Last updated:
2 hours ago
Smart Window is an optional window type in Firefox that includes a built-in, AI-powered assistant to help you work with your tabs and browsing history. It is available in Firefox for desktop and requires you to sign in with a Mozilla account.
Table of Contents
- 1 Smart Window overview
- 2 Memories
- 3 Access Smart Window
- 4 Use the assistant
- 5 Add pages as context
- 6 Privacy and data in Smart Window
- 7 FAQs
- 7.1 How do I provide feedback about responses?
- 7.2 Who can see my chats and memories?
- 7.3 Are chats and memories synced across devices?
- 7.4 Is my browsing activity in Smart Window separate from other windows?
- 7.5 I don’t want the assistant sidebar to open on each tab. What can I do?
- 7.6 I don’t want this in my Firefox. What can I do?
- 7.7 How is the built-in assistant different than the AI chatbot in the sidebar?
- 7.8 Are there any hardware requirements to use Smart Window?
- 7.9 Why doesn’t New Tab have an address bar?
- 7.10 Why can’t I customize New Tab?
- 7.11 Why doesn’t my chosen theme work?
- 8 Related articles
Smart Window overview
Smart Window works like a regular Firefox window, but includes additional features to help you browse more efficiently.
Built-in assistant
The built-in assistant helps you do more with your tabs. It can:
- Summarize pages
- Generate recommendations
- Compare information
- Plan tasks using your open tabs
You can start a chat with the assistant right from the New Tab or in the sidebar while you’re viewing a page. Chats are saved automatically. Get back to your saved chats from the bottom of New Tab or choosing chats in the application menu. Delete chats anytime.
Plus, you can choose which model powers the assistant based on what’s important to you. Learn more about models.
Memories
You can personalize your Smart Window experience by allowing Firefox to learn from patterns in your activity to create memories.
- Memories can be based on your chats in Smart Window, and your browsing activity in Smart and Classic Windows.
- Memories are optional, and they’re stored locally on your device to help protect your privacy.
- You can view, delete or turn them off anytime.
Memories help the assistant provide more custom responses over time. Learn more about memories.
Access Smart Window
You can open a new Smart Window or switch an existing Classic Window to a Smart Window.
Open a new Smart Window
- Click the menu button ☰.
- Select .
All your open tabs in the window stay intact, and the window type switches.
Switch a Classic Window to Smart Window
- In a Classic Window, click the menu button ☰.
- Select .
Use the assistant
You can start a chat from New Tab or from the sidebar while viewing a page.
Start a chat from New Tab
- Open a in a Smart Window
- Type your question into the assistant entry box
- Press to send
Start a chat from the sidebar while viewing a page
- Click the button in the upper-right corner to open the sidebar
- Type your question and send it
- Click the button again to close the sidebar
Add pages as context
In the sidebar, the assistant automatically uses the page you are currently viewing as context. You can also add other recent pages as context.
- Click in the entry box.
- Select the button, or type @.
- Choose one or more recent tabs to include.
- Send your question.
Ideas for what to ask
How you use Smart Window’s built-in assistant is completely up to you. Here are some ideas for what you can do and prompts to try.
| If you want… | Prompts to try |
|---|---|
| Content in different formats | Summarize the main points from this page Summarize this page in two sentences List every person mentioned in this page |
| Help understanding new topics | Define [insert term]. Use examples and metaphors to help me understand. Explain the concept of [insert topic] like I’m a true beginner. Quiz me on this page. Ask 5 multiple choice questions, one by one. |
| To compare while shopping | Compare @Tab and @Tab. Let me know which you’d recommend based on [insert your criteria here like price, ratings, quality, etc.] Compare the headphones I have open |
| Help modifying recipes | I want to halve this recipe. List each ingredient and how much of each I’ll need. Help me find substitutions for [ingredient name]. Suggest ways to make this recipe gluten free |
| Find pages in history | List all the [criteria] I looked at last week For example, “List all links to Denver hotels I looked at last week.” “List the pasta recipes I looked at yesterday.” |
| Recommendations | Recommend some new recipes for me to try Recommend a [morning, evening, etc] routine for my household. For recommendations, the assistant may ask follow up questions or rely on memories to personalize the response |
What the assistant can’t do
The assistant can’t take actions on your behalf. For example, it can’t:
- Click buttons for you
- Fill out forms
- Complete purchases
- Book flights or hotels
- Change your browser settings
- Act independently in any way
- Sign you into sites where your credentials are saved
In Smart Window, you’re always in control of what you do on the web.
Usage limits
There are daily usage limits for chatting with the assistant. If you reach the limit, you’ll see a message letting you know. Limits reset at midnight Eastern Time.
After you hit the limit, you can still browse normally in Smart Window, but you won’t be able to chat until the limit resets.
Privacy and data in Smart Window
What Smart Window can access:
- The page you’re currently viewing
- Open tabs you reference, using the @ command or plus button in the entry box
- History you explicitly ask about, from Classic and Smart Windows
What Smart Window cannot access:
- Activity and data from Private Windows
- Passwords
- Payment information
- Unread emails
- Files on your device
How your data is handled
- When you chat with the assistant, your requests are sent to Mozilla servers, and then forwarded to the AI model provider. Chat data is not stored by Mozilla or by AI model providers, and the model providers see all requests as coming from Mozilla, not individual users.
- If needed to answer your question, Smart Window may use limited browsing context, such as page titles, URLs, and page content you’ve asked it to consider.
- If you turn on learning from your activity, Mozilla processes information from your assistant interactions and recent browsing activity on its servers to create memories, then returns those memories to your device. No data are stored on our servers and memories are stored locally on your device.
- Chat conversations are also stored locally on your device.
- No models used by Smart Window are trained on your data.
Turn off Smart Window
If you tried Smart Window and later decide you do not want to use it, you can block it from Firefox settings.
- Open .
- Select .
- Next to , select .
FAQs
How do I provide feedback about responses?
Please report any issues you may have with Assistant responses here.
Who can see my chats and memories?
Chats and memories are stored locally on your device, just like your browsing history. That means only you can see them. If you share your device with others, they may see your chats and memories too. Learn more in the Privacy and data in Smart Window section above.
Are chats and memories synced across devices?
Right now, no. Chats and memories cannot be synced across devices.
Is my browsing activity in Smart Window separate from other windows?
Memories can be created from your chats, as well as anything stored in your browser history - including activity from both Classic and Smart Windows. Browsing in Private Windows is always separate, and your activity there is never remembered.
I don’t want the assistant sidebar to open on each tab. What can I do?
You can update your settings so that the assistant sidebar is closed by default. Go to Settings > AI controls > Smart Window and under Default settings, uncheck Open assistant automatically. Then, to use the assistant on any tab, select Ask.
I don’t want this in my Firefox. What can I do?
If you don’t want to see any access points to Smart Window in Firefox, go to Settings > AI controls and choose Blocked next to Smart Window.
If you’ve already chosen Block AI enhancements at the top of AI Controls, it will already be blocked.
How is the built-in assistant different than the AI chatbot in the sidebar?
In Classic and Private Windows, sidebar AI chatbots powered by ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot, do not t have access to your browsing history and can’t see your open tabs.
In Smart Window, the built-in AI assistant does have access to your browsing history, can learn from your activity if you choose to create memories and personalize responses, and can see your recent and open tabs, to answer questions about the pages.
Are there any hardware requirements to use Smart Window?
Smart Window uses on-device models to power some of its features. This means you’ll need 4 GB or more of available RAM for some parts of Smart Window to work as intended.
You can still use Smart Window if you don’t meet this requirement. However, memories won’t be used to personalize responses and the assistant’s ability to search your history may be limited.
Why doesn’t New Tab have an address bar?
On New Tab, the single-entry box is multi-purpose and works as an address bar. You can type or paste a URL into the entry box the same as you would an address bar at the top of other windows.
Why can’t I customize New Tab?
For now, customization options for Smart Window are limited. We expect to make it more customizable over time, as we learn more about how people use it.
Why doesn’t my chosen theme work?
For now, Smart Window has its own built-in themes — one light and one dark that work based on your system settings. We expect to make Smart Window compatible with more themes over time.
