In 2022, the web browser turns 20
Mozilla Firefox . Throughout the history of its existence, certain functions have been added and then disappeared. If you use Firefox on a daily basis, make sure you are fully familiar with its functionality. Today we are going to talk about the useful options, tools and features of this web browser.
1. Using PiP (Picture in Picture)
You can watch videos in a small window while doing other tasks. This will greatly increase your productivity. Firefox supports opening multiple tabs with different videos in parallel: hover over a video on a site such as
YouTube , right-click and select
Watch in Picture-in-Picture mode. You can do it over and over again: each video will play in a separate tab. Open windows can be moved and resized as needed.
2. Search for the desired tab by its title
If you have dozens of tabs open at the same time, it can be quite difficult to quickly find what you need. This is because the title of each tab shrinks as you add a new one. You can search for titles in open tabs by typing a percent symbol
("%") and then placing a space before the search term in the address bar. If there is any match, a button will appear
Switch to Tab to jump directly to the page you want.
3. Block notifications from websites
Nowadays, many websites ask the user if they can send them notifications immediately after opening their home page. You can prevent sites from showing such messages. Open your web browser settings, go to the " menu
Privacy & Security " and find the " section there
Notifications " . If you don't want to mess with these requests to show notifications at all, check the box next to the " option
Block new requests to send you notifications " .
4. How sites track your actions
If you look at the left side of the address bar in Firefox, you'll see a shield icon. It means Firefox limits the ways in which the current site can track your activity. Click on this icon to view detailed information on all available tracking methods. You can also go to the
dashboard to see how many cookies and other trackers Firefox is blocking over a period of time.
5. Using only HTTPS protocol
HTTPS is more secure than standard HTTP for several reasons (see details
here ). Firefox only gives you the option to use it to open websites. Open your browser settings, then go to the " menu
Privacy & Security " and check the box next to "
Enable HTTPS only mode in all windows ." If Firefox is unable to establish a secure encrypted connection with the site you want to visit, you will see a message on the screen.
6. Recommendations from Pocket
Mozilla has an active
read-it-later service . By default, when you open a new browser tab, you'll see a header recommended by Pocket, with a rotating selection of stories curated by the service. Click the three dots next to any story to hide it. You can manage this section (and other parts of the new tab) by going to Mozilla's preferences and changing your home page settings.
7. Control over the toolbar
You may not think too much about the Firefox toolbar, but its location and available options affect how quickly you navigate web pages. Firefox has many options for customizing the toolbar. If you open the main menu and find the option there
Customize Toolbar , you can choose which shortcuts you want to see on it and exactly how they should be positioned.
8. Adding tags to bookmarks
You can sort your Firefox bookmarks into specific folders, as well as set tags for them. In the main Firefox menu, go to the " section
Library " , find the " subsection there
Bookmarks " and open "
Manage Bookmarks ". By selecting a specific bookmark, you can add the tags you want to it. They will help you group links related to your work, leisure and entertainment.
9. Change Firefox's appearance
You don't have to get along with the (perfectly fine) Firefox look and feel that was chosen as the default. If you want to change it, go to the " section in the main menu
Add-ons and Themes " . There are hundreds of alternatives for what might look like
Mozilla Firefox . You will immediately see several dozen topics in the recommendations, and you will also be able to independently find the desired design on the Internet. Apart from this, you can also create your own themes using
Firefox Color.
10. Additional protection from Firefox
Mozilla has developed several useful extensions for Firefox, one of which is
Facebook Container . Its purpose is to make
it difficult for Facebook to track your activity on websites that are not part of the company. On a technical level, this ensures that the websites you visit cannot associate activity with your Facebook profile.
11. Using multiple accounts
Another Mozilla add-on worthy of your attention is
Firefox Multi-Account Containers . It gives you the ability to easily switch between multiple profiles in the browser. You can have a home account linked to your own Gmail and Facebook, and a work profile linked to your company accounts. Install this extension and you can save a significant amount of time logging in and out of various accounts.
12. Grouping and moving tabs
If you hold down the " "
Shift key while clicking on a tab in the top bar of the browser, then you can select several of them at once. It's perfect for moving, closing, mute, or pinning many tabs in an instant. Regardless of whether you select one tab or several, note that you can right-click the title and use the option
Move Tab to move it to the top or bottom of the list.
