How To Completely Reset Firefox Settings
In this blog post guide, I will show you how to reset Firefox (or “refresh” as they call it! It’s a good idea to do this once in a while for the sake of keeping things tidy, or when you’re having issues with Firefox.
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Given how often we use our web browsers, once in a while issues are going to occur that don’t have obvious solutions, or the supposed solutions don’t work. This is where “refreshing” or resetting the browser, in this example being Firefox.
Be sure to backup your Firefox bookmarks BEFORE you do this. They should be intact after this process, but there are no guarantees in life.
You will need to access the Menu Bar. By default, the menu bar is hidden. To see it, right click in any empty space at the top of the browser and click “Menu Bar” so there is a check box next to it.
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Then, click ‘Help’, and “More Troubleshooting information”.
Followed by the “Refresh Firefox” button.
You will then be asked to confirm that you want to do this. Go ahead and click on that red button to confirm.
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Firefox will quickly backup your bookmarks, etc, then reset all of it’s settings, and inform you it has imported your user data back into Firefox.
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You will then see Firefox open itself and show you this page indicating the reset was successful. Next up, it’s important to go through the Settings to ensure things are the way you expect as you surf the internet.
First up is the “General” tab.
If Firefox is not your default browser, I recommend allowing it to be.
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A little further down, I recommend checking all of the boxes related to different settings regarding browser tabs.
Next up are the Download settings. Please ensure the checkbox next to “always ask where to save files” is checked. Generally speaking, most browsers use the “Downloads” folder on your computer, but not always. Files are often downloaded to the last location you chose, so it’s important to verify that each time.
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On the “Home” page, under “New Windows and Tabs”, in the first drop down menu, click “custom” to enter your preferred home page. I recommend DuckDuckGo.com or Startpage.com.
On the Privacy and Security page, I recommend disabling the built-in password manager and disabling the ability for Firefox to save credit card details. I strongly recommend using a proper password manager like 1Password or Bit Warden to do this.
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The same goes for auto-filling forms. Copy and paste the information from a password manager, rather than storing this information in Firefox.
A little further down is the Permissions section. I recommend going into the Settings for Notifications and blocking those, as websites tend to abuse that privilege. Also, I suggest disabling audio and video autoplay.
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Finally, there are a few plugins I recommend, which I cover in This blog post, including some ad blockers, and the password managers mentioned above.
In the “Tools” menu, click “Add Ons and Themes”, then click “Extensions”. When you search, it’ll open up a separate tab with the Add Ons website. You can install extensions from there.
Here’s what the Firefox Add-Ons page looks like.
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That’s the process I recommend for resetting Firefox settings, or a “refresh” as they call it, which is part of good computer hygiene and should be done once in a while, esepcially given how much we use our computers these days.
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