Get started with Firefox - An overview of the main features

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Got five minutes? Share your thoughts about Firefox by filling out this survey. Thanks for your time!
Got five minutes? Share your thoughts about Firefox by filling out this survey. Thanks for your time!

Welcome to Firefox! We'll show you all the basics to get you up and running. When you're ready to go beyond the basics, check out the other links for features you can explore later.

New Tab page: great content at your fingertips

By default, Firefox gives you access to great content every time you open a new tab. Customize this page by hovering over the sections and thumbnails or click the gear icon for more options.

new tab page 57
Want to learn more? See New Tab page in Firefox.

Search everything with the unified search/address bar

Whether you know the exact web address or just searching, the unified Awesome Bar handles it all. Firefox's URL bar gives you suggestions based on your existing bookmarks and tags, history, open tabs, and popular searches. How's that for Awesome? Just start typing in a search or url and watch the magic happen.

awesome bar 57
Learn more search tricks with the Address bar autocomplete suggestions in Firefox.

Page actions menu: Bookmark, snap, save or share

Find a really great web page? Save or share them. The Page Actions menu in the address bar lets you bookmark web pages, copy or email links, take screenshots, and send pages to your phone or to your Pocket list so you can read them whenever and wherever you want.

page actions 57

Private Browsing with Tracking Protection: browse fast and free

Browse the Internet without saving any information on your computer about which sites and pages you’ve visited. Firefox will also block creepy trackers that follow your behavior across the Web.

  • Click the menu button Fx57Menu and then click New Private Window. (Tip: You can also right-clickcontrol + click on a link on a web page, then click Open Link in New Private Window.)
private mask 57 winprivate mask 57private mask 57 linux

Keep your Firefox in sync

Set up Firefox Accounts so you can take your browsing information with you wherever you go. Click the menu button Fx57Menu, choose Sign in to Sync and follow the instructions to create your account. Then sign in to the newly-created account on your other devices and that's it!

For detailed instructions, see How do I set up Sync on my computer?

Home is just a click away

Choose the page that opens when you start Firefox or click the Home button.

  1. Open a tab with the web page you want to use as your home page.
  2. Drag and drop that tab onto the Home button Home Button 57.
    set homepage 57
More options can be found in the How to set the home page article.

Customize the menu or the toolbar

We've streamlined the toolbar with the most popular features but Firefox has even more features tucked away. Take a peek!

  1. Click the menu button Fx57Menu and choose 57customize-icon.png Customize….
  2. Drag and drop the features you want onto your toolbar or the panel on the right.
    customize drag 57
  3. When you are done, click the Done button.
Learn more about customizing Firefox.

Set or change your home page

Choose the page that opens when you start Firefox or click the Home button.

  1. Open a tab with the webpage you want to use as your home page.
  2. Drag and drop that tab onto the Home button Home Button.
    Home Page 29 - Win8Home Page 29 - MacHome Page 29 - Linux
  3. Click Yes to set this as your home page.

More options can be found in the home page article.

Search the web

Pick your favorite search engine with Firefox's built-in Search bar.

  • Just start typing into the search bar and pick the search engine you want.
    quick search winquick search fx34quick search linux Y

Learn more search tricks with the Search bar article.

Bookmark a website

Save your favorite sites.

  • To create a bookmark, click the star in the toolbar. The star will turn blue and a bookmark for the page you're on will be created in the Unsorted BookmarksOther Bookmarks folder. That's it!
    Bookmark 29 WinBookmark 29 MacBookmark 29 Lin
Tip: Drag a tab directly to your bookmarks toolbar to save it there.

For more information, see the bookmarks article.

Find everything with the Awesome Bar

We like to call Firefox’s address bar the "Awesome Bar" because it quickly finds places you've visited before.

  • Start typing in the address bar and you'll see a list of pages from your browsing history and bookmarks. When you see the page you want, just click on it.
    Bookmark3 29 WinBookmark3 29 MacBookmark3 29 Lin
Tip: You can also do a web search from here. Give it a try.

To learn more tricks, see the Awesome Bar article.

Private Browsing

Firefox’s Private Browsing feature allows you to browse the Internet without saving any information on your computer about which sites and pages you’ve visited.

  • Click the menu button New Fx Menu and then click New Private Window.
    private browsing - fx29 - winxpprivate browsing - fx29 - win8private browsing - fx29 - macprivate browsing button - linux

Learn more about how Private Browsing works.

Customize the menu or the toolbar

You can change the items that appear in the menu or your toolbar.

  1. Click the menu button The image "new fx menu" does not exist. and choose Customize.
    • A special tab will open which allows you to drag and drop items in or out of the menu and the toolbar.
    Customize Fx 29 Win8Customize Fx 29 Linux
  2. When you are done, click the green Exit Customize button.

Learn more about customizing Firefox.

Add features to Firefox with add-ons

Add-ons are like apps that you can install to make Firefox work the way you want.

  1. Click the menu button Fx89menuButton, click Add-ons and themes and select Get Add-ons.
  2. To see more information on a Featured Add-on or Theme, click it. You can then click the green Add to Firefox button to install it.
    • You can also search for specific add-ons by using the search box at the top. You can then install any add-ons you find with the Install button.
      Addon1 29 WinAddon2 29 WinAddon1 29 MacAddon2 29 MacAddon1 29 LinAddon2 29 Lin
  3. Firefox will download the requested add-on and may ask you to confirm that you want to install it.
  4. Click Restart Now if it pops up. Your tabs will be saved and restored after the restart.
  1. Click the menu button Fx89menuButton, click Add-ons and themes and select Get Add-ons.
  2. To install a featured add-on, click the grey toggle button, which will turn green. To uninstall an add-on you just installed, click the toggle button again.
    Fx48-GetAddonsFx48-GetAddons-Linux

At the bottom of the list of featured add-ons, there's a See more add-ons! button you can click. It will take you to addons.mozilla.org where you can search for specific add-ons.

To learn more about add-ons, see Find and install add-ons to add features to Firefox.

Tip: Some add-ons place a button in the toolbar after installation. You can remove those or move them into the menu if you want – see Customize Firefox controls, buttons and toolbars.

Keep your Firefox in sync

Access your bookmarks, history, passwords and more from any device.

  1. First create a Firefox account:
    • Click the menu button New Fx Menu and choose Sign in to Sync and follow the instructions to create your account.
    Sync 29Sync in menu Linux
  2. Then just sign in to connect another device.

For detailed instructions, see How do I set up Sync on my computer?

Get help

If you have more questions or ever need help with Firefox, you're on the right website.

  • This site has hundreds of articles that cover nearly every Firefox question you might have.
Get Help