How to switch from 32-bit to 64-bit Firefox

Revision Information
  • Revision id: 140783
  • Created:
  • Creator: AIVAS
  • Comment: Aat least 2 reports (including mine) where hyperlinks failed after this upgrade. These steps should avoid that problem. The I (AIVAS1701@gmail.com) suggested changing the wording to include the warning and steps. Wording by jscher2000.
  • Reviewed: No
  • Ready for localization: No
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This article only applies to Firefox on Windows.

The 64-bit version of Firefox can provide better performance than the 32-bit version. Want to switch to the 64-bit version of Firefox? Just install the 64-bit version and uninstall the 32-bit version. Your Firefox user data (passwords, bookmarks, settings, extensions and themes, etc.) will not be removed.

  • 64-bit Firefox requires a 64-bit version of Windows 7 or higher. To find out if you are running a 64-bit version of Windows, visit this Microsoft article.

Users of Microsoft Office Outlook: Before changing from 32-bit Firefox to 64-bit Firefox, it is recommended to temporarily change your default browser to Internet Explorer. You can change it back to Firefox after the change. This is important to avoid problems opening links from messages in Outlook.

See:

Make Internet Explorer your default browser Make Firefox your default browser If you skipped this step and encounter errors along the lines of "This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.", you can find a help page here: This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions.

  1. Go to this Mozilla Firefox download page and click on the Windows 64-bit download link.
    DownloadWin64-bit
  2. Run the setup file you've just downloaded and follow the prompts to install the 64-bit version of Firefox.
  3. Close Firefox.
  4. Now it's time to remove the 32-bit version. Open the Windows Start menu and click on SettingsControl Panel. Open the SystemPrograms panel, then select the Apps & features tabPrograms and Features panel.
  5. Scroll down the list of appsprograms until you find the Mozilla Firefox item that contains x86 in the name. Select it, and click Uninstall.
  6. Follow the prompts in the Uninstall Wizard to complete the removal of the 32-bit version.