Although almost everyone uses Google Chrome as a daily browser, we can try many other browsers in some scenarios or on some PCs that do not need our main accounts. Without a doubt one of the best is Mozilla Firefox, which combines security with great freedom of customization. As a browser it is also quite fast (especially with the new Quantum update), but installing many extensions still tends to slow it down a bit too much.
In this guide we will therefore show you how to optimize Firefox to navigate faster in any scenario, so as to make it really lightning especially on PCs with modern graphics cards and CPUs with many cores.
READ ALSO: Best 20 functions and tricks for Firefox on PC to know
How to optimize Firefox for faster browsing
In these lines we have collected all the tips that can really make Firefox faster, so as not to feel the need to switch to another browser.
1) Disable unused extensions
The first trick is the simplest: we disable extensions that we no longer use or that consume too many resources.
To open the extensions menu, click on the top three horizontal lines at the top right, then click on Add - ons -> Extensions .
We click the Remove button on the right on the extension we intend to remove.
As a general rule we try to always have few extensions, only in this way Firefox will always be fast and snappy.
2) Disable the automatic execution of plugins
Another reason why Firefox can slow down is that some external plugin starts automatically, slowing down the browser.
We can adjust this by clicking on the three horizontal lines at the top right, then opening the Add - ons -> Plugins menu .
We identify external plugins (such as Flash or Java) then use the menu on the side to select the Ask before activating item .
Upon restart, all plugins will no longer start automatically but we will have to activate them with a click of the mouse.
This setting improves Firefox's performance and security.
3) Increase or decrease the cache
Another trick to optimize Firefox is to choose how much disk cache to reserve for the browser.
To adjust this parameter we click on the top right of the three horizontal lines, then click on Options -> Privacy and Security -> Cached web content and activate the item Do not use automatic cache management .
Within the field that will unlock we can choose based on the PC in possession:
If we have at least 4 GB of RAM, we recommend using a large cache (at least 1024MB).
If we have more than 4 GB of RAM, we recommend using a smaller cache (150 MB or less).
If you have an SSD we recommend setting the cache to 0 so as to take advantage of only the RAM memory.
This way even on slower PCs there will always be enough cache to quickly open pages.
4) Adjust multi process settings
With the new Firefox we can choose how many processes must be open for Firefox, so as to decide the impact on system memory.
To adjust this parameter we click on the top right of the three horizontal lines, then click on Options -> General -> Performance .
We disable the check mark on Use default settings to unlock the most interesting items.
Make sure that the item Use hardware acceleration when available is active, then in Maximum number of processes for content we can make adjustments based on PC performance:
- If the PC has less than 4 GB of RAM, set the number of processes to 2;
- If the PC has more than 4 GB of RAM, we set 4 to increase Firefox's speed at the expense of memory.
5) Optimize downloads
To optimize the download of files from the internet, we go to Options -> General and in the Save file item we indicate the folder where we want to save the files for download.
6) Customize open applications
We can also choose the programs with which we will open the various files supported by the browser, so as to choose only the suitable and fast ones.
These settings can be made by going to Options -> General and adjusting the individual items that we see in the Applications tab.
In general, therefore, it is always better to open the files separately, rather than within the browser at least where possible.
7) Remove unused search engines
Search engines integrate into the bookmarks bar and help you find things faster, but still require more resources. This setting can be done by going to Options -> Search and adjusting the individual items that we see in the Search Engines tab with a click.
There are so many search engines that hardly; we will use, click on them and remove them by pressing the Remove button.
8) Advanced settings
We can also use the about: config menu to modify advanced settings, just type the name of the menu in the address bar and proceed. As you can see, you will have to click on a warning that warns you to pay attention to the changes in this section but I can say to be calm because at the most you can reset the settings at any time. In addition, bold items can be reset using the right mouse button and pressing reset. If any of these items do not exist, let's create it by right clicking on an empty space, select New .
Those that we can modify to optimize Firefox are :
config.trim_on_minimize : true
browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers : 0
browser.cache.disk.enable : false
browser.cache.memory.enable : true
Create a new value of type Integer and write browser.cache.memory.capacity, value 100000.
browser.cache.disk.parent_directory [String] : Move the cache to a disk or partition other than the one where Windows is installed, if you can.
accessibility.typeaheadfind.enablesound [Boolean] : set to False to avoid a warning sound, when searching for text, when it does not find it.
alerts.totalOpenTime [Integer] : Reduce the time to show the Download complete report to 2000 (2 seconds).
browser.bookmarks.max_backups [Integer] : Reduce the number of backup copies of your favorites from 5 to 2 to speed up the browser shutdown.
browser.download.manager.openDelay [Integer] : Do not open the download window if it is very short by setting the opening delay to 2000 (2 seconds).
browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo [Integer] : Reduce the number from 10 to 4.
browser.sessionstore.max_windows_undo [Integer] : Reduce the number from 3 to 1.
browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab [Boolean] : Change to False, so that Firefox doesn't accidentally close when you close the last tab.
browser.urlbar.maxRichResults [Integer] : Reduce the maximum number of results from 12 to 6 in the address bar.
dom.popup_maximum [Integer] : Reduce the maximum number of simultaneous pop-ups from 20 to 3 or 5.
security.dialog_enable_delay [Integer] : Reduce the wait delay before installing a new extension of 1000 (1 second). Setting it to zero is not recommended due to security risks.
dom.ipc.plugins.asyncInit : set true to improve plugin initialization and make Firefox start faster.
If we want to push the parameters that regulate the browser's network connections to the maximum, here are the parameters to be configured:
network.dnsCacheEntries [Integer] : Increase the number of DNS cache entries from 20 to 512 by default.
network.dnsCacheExpiration [Integer] : Increase the number of seconds that DNS entries are cached from 60 to 3600 by default.
nglayout.initialpaint.delay : 0
content.notify.ontimer : true
content.notify.interval : 1000
network.http.max-connections [Integer] : Increase the maximum number of simultaneous connections to 48 or 96.
network.http.max-connections per server [Integer] : Increase the maximum connections from 15 to 24.
network.http.max-persistent connections per server [Integer] : Increase the maximum persistent connections from 6 to 12.
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