How do I switch update channels?

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  • Revision id: 15662
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  • Creator: myakura
  • Comment: Update Switching Channels since channel swithcer no longer exist.
  • Reviewed: Yes
  • Reviewed:
  • Reviewed by: AliceWyman
  • Is approved? No
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Want to try the future of Firefox and provide feedback to help make it great? Now you can easily switch to Firefox Beta or the experimental Aurora update channel to test out upcoming features. Don't worry, if you ever need to switch back to the regular, stable version of Firefox you can do that too.

This article only applies to the new Firefox Beta and Aurora releases — try them out.

What do the different channels mean?

  • Aurora: This version has all the newest features but may not be as stable as the beta or final releases.
  • Beta: This version has all of the features that made it past the Aurora stage and has been tested to be more stable.
Note: Some Add-ons may not be compatible with Firefox Beta or Aurora.
  • Release: This is the tried and tested final release being used by hundreds of millions around the world.

Switching channels

There are two ways of switching channels.

One: Manually install a build

  1. Navigate to http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/channel/.
  2. Download an installer to which you want to switch.
  3. Install and launch.

Two: Modify your Firefox configuration

If you are not confident with doing that, please choose option one.
  1. Navigate to [about:config]. You will see a warning dialog. Read the text shown in the page and if you are okay with it, click the button below to proceed.
  2. In the Filter box, type app.update.channel. Check if you see an entry with the same Preference Name.
  3. Double click the entry and you see a prompt to input the value. Type either to switch the channel : nightly, aurora, beta, stable.

Note: You will use the same profile no matter what channel you are on so you will always have access to your bookmarks, history, passwords and other personal data.