Who uses Firefox to go on the internet could change the behavior of the browser by changing some of the many hidden options in the Mozilla browser.
It’s easy to customize Firefox using extensions and add-ons, but each of them makes the program heavy and takes up memory.
Many customizations to optimize Firefox and modify its main functions can be obtained even without installing anything, modifying some parameters of the secret menu about: config.
By typing the about: config command in the address bar, you can access advanced settings which, as written in the warning, must be handled with care so as not to compromise the functioning of the browser.
It is a long list of parameters, apparently incomprehensible, which allow you to change many options on how Firefox should open and on how to view web pages.
Without venturing into experiments, in this guide we see 10 of the main tricks that you can change to your liking, without risking to ruin the program, to optimize Firefox and turn it into a better browser.
Each of the about: config advanced settings parameters can be searched from the top filter bar and can be changed with a double click.
1) browser.ctrlTab.previews, by default it is False (false).
Normally, you use the Ctrl-Tab key combination to move between open tabs.
If you set this to True (true), CTRL-Tab displays tab previews for a shortcut.
2) default browser.tabs.closeButtons is 1.
If you no longer want to see the X (the Close tab button) on every single tab opened in Firefox, you can change this setting by setting the value 0.
Setting it to 0 the X is only displayed on the active tab, on 2 and 3 X disappears completely on the tab while with 1 you see the X next to each card.
3) browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab by default is True.
The Firefox browser, when you close the only active tab, closes completely.
ù Changing the parameter to False instead, when lsi closes the last card left, Firefox is still open, without any open tab.
4) default browser.urlbar.trimURLs is True.
If you change the option to False, the internet addresses of the sites will return to be viewed in full, including the http: // which, by default, is hidden.
5) browser.allTabs.previews, by default it is False.
To the right of the last open tab, there is a small button to display a list of all open tabs.
By changing this setting to True, instead of seeing the list, you can see thumbnail previews of tabs in a grid, with a search box at the top.
6) default browser.showQuitWarning is False.
If you put it on True, that little window returns when Firefox closes, where you can save the session before exiting.
By saving the session, the next time you open the browser, you will be reloaded the tabs that were left open in the last session.
7) browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone by default is True.
After each download, Firefox will check the downloaded file for viruses.
If you want to remove this option, you can change the parameter to false.
8) security.dialog_enable_delay default is 2000.
When installing a new extension, Firefox counts 4 seconds before proceeding with the installation.
If you want to delete this wait, you can set the value of this hidden option to 0.
9) default middlemouse.paste is False.
If you set this value to True, when you press the mouse wheel on the address bar, you can paste the last copied word.
10) default browser.search.openintab is False.
If you want the searches made through the search bar at the top right are opened in a new tab and not in the current one, set the value to True.
11) browser.urlbar.maxRichResults
Change the value to have more suggestions when writing a URL in the address bar.
Alternatively, set to -1 to disable the suggestions altogether.
12) places.frecency.unvisitedBookmarkBonus default is 140
Increase this number to give more importance to the favorite sites in URL suggestions
13) default browser.urlbar.formatting.enabled is True
Put on False to read the internet addresses in bold and not in gray.
14) extensions.checkCompatibility can be changed from True to False to disable the compatibility check of the extensions and also install the older extensions.
15)layout.spellcheckDefault can be set to the value 2 to enable the spelling of the words on all the boxes of the web pages, even the search ones.
17) browser.tabs.animate on False browser.panorama.animate_zoom on False – browser.fullscreen.animateUp with value 0 to disable all animations.
Other parameters of about: config have been shown to optimize Firefox for faster internet browsing
If you know other hidden tricks and options that can change Firefox’s behavior for the better, let people know.