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Firefox settings, session restore, Firefox preferences

Learn how to access and adjust Firefox settings, including privacy, startup behavior, downloads, and more.

Firefox Settings let you customize how your browser works—from restoring sessions and blocking ads to syncing data and managing privacy. This article explains each panel in the Firefox Settings menu and includes links to common tasks like organizing bookmarks, recovering closed tabs, or managing ads. To open Firefox Settings: #[[Template:optionspreferences]] The {menu General} settings panel will open. # For other settings, select a different panel from the left column. #;{for not fx130}[[Image:Fx128Settings-Simplified|width=600]]{/for}{for fx130}[[Image:Fx130Settings-Simplified|width=600]]{/for} __TOC__ =Overview of Firefox Settings panels= ==General== This panel includes startup, tab behavior, downloads, language settings, and more: *{menu Startup}: Set Firefox as your default browser and restore previous sessions. **Make Firefox your [[Make Firefox your default browser|default browser]]. **Set Firefox to [[Restore previous session - Configure when Firefox shows your most recent tabs and windows|restore your previous session]] at startup. **[[Import data from another browser|import data]] from another browser. *{menu Tabs}: Manage your tabs. **Choose how [[Tab preferences and settings|tabs are opened]]. *{menu Language and appearance}: Change fonts, colors, zoom level, and interface language. **[[Change website appearance settings in Firefox|Change website appearance]] settings in Firefox. **Change [[Change the fonts and colors websites use|the fonts and colors websites use]]. **Change [[Font size and zoom - increase the size of web pages|the size of webpage content]]. **Choose [[Use Firefox in another language|the language to display menus, notifications, messages and other parts]] of the Firefox interface. **Choose [[Choose display languages for multilingual web pages|a preferred display language for web pages]]. **Use [[How do I use the Firefox spell checker?|the Firefox spell checker]]. *{menu Downloads}: Choose where downloaded files are saved. **[[Where to find and manage downloaded files in Firefox#w_change-where-downloads-are-saved|Change the download folder Firefox uses]] to save files. *{menu Firefox updates}: **Check your update history or change update settings for Firefox. *{menu Applications}: Set how Firefox handles different file types. **[[Manage file types and download actions in Firefox|Change the application used or the action taken]] for different file types. **Choose whether to [[Watch DRM content on Firefox|watch DRM content in Firefox]]. *{menu Performance}: Adjust hardware acceleration and content processes. **Customize [[Firefox's performance settings|performance settings]] in Firefox. *{menu Browsing}: Enable caret browsing and text search. *{menu Network settings}: Set up proxies or manage connection settings. **Change [[Connection settings in Firefox|Firefox connection settings]] and set a proxy to connect to the Internet. ==Home== Customize what appears when you open Firefox: *{menu Homepage and new windows}: Set a custom URL or use the default Firefox Home. **Choose what you see when you open your [[How to set the home page|home page]], a new Firefox window, or a new tab. **Set your home page or new windows to the [[New Tab page in Firefox|default Firefox home page]], a blank page, or a custom URL. *{menu New tabs}: Choose what appears on new tab pages. **You can set new tabs to open the default Firefox home page or a blank page. *{menu Firefox Home content}: Toggle web search, top sites, Pocket recommendations, and more. **Customize content on the [[New Tab page in Firefox|New Tab page]], including Web Search, shortcuts to most visited sites, [[Recommended stories on the Firefox New Tab page - FAQ|recommended stories]], and recent activity. {note}'''Tip''': For more information about these features, see [[Customize items on your Firefox New Tab page]].{/note} ==Search== Control your default search engine and how search works in the address bar: *[[Change your default search settings in Firefox]]. *Manage one-click search shortcuts. *Control the [[Address bar autocomplete suggestions in Firefox|address bar settings]]. ==Privacy and security== Manage privacy, security, and site permissions: *{menu Enhanced Tracking Protection}: Block trackers and cookies. **Control settings for the Firefox [[Enhanced Tracking Protection in Firefox for desktop|Enhanced Tracking Protection]]. *{menu Cookies and site data}: Manage or clear data stored by websites. **Control whether [[Global Privacy Control|websites can sell or share your data]]. **Manage [[Cookies - Information that websites store on your computer|website cookies]]. **Manage [[Manage local site storage settings|website data storage]]. **Manage [[How to clear the Firefox cache|cached web content]]. *{menu Logins and passwords}: Control password saving and autofill. **Manage [[Password Manager - Remember, delete and edit logins and passwords in Firefox|passwords]]. **Fill in [[Control whether Firefox automatically fills in forms|forms]]. *{menu History}: Manage browsing, download, and search history. **Manage [[Delete browsing, search and download history on Firefox|your browsing, download, search and form history]] *{menu Permissions}: Control website access to your location, camera, notifications and more. **Manage [[Web Push notifications in Firefox|Web Push notifications]]. **Manage [[Pop-up blocker settings, exceptions and troubleshooting|pop-up windows]]. **Manage warnings when websites try to [[Find and install add-ons to add features to Firefox|install add-ons]]. *{menu Firefox data collection and use}: Decide whether to share usage data. **Allow Firefox to [[Share telemetry data with Mozilla to help improve Firefox|send technical and interactive data]] to Mozilla. **Install and run [[About Studies|studies]]. **Send [[Mozilla Crash Reporter|crash reports]] to Mozilla. **Perform [[Privacy-Preserving Attribution|privacy-preserving ad measurement]]. *{menu HTTPS-Only Mode}: Enable encrypted connections only. **View and manage [[Secure website certificate|website certificates]] and security devices. **Block [[How does built-in Phishing and Malware Protection work?|dangerous content or downloads]]. **Enable or disable [[HTTPS-Only Mode in Firefox|HTTPS-Only Mode]]. ==Sync== Sign in with your [[Access Mozilla services with a Mozilla account|Mozilla account]] to sync bookmarks, passwords, history, and more across devices: *Click {menu Sync} in the Settings sidebar. *Sign in or create an account. *Choose what types of data to [[Sync Firefox data|sync]]. {note}'''Tip''': For more information, see [[How do I set up Sync on my computer?]] and [[How do I choose what types of information to sync on Firefox?]]{/note} {for fx130} ==Firefox Labs== Try out experimental features before they’re released: *Toggle experimental settings to preview in-development features. *Features here may change or be removed in future releases. {note}'''Tip''': For more information, see the [[Firefox Labs - Explore experimental features in Firefox]] article and [https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Mozilla/Firefox/Experimental_features Experimental features in Firefox] at ''MDN Web Docs''.{/note} {/for} ==More from Mozilla== Discover other Mozilla tools and services: *[https://monitor.mozilla.org/ Mozilla Monitor]: Get alerts if your email is in a data breach. *[https://relay.firefox.com/ Firefox Relay]: Mask your email with private aliases. *[https://www.mozilla.org/products/vpn/ Mozilla VPN]: Browse securely with a VPN. *[https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/browsers/mobile/ Firefox Mobile]: Sync browsing across devices. =Common questions about Firefox settings= ==How do I restore a previous session or reopen closed tabs?== Firefox can restore your tabs from your last browsing session: #[[Template:optionspreferences]] #Open the {menu General} panel. #Scroll to the {menu Startup} section. #Check the box for {button Open tabs from the previous session}. {note}'''Note''': If you accidentally closed a tab or window, press {key Ctrl + Shift + T} (Windows/Linux) or {key Command + Shift + T} (Mac) to reopen it.{/note} ==How can I block or reduce ads?== Firefox includes Enhanced Tracking Protection and optional add-ons to help block intrusive ads: #[[Template:optionspreferences]] #Open the {menu Privacy and security} panel. #Under {menu Enhanced Tracking Protection}, select {button Strict} for more ad and tracker blocking. #To block more ads, consider installing a content blocker like uBlock Origin from the [https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/ Firefox Add-ons site]. ==How do I organize my bookmarks?== You can manage bookmarks from the Library: #Click the menu [[Image:Fx89menuButton]] button and select {button Bookmarks}. #Select {button Manage bookmarks} at the bottom. #Use folders to organize your saved pages. =Related articles= *[[Restore previous session - Configure when Firefox shows your most recent tabs and windows]] *[[Use bookmark folders to organize your bookmarks]] *[[Enhanced Tracking Protection in Firefox for desktop]] *[[How do I set up Sync on my computer?]] *[[Recover lost or missing Bookmarks]]