11 Useful Firefox Add-ons to Enhance Your Browsing Experience

I believe we can all agree that Firefox is among the top Linux browsers.

The icing on the cake is that you can improve your browsing experience by using some extensions! perhaps even sever Facebook? 😏

Let me give you some advice before I recommend some fantastic Firefox add-ons.

Before installing a Firefox add-on, consider the following:

We all know that installing browser extensions haphazardly can be very harmful. How can you tell if a browser extension is secure to use, then?

We concentrate on the Firefox marketplace since this article is about Firefox add-ons (the official place to get the add-ons).

Although nothing is completely secure or bug-free, there are a few things one can check:

• Add-on Permissions: The ability to “Access browser tabs,” “Access browser activity while navigating,” and other permissions are needed by some add-ons. Take note of this and decide how comfortable you are with the use of permission.
• Last updated date: Even reputable extensions are occasionally not updated. This is fine, but it’s a big deal for things like password managers and ad blockers. When using an add-on that is more than two months old, exercise caution.
• Add-on Publisher: Always check to see if the publisher of the add-on is a reputable person or has previously released a reliable add-on.
• Starts, Reviews: Although this doesn’t provide much assurance on its own, you can take this into account among other factors. You can also determine whether an item is sufficiently popular with users by focusing on the number of reviews.
• Add-on Badges: Look for the “Recommended” or “By Firefox” badges; avoid adding extensions that have a warning icon or badge.

Having said that, let’s take a look at a few extensions that enhance your web browsing.

Table of Contents

• The Top 12 Most Stunning Linux Distributions
• 1. Zorin OS
• 2. Deepin
• 3. CutefishOS
• 4. Garuda Linux
• 5. Feren OS
• 6. Pop!_OS
• 7. Manjaro Linux
• 8. KDE Neon
• 9. elementary OS
• 10. Nitrux OS
• 11. Linux Mint
• 12. Solus Budgie
• A Conclusion

1. Bitwarden

Key Feature:

• The recommended extension by Mozilla.
• 4.8 stars on average (out of more than 6000 reviews).

Everyone should use Bitwarden as their primary password manager. It supports free desktop, web, and mobile sync, secure note storage, password generation assistance, user information auto-fill, and much more. Additionally, it is distributed under the GPL-3.0 License. Who doesn’t adore open source and free software?

Everything I would want in a password manager is present in Bitwarden. If you want to upgrade to its premium plan and not self-host it, it only costs $10. Its Firefox add-on comes highly recommended!

Download Bitwarden

2. uBlock Origin

Key Feature:

• The recommended extension by Mozilla.
• 14,000+ reviews, 4.8-star rating on average.
• continually updated.

One of the most well-known and reliable Firefox “ad blocking” add-ons is uBlock Origin. Yes, it is primarily used for blocking ads, but given that its primary function is to block web browser elements, it can also block a wide variety of other things. Yes, there are advertisements, but there are also web trackers, cryptocurrency miners, pop-up windows, etc.

There is a purpose for its permissions, even though they might seem a little excessive. In order to evaluate each query and block any that appear harmful or pointless, the add-on needs permissions like “Access browser activity during navigation” and “Access your data for all websites.”

Download uBlock Origin

3. Facebook Container

Key Feature:

• constructed by the Mozilla Firefox team
• has more than 3,500 reviews and an average rating of 4.5 stars.
• periodically updated

Despite how much everyone despises Facebook, very few people are willing to remove its tracking technologies from their own websites. Mozilla then pulled a Thanos move, saying, “Fine. I’ll do it myself” and developed this Firefox add-on.

As the name implies, Facebook is created in a separate container that has nothing to do with Docker. Everything involving Facebook takes place in this solitary space. This ultimately makes it more difficult for the social media behemoth to locate you.

Download Facebook Container

4. Enhancer for YouTube

Key Feature:

• The recommended extension by Mozilla.
• (9,000+ reviews; average rating of 4.7 stars).

The Firefox add-on Enhancer for Youtube is unique in its class. The YouTube player gains a few new buttons that enable more customization. You can adjust the resolution, playback speed, audio volume level, and a tonne of other features using the mouse scroll wheel.

On the extension’s official website, you can find additional details.

Download Enhancer for YouTube

5. LanguageTool

Key Feature:

• The recommended extension by Mozilla.
• 2900+ reviews with an average rating of 4.7 stars.
• continually updated.

Would you prefer an open-source Grammarly substitute? Even though I have no issues with Grammarly, I really enjoy and prefer using free and open-source software. The thesaurus that comes with LanguageTool is a great tool for checking grammar irregularities like spelling mistakes, using a different spelling (colour vs. colour), and words that are frequently confused (then vs. than).

This add-on has, in my experience using it, reliably operated on almost all text fields. There are no issues. The following are the two main features of this add-on:

• There are more than 25 supported languages. The list of supported languages is located at the bottom of the section titled “About this extension.”
• This add-on does not require registration!

Download LanguageTool

6. Tranquility Reader

Imagine that you are browsing an online article. On the top and bottom of the page, there are two banner ads. The entire right side is covered in ads. A video that is automatically playing is above the bottom advertisement banner. Your ad blocker is activated. However, the video keeps playing. Although the banners don’t contain advertisements, they still take up valuable screen space. Quite bothered?

Be less concerned. Here it is: the Tranquility Reader Firefox add-on. The “extra” elements that this extension removes include images, videos, advertisements, social media share buttons, etc. You get a simple user interface with just text so you can concentrate on reading.

The following statistics pertain to the Tranquility Reader add-on:

• The recommended extension by Mozilla.
• has a 4.6-star rating on average (with 200 reviews).
• Actively maintained but not frequently updated.

Download Tranquility Reader

7. Search by Image

Key Feature:

• The recommended extension by Mozilla.
• 1100+ reviews, 4.6-star rating, on average
• respectable media upload privacy policies.

Images of a red Lamborghini are returned when you search for “Red Lamborghini”. But, what if you didn’t know what car it was? This add-on enables you to search for images by using the image rather than textual terms, and it displays related results or the image’s original source.

You can select an image for a search in the following ways:

• Choose URL: This enables you to quickly click on an image that is shown on a website.
• To capture a portion of a web page for a reverse image search, use clipping software.
• Browse: Upload an existing image from the computer’s local drive (instead of the web page) (instead of the web page).
• URL: To perform a reverse image search, paste the URL of an image (found on another website).

Download Search by Image

8. FireShot

A very straightforward Firefox add-on is FireShot. You can use it to save the entire web page as a PDF file or a single, long image. Additionally, you can annotate (haha)! It’s unfortunate that annotation is limited to Windows users.

There is no Firefox “Recommended” badge on it. So, before deciding to use it, you can learn more about it on its add-on page.

Download FireShot

9. Tomato Clock

When you are browsing the internet, it’s important to keep an eye on your time, productivity, and sanity. especially if you fall down a rabbit hole while doing research on a subject. You should take a break, but you might become so engrossed that you don’t realise when it’s time.

As its name implies, the Tomato Clock add-on is exactly that. The timer is a clock. Depending on how engaged you are with the information on the screen, a “tomato” can feel either long or short at 25 minutes. You will receive a browser notification alerting you to the passing of time after 25 minutes have passed.

Key Feature:

• The recommended extension by Mozilla.
• It has 300+ reviews, with an average rating of 4.5 stars.
• released source code under the GPL v3.0 License

Download Tomato Clock

10. Dictionary Anywhere

Key Feature:

• The recommended extension by Mozilla.
• average rating of 4.3 stars (with around 260 reviews).
• not consistently updated.

Having a handy dictionary is always a good idea! The macOS “force touch to look-up” feature has definitely spoiled me. When I’m using Linux on my desktop, the Dictionary Anywhere add-on for Firefox really makes up for it. Double-clicking a word brings up the definition with no additional effort required on my part!

The only languages currently supported are English, Spanish, German, and French. Please be aware that Firefox’s reader mode will NOT function with this extension. This is due to the fact that scripts cannot be run in this mode.

This has the minor drawback of making “double clicking and selecting a whole word” in an editable text field a little annoying. Salvation is worth the small price.

Additionally, this will disappoint you if you want an extension that is actively maintained.

Download Dictionary Anywhere

11. Vimium-FF

Key Feature:

• With over 400 reviews, the average rating is 4.8 stars.
• Experiment plugin.

Do I really need to explain this to you if you use Vim? Try it out for yourself now! Later on, you’ll thank me.

For those who don’t know what this add-on does, it enables you to use only the Vim-style keys to navigate within Firefox. A number of other keyboard shortcuts include pressing the J key to scroll down, the K key to scroll up, the X key to close the current tab, the T key to open a new tab, and more.

Although this add-on bears the label “Experimental,” I haven’t encountered any issues while using it over the past year or so.

Download Vimium-FF

A Conclusion

This blog post discusses a variety of Firefox add-ons that, in my opinion, should enhance your web browsing experience.

What is your preferred Firefox add-on? Please share your opinions in the section below.