about:config tweaks to enhance Mozilla Firefox. Files are updated as needed for your user.js.
A secure, blazing fast browsing experience. Without breakage.
Betterfox is an opinionated preference list inspired by the law of diminishing returns and the minimum effective dose.
- Minimalism: get what isn't needed out of the way
- Efficiency: unleash Firefox's ability to be fast and performant
- Privacy: protect your data without causing site breakage
| List | Description |
|---|---|
| Fastfox | Immensely increase Firefox's browsing speed. Give Chrome a run for its money! |
| Securefox | Global Privacy Control. HTTPS-by-Default. Total Cookie Protection with site isolation. Enhanced state and network partitioning. Telemetry disabled. |
| Peskyfox | Unclutter the new tab page. Remove Pocket. Restore compact mode as an option. Stop webpage notifications, pop-ups, and other annoyances. |
| Smoothfox | Get Edge-like smooth scrolling on your favorite browser — or choose something more your style. |
| user.js | All the essentials. None of the breakage. This is your user.js. |
💡 Fastfox, Securefox, Peskyfox, and Smoothfox are guides to relevant prefs in Firefox. The user.js is curated from the options located in these documents. Please read the guides to understand the various options hidden in Firefox.
While Betterfox is designed to set-and-forget, it contains plenty of options for those who like to tinker.
Easily adjust features by copying + pasting prefs to your personal file 👍
Check out Common Overrides to customize your setup.
Betterfox is already a great balance of privacy and convenience. However, you can still play with a few settings.
See Optional Hardening for suggestions.
If you don't have it already: Get Firefox
- Download the user.js file here (Right click >
Save Link As…). - Open Firefox. In the URL bar, type
about:profilesand pressEnter. - For the profile you want to use (or default), click
Open Folderin the Root Directory section. - Close Firefox. With the folder open, move the
user.jsfile into the folder.
After restarting Firefox:
- Get an ad blocker like uBlock Origin with our recommended filters. For a simple solution, use Ghostery.
- Enable DNS-level protection with NextDNS, and check out our configuration guide.
- See how to quickly enable secure DNS in Firefox.
- Waterfox | files (August 2023)
- Floorp 1 2 | files (April 2023)
- Pulse | files (Dec 2021)
- Ghostery Private Browser 1 2 | files (Feb 2021)
- The ULTIMATE Browser Tier List (Mar 2023)
- I Hate Firefox. But I'm Still Switching Back to It. (Nov 2022)
- [Español] Optimize and Accelerate Firefox (Nov 2022)
- How To Improve Firefox Performance (Dec 2021)
- [Italian] Digitalia.fm | 1:41:35–1:42:41 (July 2023)
- GhoSTORIES with Franz & Pete | 17:05–18:40 (Feb 2021)
- [German] Pulse Browser Review: Firefox fork with Turbo tweaks and Opera sidebar (April 2023)
- 2023 Browser Showdown: Comparing Chrome, Brave, Firefox, Vivaldi, and Opera (Jan 2023)
- FMHY Browser Tools: Privacy Tweaks
- Firefox-UI-Fix
- Narsil/desktop_user.js
- pyllyukko/user.js comparator
- “I use this one ... The performance is absolutely amazing. There’s definitely a huge difference when it comes to loading sites.” - DIRIKtv
- "BetterFox ... will provide good-enough privacy and help with performance." - Qdoit12Super
- "...drastically changed the experience with Firefox for me. Improved speed, security, smoothness, and removed clutter." - AppDate
- "FF is now much snappier! Thanks a lot for the suggestions!" - whotheff
- "...a good balance between privacy and convenience." - Radplay
- "The best collection of tweaks available ... doesn't go crazy with privacy/security hardening that completely breaks the usability of Firefox for most users." - AuRiMaS
- "...the experience is so good now I don’t think I’ll go back to any of the chromium based browsers." - Mr_Compromise
If you like the project and benefit from it, leave a ⭐ (top right) and become a stargazer!
- This repository benefits from the ongoing research provided by arkenfox.
- Appreciation goes to the Firefox team and the developers working on Bugzilla, fighting for the open web.
- A special thanks to Alex Kontos of Waterfox for his collaboration in v.116.
- Many thanks to the 2021 Ghostery team for testing Betterfox at scale in its early days.
since 23 July 2022