; and the old bookmark should no longer match.
But the problem I noticed was that if I remove the "Due Books" tag from a particular bookmark and later search for "due" then bookmarks that used to have that tag will still show. It looks like tags are cached by the address bar.
I can't fully account for this behavior.
But, I was able to solve my problem.
The solution is to search using the full name of the tag. For example, if I search for "due" then I see old bookmarks. But, if I search for the full name "Due Books" then the list is properly filtered and only bookmarks that currently have that tag are shown.
It does not look like the tag search is case sensitive. So, "due books" also works properly.
You can further filter your results by using the + address bar special character. For example:
+ due books
will only show bookmarks. Whereas,
due books
might include other suggestions, for example, from your browser history or open tabs.
Here, the + at the beginning of the keywords tells Firefox to limit suggestions to only bookmarks that you've tagged.
Here, I've demonstrated using a special character at the beginning of the keywords. But, Firefox also lets you add a special character to the end of the keywords. Both work. And you can use either form.
Just remember to use a space to separate your special character from the other keywords. "+due books" is different from "+ due books" (added space).
While troubleshooting my tagging issues, one solution I tried was to load the Firefox Library in a browser tab.
To be clear, searching for tags in the proper order works in the address bar, sidebar, and Library. But, loading the Library in a tab is something useful which I wanted to share.
If you want to open the Library in browser tab then open a new tab and navigate to this address:
chrome://browser/content/places/places.xhtml
That will load the same view as if you opened the Library window but instead the view is shown in a browser tab. This saves you from opening another window. This also gives you access to a list of tags in the folder tree on the left. And you can view the Tags column which provides additional useful information. These are advantages over the address bar and sidebar.
Note: If you have a problem copying and pasting this address, you might have inadvertently copied the leading ">" from the Gemini markup on this page. If you look closely, that manifests as an "Actions" tag or balloon in the Firefox address bar. You can either click the 'x' to close the Actions tag or jump to the beginning of the address and backspace over the tag / implicit ">". Quick Actions is a preview feature in Firefox.
Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles | Firefox Help
Global Privacy Control | Firefox Help
How to increase Firefox scrollbar width? | Reddit
Firefox Scrollbar Styles | Make Use Of
This Thunderbird thread mentions the zoom preference in Firefox | Thunderbird Support
How to Show the Bookmark Library in a Browser Tab | Mozilla Support
Special Characters that Filter Address Bar Suggestions e.g. "+" | Firefox Help
resume_from_crash Preference | MozillaZine
Created: Tuesday, April 26, 2022
Updated: Wednesday, July 24, 2024