Learn the best of web development. Get the latest and greatest from MDN delivered straight to your inbox. The newsletter is offered in English only at the moment. Get more done with the new Google Chrome. A more simple, secure, and faster web browser than ever, with Google’s smarts built-in.

A faster, more secure and customizable Web browser.

Mozilla Firefox is a fast, light and tidy open source web browser. At its public launch in 2004 Mozilla Firefox was the first browser to challenge Microsoft Internet Explorer’s dominance. Since then, Mozilla Firefox has consistently featured in the top 3 most popular browsers globally and this is set to continue thanks to the release of Firefox 30. The key features that have made Mozilla Firefox so popular are the simple and effective UI, browser speed and strong security capabilities. The browser is particularly popular with developers thanks to its open source development and active community of advanced users.

Easier Browsing

Mozilla put of a lot of resources into creating a simple but effective UI aimed at making browsing quicker and easier. They created the tab structure that has been adopted by most other browsers. In recent years Mozilla has also focused on maximizing browsing area by simplifying toolbar controls to just a Firefox button (which contains settings and options) and back/forward buttons. The URL box features direct Google searching as well as an auto predict/history feature called Awesome Bar. On the right side of the URL box there are bookmarking, history and refresh buttons. To the right of the URL box is a search box which allows you to customize your search engine options. Outside of that a view button controls what you see below the URL. Next to that you have the download history and home buttons.

Speed

Mozilla Firefox boasts impressive page load speeds thanks to the excellent JagerMonkey JavaScript engine. Start up speed and graphics rendering are also among the quickest in the market. Firefox manages complex video and web content using layer-based Direct2D and Driect3D graphics systems. Crash protection ensures only the plugin causing the issue stops working, not the rest of the content being browsed. Reloading the page restarts any affected plugins. The tab system and Awesome Bar have been streamlined to launch/get results very quickly too.

Security

Firefox was the first browser to introduce a private browsing feature which allows you to use the internet more anonymously and securely. History, searches, passwords, downloads, cookies and cached content are all removed on shutdown. Minimizing the chances of another user stealing your identity or finding confidential information. Content security, anti-phishing technology and antivirus/antimalware integration ensures your browsing experience is as safe as possible.

Personalisation & Development

One of the best features of the Firefox UI is customization. Simply right click on the navigation toolbar to customize individual components or just drag and drop items you want to move around. The inbuilt Firefox Add-ons Manager allows you to discover and install add-ons within the browser as well as view ratings, recommendations and descriptions. Read about the top recommended add-ons for Mozilla Firefox on TechBeat. Thousands of customizable themes allow you to customize the look and feel of your browser. Site authors and developers can create advanced content and applications using Mozilla’s open source platform and enhanced API.

• Firefox keeps getting faster as a result of significant updates to SpiderMonkey, our JavaScript engine, you will now experience improved page load performance by up to 15%, page responsiveness by up to 12%, and reduced memory usage by up to 8%. We have replaced part of the JavaScript engine that helps to compile and display websites for you, improving security and maintainability of the engine at the same time.
• Firefox introduces HTTPS-Only Mode. When enabled, this new mode ensures that every connection Firefox makes to the web is secure and alerts you when a secure connection is not available. You can enable it in Firefox Preferences.
• Pinch zooming will now be supported for our users with Windows touchscreen devices and touchpads on Mac devices. Firefox users may now use pinch to zoom on touch-capable devices to zoom in and out of webpages.
• Picture-in-Picture now supports keyboard shortcuts for fast forwarding and rewinding videos: use the arrow keys to move forward and back 15 seconds, along with volume controls.
• When you are presenting your screen on a video conference in Firefox, you will see our improved user interface that makes it clearer which devices or displays are being shared.
• Selecting a search engine at the bottom of the search panel now enters search mode for that engine, allowing you to see suggestions (if available) for your search terms. The old behavior (immediately performing a search) is available with a shift-click.
• When Firefox autocompletes the URL of one of your search engines, you can now search with that engine directly in the address bar by selecting the shortcut in the address bar results.
• We’ve added buttons at the bottom of the search panel to allow you to search your bookmarks, open tabs, and history.
• Firefox supports AcroForm, which will allow you to fill in, print, and save supported PDF forms and the PDF viewer also has a new fresh look.
• For the recently released Apple devices built with Apple Silicon CPUs, you can use Firefox 83 and future releases without any change. This release (83) will support emulation under Apple’s Rosetta 2 that ships with macOS Big Sur. We are working toward Firefox being natively-compiled for these CPUs in a future release.
• Screen reader features which report paragraphs now correctly report paragraphs instead of lines in Google Docs.
• When reading by word using a screen reader, words are now correctly reported when there is punctuation nearby.
• The arrow keys now work correctly after tabbing in the picture-in-picture window.
• For users on macOS restoring a session with minimized windows, Firefox now uses much less power and you should see much longer battery life.
• Developers can use the scroll badge in the Page Inspector to Debug scrollable overflow. Selecting the badge highlights elements that are causing overflow and marks them with the overflow badge.

Keeping your Internet browser up-to-date is important for security, and ensures that web pages load properly and you have all the newest features. We recommend you also update any plug-ins, extensions, or other add-ons you have installed. Use the System Information script to detect and update your browser plug-ins.

To proceed, select the browser you want to update from the list below and follow the instructions.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome updates automatically as new iterations are released to the public. To verify Chrome is at the latest version or to update it manually, follow the steps below.

1. Open the Google Chrome browser.
2. Click the Customize and control Google Chrome button in the upper-right corner of the screen.
3. From the drop-down menu that appears, select Help, then select About Google Chrome.

4. In the next window, Chrome automatically checks for updates and displays the current version. If updates were installed, click the Relaunch button to restart the browser.

Users can type chrome://chrome/ into the omnibox (Chrome address bar) to achieve the same results.

Chrome on Android tablet or phone

On an Android tablet or phone, the Chrome browser should automatically get updated, like other apps. However, if automatic updates are not working, open the Google Play app to check for an updated Chrome browser version.

Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox should automatically download updates and prompt you when they are available to install. To verify Firefox is at the latest version or to update it manually, follow the steps below.

1. Open the Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. Click the Open menu button in the upper-right corner of the screen.
3. In the menu that appears, click the Help option at the bottom.
4. Select About Firefox.

5. In the window that appears, Firefox automatically checks for updates and displays the current version. If updates were installed, click the Restart to Update Firefox button.

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge updates automatically as new iterations are released to the public. To verify Edge is at the latest version or to update it manually, follow the steps below.

1. Open the Microsoft Edge browser.
2. Click the Settings and more icon in the upper-right corner of the browser window.
3. In the drop-down menu that appears, near the bottom, move the mouse cursor over Help and feedback, then select About Microsoft Edge from the side menu.

4. When the next window opens, Edge updates automatically if it isn't at the most recent version.

5. If Edge was updated, click the button to refresh the browser.

Internet Explorer

Microsoft updates Internet Explorer using its Windows Update feature. As long as you are regularly installing Windows updates from Microsoft, the latest version of Internet Explorer is installed.

To manually check for and install Windows updates, follow the steps below.

1. Press the Windows key, type Check for updates, and press Enter.
2. In the middle of the window that appears, under the Windows Update section, click Check for updates.

Older versions

If you do not have Windows automatic updates enabled on Windows 8 and earlier versions, you need to update Internet Explorer on your computer manually by following the steps below.

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Open the Windows Update utility.
3. In the left navigation pane, click the Check for updates link.
4. You can choose to install all available updates or select the updates you want to install.

Safari

If you have Apple updates turned on, Safari should stay up-to-date automatically. To verify Safari is at the latest version or to update it manually, follow the steps below.

1. Open the Apple menu by clicking the icon in the upper-left corner of the desktop.
2. Select App Store from the drop-down menu that appears.

3. In the window that appears, click the Updates selector button at the bottom of the navigation pane on the left.
4. Find Safari and click Update (or click Update all to update every app).

Safari on iPad or iPhone

Mozilla Update Check

On an iPad or iPhone, the Safari browser should automatically get updated, like other apps. However, if automatic updates are not working, open the App Store and check the Updates section to see if a Safari update is available to download.

Opera

Mozilla Update Check

Opera should update itself automatically. However, if you want to check the version or update manually, follow the steps below.

1. Open the Opera web browser.
2. Click the Opera icon in the top-left corner of the window.
3. In the drop-down menu, move your mouse cursor over the Help selector, and select About Opera from the side menu that appears.
4. In the next window, Opera automatically checks for updates and displays the current version. If updates were installed, click the Relaunch now button to restart the browser.

Other browsers

There are other Internet browsers available, but we are not able to provide the steps to update each and every one. If your browser is not listed above, the following list has some general tips for how to update your browser.

• Check the Help menu or look in the browser's main menu for a Help section. The update utility for a browser is often located there.
• If no Help section is found, check the browser's main menu for a section labeled Update or Upgrade.
• If you cannot find a Help, Update, or Upgrade section in your browser, visit the browser developer's website for further information.

Mozilla Update

Additional information

Mozilla Update Linux Command

• See our msconfig and splash screen pages for additional information and related pages.