Those who use Firefox to go on the internet, could change the behavior of the browser by changing some of the many hidden options in the Mozilla browser. It is easy to customize Firefox using extensions and add-ons, but each of them weighs down the program and takes up memory.
Many customizations to optimize Firefox and modify its main functions can also be obtained without installing anything, by changing some parameters of the secret menu about: config .
By typing the about: config command on the address bar, you can access advanced settings which, as it is written in the notice, must be handled carefully so as not to compromise the operation of the browser.
It is a long list of parameters, apparently incomprehensible, which allow you to change many options on how Firefox should open and how it displays web pages.
Without venturing into experiments, in this guide we see 10 of the main tweaks that can be changed to your liking, without risking ruining the program, to optimize Firefox and turn it into a better browser.
Each of the parameters of the advanced settings of about: config, can be searched from the Filter bar at the top and can be modified with a double click.
1) browser.ctrlTab.previews, default is False (false).
Normally, the Ctrl-Tab key combination is used to move between open tabs.
If you set this setting to True, CTRL-Tab shows the tab previews for a shortcut.
2) default browser.tabs.closeButtons is 1.
If you no longer want to see the X (the Close Tab button) on every single tab opened in Firefox, you can change this setting by setting the value 0.
Setting it to 0 the X is displayed only on the active tab, on 2 and 3 the X disappears completely on the tab while with 1 you see the X next to each tab.
3) default browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab is True .
The Firefox browser, when you close the only active tab, closes completely.
ùChanging the parameter in False instead, when you close the last tab left, Firefox remains open, without any tab open.
4) default browser.urlbar.trimURLs is True .
If you change the option to False, the internet addresses of the sites will return to being completely displayed, including the // which, by default, is hidden.
5) browser.allTabs.previews, default is False .
To the right of the last open tab, there is a small button that serves to display the list of all open tabs.
By changing this setting to True, instead of seeing the list, you can see the thumbnails of the tab previews in a grid, with a search box at the top.
6) default browser.showQuitWarning is False .
If you put it on True, that small window that appears when you close Firefox returns, where you can save the session before exiting.
Saving the session, the next time you open the browser, the tabs that were open in the last session will be reloaded.
7) browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone is by default True .
After each download, Firefox checks the downloaded file for antivirus.
If you want to remove this option, you can change the parameter to false.
8) default security.dialog_enable_delay is 2000.
When installing a new extension, Firefox counts 4 seconds before proceeding with the installation.
If you want to eliminate this wait, you can set the value of this hidden option to 0.
9) middlemouse.paste is False by default.
If you set this value to True, when you press the mouse wheel on the address bar, you can paste the last word copied.
10) default browser.search.openintab is False .
If you want the searches made through the search bar at the top right to be opened in a new tab and not in the current one, set the value to True .
11) browser.urlbar.maxRichResults
Change the value to get more hints when writing a URL on the address bar.
Alternatively, set it to -1 to disable hints altogether.
12) places.frecency.unvisitedBookmarkBonus by default is 140
Increase this number to give your favorite sites more importance in URL suggestions
13) browser.urlbar.formatting.enabled is by default True
Put on False to read the internet addresses in bold and not in gray.
14) extensions.checkCompatibility can be changed from True to False to disable the compatibility check of extensions and also install older extensions.
15) layout.spellcheckDefault can be set to value 2 to enable the spelling check of words on all the boxes of the web pages, even the search ones.
17) browser.tabs.animate on False browser.panorama.animate_zoom on False - browser.fullscreen.animateUp with value 0 to disable all animations.
Other parameters of the about: config have been indicated to optimize Firefox for faster internet browsing
If you know other tricks and hidden options that can change Firefox's behavior for the better, let them know.
In another article, all About pages with Firefox's hidden options .
