10 about:config Tips for Firefox

If you are not a Chrome user then your second choice must be Mozilla Firefox. Mozilla Firefox is one of the top-notch browsers out there in terms of customization, speed, options and security. Similar to Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox has its advanced experimental features. You need to simply open about:config in the address bar to get all advanced features. In this article, we will explore some tweaks in Mozilla Firefox with the help of its advanced features.

Related: Check out Chrome experimental features.

Accessing the Advanced Features of Firefox

Accessing all the advanced features of Firefox is not that difficult, just follow the few steps given below.

• Open the Mozilla Firefox and in the new tab, type ‘about:config’.
• Press the ‘Enter’ key from your keyboard.
• It will say ‘This might void your warranty’ and you are taking a risk by using these features. Simply, click on the button ‘I accept the risk’.

10 about:config Tips for Firefox

1. Setting your zoom limit
2. Configuring the backspace button
3. Autohiding toolbar in full screen mode
4. Enable spelling checks
5. Customize new tab page
6. Turning off thumbnail previews
7. Reducing session history cache
8. Disable unnecessary animations
9. Saving downloads prompt
10. Change Firefox downloads folder

1. Setting Your Zoom Limit

With these advanced features, you can set the max/min zoom level according to your requirements.

• In the about:config page, there will be a search bar, type ‘Zoom.maxPercent’.
• There is a default value given 300, you can change it to higher than 300.
• To change the values, you just need to right-click on the option and choose ‘Modify’. Enter the value and hit ‘OK’ button.

• Similarly, for the ‘Zoom.minPercent’, you can set any value. The default one is 30.

2. Configuring the Backspace Button

Your Firefox can allow you to set the action for the backspace button. To do this:

• In the about:config page, search for ‘Browser.backspace_action’.
• When you get the feature, right-click on it and choose the ‘Modify’ option.
• Enter the value ‘1’ and hit ‘OK’.

This will change the backspace button action from ‘Going back a page’ to ‘Scroll up a page’.

3. Autohiding Toolbar in Full Screen Mode

In the full screen mode, the toolbar is on autohide mode, there is not fixing option for that.  Well, you can do that too with advanced features in Mozilla Firefox. To do this:

• Open the Firefox’s about:config page.
• Search for ‘Browser.fullscreen.autohide’ and right-click on it.
• Click on ‘Toggle’ button to change it from ‘True’ to ‘False’.

4. Enable Spelling Checks

In Firefox, there is no such option to enable spell checks on every input box field. But you can enable it through advanced features. To do this:

• Search for ‘Layout.spellcheckDefault’ on the ‘About:config’ page.
• Right-click on the feature and choose the ‘Modify’ option.
• The default value will be ‘1’ which is for enabling spell-checks in the multi-line input boxes only.
• You can change it to ‘0’ (To disable spellcheck) or ‘2’ (To enable spell checks in all the input boxes).
• In last, click ‘OK’ to save it.

5. Customize New Tab Page

Well, you have some options already, to customize the new tab page in Firefox. But, you cannot customize the bookmarks grid numbers. To do this:

• Search for ‘Browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.topSitesRows’ on your about:config page.
• Right-click and modify the number whatever you like. This will add more grid rows in new tab page.

6. Turning Off Thumbnail Previews

If you have ever use CTRL + Tab keys to switch tabs, there will a preview of that tab’s web page. If you don’t like it then it is possible to turn it ‘Off’.

• Search for ‘Browser.ctrlTab.previews’ and right click on it.
• Click on ‘Toggle’.
• This will change it to ‘False’ that means no previews will be there.

7. Reducing Session History Cache

Firefox may slow down your PC if you use an old one. The reason is Firefox stores the web pages in its RAM (Short-term memory). You can actually make it better by setting a value which will not affect your old PC.

• The default value is ‘-1’ and to change it, search for ‘Browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers’ in about:config page.
• Change it between ‘1’ to ‘4’, if the RAM in your PC is less than 4GB.

• Search for ‘Browser.sessionhistory.max.entries’ and right-click on it.
• The default value of it is ’50’, change it to around ‘25’ then check and change accordingly.

8. Disable Unnecessary Animations

Firefox has many animations and effects which are not bad but if you are using an old PC, this can slow it down. To disable them:

• Search for ‘Toolkit.cosmeticAnimations.enabled’ in the about:config page.
• The default value will be ‘True’ and you can right-click on it then choose the ‘Modify’ option to make it ‘False’.

9. Saving Downloads Prompt

Sometimes, Firefox does not give you a prompt for every downloading file that where it’s to be saved. But, you can get that prompt by just activating an advanced feature.

• Search for ‘Browser.download.useDir’ in your about:config page.
• Change its default value ‘True’ to ‘False’. This will give you that prompt on every single download file.

10. Change Firefox Downloads Folder

When you download a specific file in Firefox, it goes to the downloads folder of your PC. You can change this path from the advanced features.

• On the about:config page, search for the ‘Browser.download.folderList’.
• Right-click on the option and change its value.
• By default, that value will be ‘1’, you can change it to ‘0’ (For saving all downloads to desktop) or ‘2’ (Saves to the same previously download location).