Web browsers shouldn’t be merely fast and secure. They should also endorse features that help in improving the overall experience of a user. This includes customization options. Customization of a browser affects only the way pages look and not the reading or editing experience. In this post, today, we cover five tweaks that can help you customize the new Firefox 57 Quantum browser to suit your preferences.
Firefox Quantum browser tweaks
Use the following tips to set up the Firefox browser as per your preferences.
1] Turn off the animated download arrow
Firefox animates tab and window creations. For instance, whenever you open a new window in the browser it is animated to grow from the center of the screen. Tab animation can be turned off by setting the “browser.tabs.animate” property to false. However, not all animations are disabled by this preference. The animated download arrow follows a different path. Let’s see how to turn off this feature if you find it annoying.
Launch Firefox Quantum browser and type about: config in the address bar and hit Enter key.
The action when confirmed will display the advanced configuration about: config page. If a warning message is displayed before this, ignore it and click “I accept the risk!” button.
When done, type animate in Search filter box and look for the following preference in the window: browser.download.animateNotifications
Now, double-click on browser.download.animateNotifications preference to change its value to False. Alternatively, you can right-click on the preference and select Toggle option.
That’s it. Firefox will no more show the animation effect once a download complete. Following this, you should notice some improvements in Firefox performance.
To disable all animations, you will have to set toolkit.cosmeticAnimations.enabled to False.
2] Remove Search Box from Options menu on (about: preferences) Page
In a fresh installation of Firefox browser, there exists a search box in Options (about: preferences) page. It complements the new Photon UI in Firefox and similar to Google Chrome is designed to offer quick and direct access to the desired option or setting. If you don’t quite like it, you can remove this feature by disabling the built-in preference hiding under Firefox’s secret advanced configuration about: config page. Here’s how to do it!
Open Mozilla Firefox and type about: config in the address bar and press Enter.
Now, type preferences in Search filter box and locate the following preference in the window: browser.preferences.search
When found, double-click browser.preferences.search preference and to change its value to False or right-click on the preference and select Toggle option.
Once done, the setting will instantly disable the search box on Options Page. To test this, open the Options page. You should no longer find the search box appearing on the Options page as shown in the screenshot below.
3] Drag Space Option in Firefox Customize Window
The full-blown version of Firefox Quantum is now available. It fundamentally gives the feeling of a newer, better browser. Thanks to Photon UI. It sports an innovative design that modernizes the very core of Firefox. In addition to this, it’s smarter! If you’re using Photon on a Windows PC with a touch display, the menus change size based on whether you click with a mouse or touch with a finger. Drag Space option present in the Customize window of Firefox is a part of Photon UI. It can be seen residing under customize window.
By default, the checkbox assigned to “Drag Space” option is not marked. To be precise, it is disabled. However, when you check this option to enable “Drag Space” nothing seems to happen. Even if you maximize Firefox window to fit full screen, you won’t notice any difference after enabling/disabling this checkbox.
However, when you try to restore Firefox window by clicking on the “Restore” button located on the right-side of the title bar and then attempt to enable/disable “Drag Space” option, you’ll notice the difference.
In function, the “Drag Space” feature has been added to help Firefox users in dragging Firefox window to any location within the vicinity of a computer screen.
If you have multiple tabs opened, the entire title bar of the browser consumes a sizable amount of space. As such, no visible space is left on the title bar to drag-n-drop the program window. The “Drag Space” option can come handy at such times. By enabling this option, you can add some extra blank space above tabs. To enable it, follow these steps,
Click on the Firefox menu, and select customize from the options.
Once there, locate Drag Space options at the bottom of the customize Firefox interface.
Simply check it to enable the option.
4] Improve Firefox performance
Open about:preferences and click the General section.Under Performance uncheck Use recommended performance settings and the check Use hardware acceleration when available. Under Content process limit set the option to 5 or 6 or 7 and see. It will increase performance – but also use more memory.
5] Prevent Notifications from disturbing you in Firefox Quantum
You can also check you Privacy $ Security settings in Firefox Quantum. Specifically, you can stop notifications from being displayed. To set this option, select the Do not disturb me checkbox.
Hope you are enjoying using Firefox Quantum.
