Get started with Firefox - An overview of the main features
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New to Firefox? Well you’ve come to the right place. This article covers all the basics and will get you up and running in just a few minutes. It also has tons of links to other great articles that you might want to explore later.
Table of Contents
Basic set up
Set or change your home page
Choose the page that opens when you start Firefox or click the Home button.
- Open a tab with the webpage you want to use as your home page.
- Drag and drop that tab onto the Home button .
- Click to set this as your home page.
More options can be found in the home page article.
Import your favorites from other browsers
No need to start over when you switch to Firefox. Import your favorites, history and other data.
- Click the menu button to open the menu panel. Click and then click the bar at the bottom.
- In the Library window, click
Read detailed instructions for Internet Explorer and Google Chrome.
How to print
This is super easy.
- Click the menu button and then click .
For more on printing options, see How to print web pages in Firefox.
Use the zoom controls to make text and images bigger
No need to squint at tiny text.
- Click the menu button and you'll see the zoom controls at the top.
- Use the button to zoom in, and the button to zoom out. The number in the middle is the current zoom level - click it to reset the zoom to 100%.
Make Firefox your default browser
Like using Firefox? Make it your default program for opening links.
- In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click and then select or , depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button and select .
- Select the
- Close the page. Any changes you've made will automatically be saved.
- In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click and then select or , depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button and select .
- Select the
- In the Set Default Programs window, select from the list of programs on the left and click . Then click to close the window.
- Close the page. Any changes you've made will automatically be saved.
For details, see Make Firefox your default browser.
Browsing and searching
Search the web
Pick your favorite search engine with Firefox's built-in Search bar.
- Just click the search icon, on the left side of the search bar, to pick the one you want.
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 Bookmarks folder. That's it!
For more, 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.
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 to your computer about which sites and pages you’ve visited.
- Click the menu button and then click
Learn more about how Private Browsing works.
Make Firefox your own
Customize the menu or the toolbar
You can change the items that appear in the menu or your toolbar.
- Click the menu button The image "new fx menu" does not exist. and choose
- A special tab will open which allows you to drag and drop items in or out of the menu and the toolbar.
.
- When you are done, click the green 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.
- Click the menu button , click and select .
- To see more information on a Featured Add-on or Theme, click it. You can then click the green
- 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
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
- Firefox will download the requested add-on and may ask you to confirm that you want to install it.
- Click if it pops up. Your tabs will be saved and restored after the restart.
To learn more about add-ons, see Find and install add-ons to add features to Firefox.
Keep your Firefox in sync
Access your bookmarks, history, passwords and more from any device.
- First create a Firefox account:
- Click the menu button and choose and follow the instructions to create your account.
- 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.
- Common questions after updating to Firefox version 29
- We have hundreds of articles that cover nearly every Firefox question you might have.
Browsing the web
Setting your home page
Setting your home page in Firefox is easy. Just drag the site's icon to the Home button. For more about your home page and to set what tabs show when you open Firefox, see How to set the home page.
One-click bookmarking
To create a bookmark, click on the star icon in the Location bar. That's it! For more about using bookmarks, including tagging and organizing, see Bookmarks in Firefox.
Finding everything with the Awesome Bar
We like to call Firefox’s Location bar the "Awesome Bar" because when you start to type the name or address of a website you’ve been to before, it finds it for you in an instant. And the more you use it, the better it gets. To learn more Awesome Bar tricks, including searching through your open tabs and searching the web, see Address bar autocomplete suggestions in Firefox.
Searching the web
Search the web with your favorite search site in Firefox’s built-in Search bar. Just click the icon on the left to switch search engines. Learn more search tricks with the Search bar - add, change and manage search engines on Firefox article.
Tabs tabs tabs!
Tabs let you have multiple websites open inside a single window, keeping your screen clutter-free and making it easy to switch between sites.
To make a new tab, click the new tab button (+) on the right side of the last tab.
To learn more about working with tabs, see Use tabs to organize lots of websites in a single window.
Pinned Tabs
Pinned Tabs let you keep your favorite web apps like Facebook, Gmail and Twitter open and just a click away. To create a Pinned Tab, right-clickcontrol-click on the tab and select from the menu. To learn more about how Pinned Tabs work, see Pinned Tabs - keep favorite websites open and just a click away.
Private Browsing
Firefox’s Private Browsing feature allows you to browse the Internet without saving any information to your computer about which sites and pages you’ve visited.
To start Private Browsing, go to the top of the Firefox window, the menu bar, click the button and select menu . Read the Private Browsing - Use Firefox without saving history article to learn more.
To open a Private Browsing window, go to the top of the Firefox window, the menu bar, click the button and select menu . Read the Private Browsing - Use Firefox without saving history article to learn more.
Customizing Firefox with Add-ons
Add-ons are like apps that you install to add bells & whistles to Firefox. You can get add-ons that compare prices, check the weather, change the look of Firefox, listen to music, or even update your Facebook profile. To learn more about Add-ons and how to install them, see Find and install add-ons to add features to Firefox.
Themes
Easily personalize Firefox's appearance. Try some themes on at Mozilla's add-on website.
Staying in Sync
Firefox Sync lets you securely access your history, bookmarks, tabs and passwords across all of your devices. See How do I set up Sync on my computer? to learn more or just go straight to syncing your computers or your Android device.