Getting started with Firefox for mobile

Revision Information
  • Revision id: 15920
  • Created:
  • Creator: mluna
  • Comment: Added {for m6} section to describe hardware menu options and update ID menu items
  • Reviewed: No
  • Ready for localization: No
Revision Source
Revision Content

New to Firefox for mobile? 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 links to other great articles that you might want to explore later.

Where are all of the controls?

To save space on your device's display, Firefox's browser controls are stowed away on the sides of the screen. You can access them by swiping your finger left or right.

  • Swipe right to show your tabs and the New Tab button.
  • Swipe left to reveal the bookmark Star button, the Back and Forward buttons and the Gear button which lets you access the Preference, Downloads and Add-ons screens.
  • In addition, swiping either left, right or down will bring up the location bar which contains:
    • The site icon: Tap to see the site menu with page-specific options.
    • The location bar: Tap to open the Awesome Screen
    • The combination reload and stop button: Tap to stop loading or to reload a page.

Mobile Controls

Mobile Controls v6

  • Tap the Android Menu button on your hardware device to view the Site Options, Preferences, Add-ons, Share Page, Find In Page and More controls.

Android More Menu

  • Tap the More button to access Downloads or to use the Save as PDF function.

Image Android More Menu 2


How do I open a new tab?

  1. Swipe to the right to select the New Tab button located on the bottom, left side of the screen.
  2. You'll be taken to the Awesome Screen and a list of your most visited sites. You can type the name or address of the website you're looking for or just choose it from a list of your bookmarks, history and tabs.

Mobile Tabs1

For more tab tricks, see Manage tabs in Firefox for Android.

How do I quickly find the site I want?

  1. Open the Awesome Screen by tapping in the location bar at the top of any page or by creating a new tab.
  2. Then simply select a site from the list of your most visited sites.
    • You can also search through your bookmarks, history, and desktop tabs. Just tap on one of the results to go to that page.

Awesome Screen - alt

For more about the Awesome Screen see, Customize the Firefox home screen

How do I bookmark a site?

  1. Just go to the site you want to bookmark, swipe to the left and tap the Star button. The star will turn yellow to let you know the bookmark has been saved.

    The image "Mobile bookmark1" does not exist.
For more about working with bookmarks see, Add, delete and view bookmarked webpages in Firefox for Android

How do I zoom into a website?

To make Firefox zoom into a section of website, just double-tap the area you'd like to see. Double-tap again to zoom out.

Zoom1

For more about zoom settings see, Zoom in and out of websites on Firefox for Android

How do I manage downloads?

  1. Swipe to the left and tap the Gear button located on the bottom, right side of the screen.
  2. Select the downloads (downward arrow) tab to manage your downloads.

Mobile Downloads

How do I sync Firefox between my desktop and mobile?

You can use Firefox Sync to share your bookmarks, passwords, settings, history, and tabs between your desktop and mobile. First just set up Firefox Sync on your desktop and then add your mobile device with the easy setup code.

How do I find and install add-ons?

You can browse through and search for add-ons right inside of Firefox.

  1. To start, swipe to the left and tap the Gear button located on the bottom, right side of the screen.
  2. Select the add-ons (puzzle piece) tab and scroll down to see an add-ons search bar and a list of popular add-ons .
  3. To install an add-on, tap to select it and then tap Add to Firefox.

    Mobile Add-ons1
To learn more about add-ons see, Find and install Add-ons on Firefox for Android