The default Firefox settings are reasonable. The settings you should change immediately are the ones where "reasonable" means "matches most users' expectations" rather than "best for you."
Here's the list, in order of importance.
1. Disable Pocket Integration
Settings → Home → Firefox Home Content → uncheck "Recommended Stories."
Pocket is Mozilla's read-later service, now built into Firefox. It shows sponsored content recommendations on your new tab by default. If you're not using Pocket, the recommendations are just noise.
Also uncheck "Sponsored shortcuts" on the same page.
2. Set a Better Default Search Engine
Settings → Search → Default Search Engine. Options: Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Qwant, Startpage.
If privacy matters to you: DuckDuckGo or Startpage. If you prefer Google's results without the tracking: Startpage (proxies Google results). If you want your searches to plant trees: Ecosia.
3. Enable HTTPS-Only Mode
Settings → Privacy & Security → HTTPS-Only Mode → "Enable HTTPS-Only Mode in all windows."
This makes Firefox refuse to connect to sites via HTTP and show a warning if HTTPS isn't available. In 2024, almost every site supports HTTPS. The few that don't are either old intranet tools or sites you should be wary of anyway.
4. Customize the Toolbar
Right-click the toolbar → "Customize Toolbar." Remove everything you don't use. Add extensions you use frequently as icons.
Default clutter worth removing:
- Flexible Space elements you didn't put there
- The home button (use
Alt+Home) - The sync button if you don't use Firefox Sync
5. Fix the Ctrl+Tab Behavior
Settings → General → Tabs → check "Ctrl+Tab cycles through tabs in recently used order."
By default, Ctrl+Tab cycles tabs left-to-right. Changing this to most-recently-used makes it behave like Alt+Tab for windows — one keystroke to switch back to where you were.
6. Configure Enhanced Tracking Protection Level
Settings → Privacy & Security → Enhanced Tracking Protection → "Strict."
Strict mode blocks more trackers than Standard, at the cost of occasionally breaking sites that depend on cross-site tracking for functionality (some SSO login flows, some embedded content). If a site breaks, you can add it as an exception.
7. Replace the New Tab Page
The default new tab shows sponsored shortcuts, top sites, and Pocket recommendations. All of this is noise if you're not using those features.
Options:
- Settings → Home → Homepage and New Windows: set to a blank page
- Install a new tab extension that shows something useful
Weather & Clock Dashboard replaces the new tab with live weather and world clocks — useful ambient information without the recommendation algorithm.
8. Enable Ask to Save Passwords — or Disable It
Settings → Privacy & Security → Logins and Passwords.
If you use Firefox's built-in password manager: leave "Ask to save logins and passwords for websites" checked. It works, it's E2E encrypted via Firefox Sync, and it's free.
If you use a third-party password manager (Bitwarden, 1Password): uncheck it. You don't want Firefox and your password manager competing to save the same passwords.
9. Set a DNS-over-HTTPS Provider
Settings → Privacy & Security → DNS over HTTPS.
Firefox can route DNS queries through Cloudflare (default) or a provider you choose. Options with better privacy policies: NextDNS (configurable filtering), Quad9 (security-focused, privacy policy, Switzerland-based).
10. about:config Tweaks Worth Making
For advanced users: open about:config and change:
-
browser.tabs.loadBookmarksInTabs→true: open bookmarks in new tabs -
browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.feeds.topsites→false: hide top sites from new tab -
browser.ctrlTab.recentlyUsedOrder→true: same as the Ctrl+Tab setting above if you want to set it directly
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