Is there a way to disable the screenshot functionality in Firefox 55? Using that functionality at a hospital would violate federal law (auto uploads to a site)
Is there a way to disable the screenshot functionality in Firefox 55? I work for a hospital and know employees will use that functionality because they don't realize it's uploading to a website. Without a BAA on file with Mozilla, it is illegal for us to use that functionality if patient data is displayed. They frequently use the snipping tool and send emails internally to resolve issues, so having a screenshot icon in Firefox would make it even easier for them to do that. Unfortunately it's saving everything to a remote website instead of simply remaining on the host computer for them to download. We need to be able to disable that functionality via group policy or Mozilla needs to tweak how that works. It shouldn't upload unless you tell it to upload. The alternative is for us to block Firefox from the network. Chrome is already blocked because it would render critical data improperly. Please don't make us get stuck with IE!
Chosen solution
There are these two pref settings possible.
- extensions.screenshots.system-disabled = true
- extensions.screenshots.disabled = true
You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I'll be careful" to continue.
You can use the mozilla.cfg file in the Firefox program folder to set or lock preferences.
The mozilla.cfg file needs to be in the main Firefox program folder.
These functions can be used in the mozilla.cfg file:
defaultPref(); // set new default value pref(); // set pref, allow changes in current session lockPref(); // lock pref, disallow changes
This requires a local-settings.js file in the "defaults/pref" folder where the channel-prefs.js file is located that specifies to use mozilla.cfg.
pref("general.config.filename", "mozilla.cfg");
pref("general.config.obscure_value", 0);
The mozilla.cfg file and possibly local-settings.js need to start with a comment line (//).
See Configuration:
See also:
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Locking_preferences
- http://mike.kaply.com/2012/03/16/customizing-firefox-autoconfig-files/
You can use this code in mozilla.cfg to disable the extension for all Firefox profiles:
//
lockPref("extensions.screenshots.system-disabled", true);
Read this answer in context
👍 14
All Replies (7)
Chosen Solution
There are these two pref settings possible.
- extensions.screenshots.system-disabled = true
- extensions.screenshots.disabled = true
You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I'll be careful" to continue.
You can use the mozilla.cfg file in the Firefox program folder to set or lock preferences.
The mozilla.cfg file needs to be in the main Firefox program folder.
These functions can be used in the mozilla.cfg file:
defaultPref(); // set new default value pref(); // set pref, allow changes in current session lockPref(); // lock pref, disallow changes
This requires a local-settings.js file in the "defaults/pref" folder where the channel-prefs.js file is located that specifies to use mozilla.cfg.
pref("general.config.filename", "mozilla.cfg");
pref("general.config.obscure_value", 0);
The mozilla.cfg file and possibly local-settings.js need to start with a comment line (//).
See Configuration:
See also:
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Locking_preferences
- http://mike.kaply.com/2012/03/16/customizing-firefox-autoconfig-files/
You can use this code in mozilla.cfg to disable the extension for all Firefox profiles:
//
lockPref("extensions.screenshots.system-disabled", true);
Is there a possibility to just force the screenshots to be saved locally?
It sounds like such an amazing feature to have built-in, but I think many like me would want the screenshots to stay locally...
Quote: Is there a possibility to just force the screenshots to be saved locally?
Not if you would use this special Firefox screenshot extension.
Firefox comes with other builtin features to take a screenshot as part of the Web Developer tools that save the screenshot to the default download directory.
firefox screenshots doesn't upload screenshots automatically. when you take a screenshot you're first asked if you want to save (unfortunately it's labelled as "download" but it's only in your pcs memory at that point) it to your computer or upload it to the cloud.
@philcor-el said
Firefox comes with other builtin features to take a screenshot as part of the Web Developer tools that save the screenshot to the default download directory.
Wow, thank you! That was a hidden Firefox feature I really like! It works really well, how long has the screenshot functionality existed in the developer tools section?! :) Now I can get rid of my 3rd party addon for this functionality, really nice.
If just the screenshot button could just be placed in the main toolbar instead... which leads to:
philipp said
firefox screenshots doesn't upload screenshots automatically. when you take a screenshot you're first asked if you want to save (unfortunately it's labelled as "download" but it's only in your pcs memory at that point) it to your computer or upload it to the cloud.
Thanks a lot for the info, that sounds just perfect - options for everyone! :) So (for me) I'm going from 0 built-in screenshot features to 2 built-in screenshot features in Firefox, excellent!
The basic function is not recent as you can see by this article from 2012:
While it's nice that this can be disabled, the default presentation of the Save/Download dialog does not make it clear that "Save" will upload to a third party. It would be more helpful if this was "Save to Cloud" or "Upload". As it is, the "Save" is prominent, ambiguous, and placed in the location users would most expect a regular "download" save button to appear making it extremely easy for an average user to violate any number of privacy and copyright laws by accident(or a misclick for that matter). I realize this is not new functionality, but I still think that this presentation is a problem. The best option would be to switch the download and save buttons and make the download button more prominent.