Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

How do I make Firefox warn me before quitting?

more options

How do I make Firefox warn me before quitting? I'm on a Mac (OS 10.6.8) using Firefox 25.0.1. I have Firefox Preferences set to clear history before quitting, which makes it especially important for me to avoid quitting by accident. I don't seem to be able to access the config editor to fix this; anything i enter in the location bar autocompletes (even though I don't want it to) and takes me to the web.

I've tried accessing the config editor through Thunderbird (which I also use) -- thinking that config editor might be shared with Firefox -- but (though there are numerous browser options) there is no "browser.show" option there.

How do I make Firefox warn me before quitting? I'm on a Mac (OS 10.6.8) using Firefox 25.0.1. I have Firefox Preferences set to clear history before quitting, which makes it especially important for me to avoid quitting by accident. I don't seem to be able to access the config editor to fix this; anything i enter in the location bar autocompletes (even though I don't want it to) and takes me to the web. I've tried accessing the config editor through Thunderbird (which I also use) -- thinking that config editor might be shared with Firefox -- but (though there are numerous browser options) there is no "browser.show" option there.

All Replies (10)

more options

Install Mozilla Firefox Beta for MAC, the version of Firefox Beta is a little more complete.

Mozilla Firefox Beta: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/channel

¡good luck!

more options

Hi XxDrAKoNxX, unless you know this feature is included in the beta (future Firefox 26), I wouldn't recommend this.

Hi Mitchell--Oakland, are you quitting by using Quit (or the equivalent keyboard shortcut), or just closing all windows? I have read that on Mac, closing all the windows doesn't quit Firefox, but I don't have first-hand experience.

I can't think of a built-in way to warn you before quitting. Perhaps someone has created an add-on for that?? You could search on the Add-ons site? https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/ See next reply

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer

more options

Actually, there is a preference named browser.showQuitWarning in about:config, but you need to open it in Firefox instead of Thunderbird.

In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.

To filter the results, type or paste quit in the search box that appears above the list.

To switch the value from false to true, double-click the browser.showQuitWarning preference (it should turn bold and say user set to true).

Does it work?

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer

more options

You can also access about:config by way of about:about It has a colon and not a period.

I agree that you do not need to be testing the Beta versions of 26.0 as was suggested by XxDrAKoNxX.

Modified by James

more options

I changed the value to "true," but I still don't get the warning.

more options

I tested the preference in Windows and got the warning when I used File menu > Exit. Not sure how it should work on Mac.

more options

Nope, not on the Mac, whether I use the menu or the "command/Q" shortcut.

more options

Are there other "config" preferences to change as well in order for it to work?

more options

Could it be related to our startup preferences? I have Firefox set to start up to my home page. Do you have the same, or "windows and tabs from last time"?

more options

Set to open with Google as home page. Remember, too, that I have Firefox set to clear my history before quitting (which nullifies the restore function): that's why the warning's important to me!