How to download and install Firefox on Mac

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This article explains how to download and install Firefox on a Mac. If you are upgrading from a previous version of Firefox, see Update Firefox to the latest release.

Current Firefox versions require Mac OS X 10.5 or above and an Intel processor. See all System Requirements.

Installing Firefox on Mac

Visit the Firefox download page in any browser (e.g. Apple Safari). It will automatically detect the platform and language on your computer and recommend the best edition(s) of Firefox for you. If you want to download another edition of Firefox, click on "Systems and Languages" to see a list of all the others available.

Download the disk image (dmg file) to your desktop. Once the download has completed, the disk image may open by itself and mount a new volume which contains the Firefox application. If you do not see the new volume, double-click the Firefox dmg icon to open it.

A Finder window appears, containing the Firefox application. Drag the Firefox Icon into the Applications folder.

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After Firefox has been dragged into the Applications folder you can eject the disk image by selecting it in a Finder window and pressing the command+E keys or by using the Finder's File menu, and selecting Eject as shown below.

  • If you find that the Firefox disk image will not eject, it is probably because of a Leopard bug, that prevents disk ejection, after you've copied files from one drive to another. Ejecting the disk via the Disk Utility should still work.

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Firefox is now ready for use. Open the Applications folder and double-click on Firefox to start it.

  • (Leopard) If you're using Leopard, you will be warned that you downloaded Firefox from the internet. Because you download Firefox from the official site, you can click Open.

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When you first start up Firefox, it will not be your default browser and you'll be told about that. That means that when you open a link in your mail application, an Internet shortcut, or HTML document, it will not open in Firefox. If you want Firefox to do the above, click Yes to set it as your default browser. If not or you are just trying out Firefox, click No.

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