9 Easy Ways to Speed Up Firefox in Less than

10 Minutes

Robert Zak 5th Jun 2017 Browsers 21 Comments

• This post was first published in June 2016. It was updated in June 2017

Like everything else in life, even the traditionally swift Firefox is prone to slowing down with time as it
gets encumbered with updates, add-ons, and increasing numbers of processes to deal with. So to keep
getting the best out of Firefox, you’ll need to give it a bit of spring cleaning from time to time to get it
up to the speeds you expect of it. Or maybe it’s working fine, but you just want to crank that bit more
performance out of it because you’re greedy.

Step #9, REFRESH, seems like a very drastic measure. Over the years I have made quite a few
‘about:config’ tweaks, most of which I do not remember. I would hate lose those tweaks.

Does REFRESH FF delete all the add-ons or does it only disable them? Again, I customized my
add-ons and would hate to lose the changes.

Jun 7, 2017 at 5:41 am Reply

1.
dragonmouth

The following articles seems to suggest that there is a difference of opinion as to the efficacy of
making changes to ‘speed up Firefox.’
http://www.ghacks.net/2014/01/22/ultimate-guide-making-firefox-load-websites-faster/

Jun 8, 2017 at 6:47 am Reply

 2.
Deb

my about config did not show a pipelining at all! Any idea why?

thanks

Jul 22, 2017 at 6:52 am Reply

1.
NannaJan

I’m the same, are you testing the Quantum version ?

Also tried to install the suggested add-on to configure it automatically but it’s not
compatible with Quantum.

Oct 14, 2017 at 9:23 am Reply

3.
DJ

you’re advice is already outdated

need another update… :)
thanks though

Nov 21, 2017 at 2:16 pm Reply

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Whatever your reasons, here are a bunch of ways you can speed up Firefox.
1. Use New HTTP Cache
In among Firefox’s under-the-hood tweaks in about:config, you’ll find a whole bunch of things
that can turbo charge the browser. One of these is using the latest HTTP cache for Firefox which
should improve the stability and speed of Firefox when it’s under pressure by reusing online resources
and content you’ve previously visited.

To use this, go to about:config and type browser.cache.use_new_backend into the

search box. Double-click the “use_new_backend” option and change the “0” to a “1” to activate the
new cache, and you’re away.
2. Use uBlock Origin Instead of Adblock
Adblock may be the most popular kid on the … adblocking block, but that doesn’t necessarily mean
it’s the best for everyone. If your PC isn’t the most powerful, then there’s a good chance Adblock is
slowing down your Firefox performance because it’s not all that efficient with its memory usage.

For a long time uBlock Origin has been used as a viable alternative precisely because it manages CPU
and memory resources better, thereby causing less strain on Firefox and helping it run faster. It does a
great job of blocking ads, too, in case that was ever in doubt.
3. Click-To-Play Flash Content
First thing I do whenever I start using a new browser is to disable Flash content or simply set it to
“click-to-play.” Many websites still use Adobe Flash player to load videos and other Flash content,
including ads. This leads to taking more time to load a page even if you don’t want to see the Flash
content. When set to “click-to-play,” Flash content will only load when you click on it, thus giving you
full control.

To set Flash content to “click-to-play” in Firefox:

1. Click on the Firefox main menu in the top-right corner and then click on “Add-ons.”

2. On the add-ons page click on the “Plugins” button on the left side and search for the “Shockwave
Flash” plugin.

3. Click on the drop-down menu next to it, and select “Ask to Activate.” You can also completely
disable Flash if you don’t use it at all.
4. Disable Add-ons
This is another common thing you can do to speed up browsers, including Firefox. Add-ons and
extensions take up resources, therefore also slow down your browser if there are too many. You should
disable the add-ons that you don’t use to get the best performance. Although you can just go to the
“Add-ons” page from the main Firefox menu and disable/remove the ones you don’t need, it is best to
make a decision according to how much resources an add-on is taking.

For this purpose you can use the extension “about:addons-memory.” Install this extension and visit the
page about:addons-memory, and you will see all the installed add-ons and how much resources
each one is using. Use this information to remove the ones that use the most memory and that offer
little benefit.
5. Free up Memory
If you are continuously using Firefox and find it slowing down, then you can free up some memory to
speed it up. To do so, type about:memory in the Firefox address bar and press Enter. On the next
page click on “Minimize memory usage” under “Free memory” to free up memory.
6. Enable Firefox Pipelining
This is a neat little hack that lets Firefox create multiple connections with a server instead of just one to
speed up the page loading speed (similar to what a download manager like IDM does). To enable
Pipelining, enter about:config in the Firefox address bar and hit Enter. Here you need to search for
the below-mentioned entries and change their status to what is mentioned below:

• network.http.pipelining -> true

• network.http.pipelining.aggressive -> true
• Network.http.pipelining.maxrequests -> 8
• Network.http.pipelining.ssl -> true

To quickly find all of these options, type network.http.pipelining in the search bar and then
double-click on the value column next to each entry to change it. You can check out Derrik’s detailed
article regarding Firefox Pipelining to get more details.
If you don’t like doing all this manually, then you can also use the Pipelining Firefox add-on to
automatically do all this for you.

7. Disable Firefox Animations

Similar to how you can speed up a Windows PC by disabling animations, you can also speed up
Firefox by disabling its animations. To disable animations in Firefox, type about:config in the
Firefox address bar and press Enter. Now type “animate” in the top search bar and set the value to all
entries that show up as “False.” This should make your browsing experience faster, but you will lose all
the smooth animations that make the browser look cool.
8. Use Add-ons to Speed Up Firefox
Similar to Chrome there are many add-ons available for Firefox that can help speed up your Firefox
experience. Some of the good ones are listed below.

Auto Unload Tab: This add-on will automatically unload idle tabs and free up all the resources taken
by them and then let you easily load them when needed.

Image Block: This will block all the images on websites, thus leading to faster browsing, as less data
will need to be downloaded. If you don’t mind browsing without images, then go for it.
Speed Tweaks: This extension can make all the tweaks we have done above in the about:config
page and some additional ones as well to increase speed. You can also do all this manually, but this
extension makes it a one-click process.

9. Refresh Firefox
If the above tweaks aren’t enough, or your Firefox browser is acting up (including crashes) due to
continuous use, then refreshing Firefox could be a fix. Firefox lets you refresh it and change all its
settings to default and remove all the third-party data (like add-ons). Type about:support in the
Firefox address bar and hit Enter. Click on the “Refresh Firefox” button on the right and confirm the
prompt to refresh it.
Don’t worry, this will not delete your personal data like browser history, passwords, cookies,
bookmarks or auto-fills.

Conclusion
You can use the above-mentioned tips to speed up your Firefox experience. Some of these tips can
further speed up Firefox even if it is working fine for you, so do give them a try and reap the benefits.
Also, if messing with the entries in the “about:config” page is negatively affecting your browsing
experience, then immediately revert the changes and let us know in the comments to help other users.

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21 comments

4.
oyvayeh

I have the latest Firefox, and I checked the settings you’ve given for pipelining. I had them as
you’ve listed except for Network.http.pipelining.maxrequests, which I had set at 32 instead of 8.
To see what the default is I reset the value and it was 32, not 8 or some value lower. I left it at
32, but in your opinion is it worthwhile to raise it above 32, like 64, or as is suggested in the
comments to Derrik’s article, to 100? And any reasons pro or con?
Jun 29, 2016 at 10:54 pm Reply

1.
Karrar Haider

It is total number of connections Firefox is allowed to make with the servers. There
needs to be a balance between them as too many connections can slowdown the process
and some ISP’s may also not be comfortable with it and may limit your bandwidth. Most
people suggest 8 as a good balancing point, not too much; not too less. 16 may work as
well, but try to avoid more.

Jul 4, 2016 at 11:01 am Reply

1.
oyvayeh

So even though the default is 32, you’re suggesting I lower it still further to 8?
Why would the default be set so much higher if it’s counterproductive?

Sep 22, 2016 at 11:46 pm Reply

2.
Karrar Haider

if the above answer wasn’t enough to understand the concept, let me know. I can provide
real-life implementation and step-by-step process of how it works.

Jul 4, 2016 at 11:54 am Reply

3.
AdeyJ

Pipelining has been removed from Firefox 54 onwards. They now favour HTTP/2 speed
and performance enhancements.

These options will no longer be available.

Jun 18, 2017 at 12:08 am Reply

5.
Rusty J

Thanks for more useful information!

Jun 30, 2016 at 7:28 am Reply

1.
Karrar Haider

Pleased to Help!

Jul 4, 2016 at 11:02 am Reply

6.
Steve

Awesome info! I made the changes and it’s very fast now. Thanks for the tips!

Jun 30, 2016 at 10:57 am Reply

1.
Karrar Haider

Happy fast browsing :)

Jul 4, 2016 at 11:03 am Reply

7.
Rodrigo

Thanks very much! I do needed this a little too much!

Sep 22, 2016 at 11:56 pm Reply

8.
TDot

Thanks for the tips! You explain things well and make it easy to follow your steps. My Firefox
performance has greatly improved. Much appreciated!

Oct 20, 2016 at 8:12 pm Reply

9.
Liew CheonFong

about:addons-memory is invalid now?

Apr 11, 2017 at 1:33 am Reply

1.
LJobe

No, about:addons-memory is still valid. Just make sure you grabbed the plugin – it’s not
a built-in function.

Jun 5, 2017 at 8:55 pm Reply

10.
dan

If you do step 9’s REFRESH FF, is the refresh to default settings only for that session or
permanently for future FF sessions as well?
Thanks,
Dan

Jun 6, 2017 at 9:14 am Reply

1.
Matias
 It’s almost like a clean install

Jun 6, 2017 at 11:19 am Reply

11.
Chris C.

Excellent advice, and this comes from someone who has been using computers since the days of
punched cards.

Kudos to the team for your continuing work, your advice is generally spot on and a big
aggravation saver.

Two thumbs up!

Jun 6, 2017 at 9:46 am Reply

12.
dragonmouth