Technipages

Smart phone, gadget and computer tutorials

Enable or Disable Automatic Updates in Firefox

Posted on by 9 Comments

I don’t like Firefox constantly updating the version or the Add-ons all by itself  at startup without my knowledge. You can enable or disable automatic updates in Firefox with these steps.

From Firefox Menus

  1. Select the “Menu” Menu Button button in the upper-right corner, then choose “Options“.
  2. Select “General” on the left pane.
  3. Scroll down to the “Firefox Updates” section.
  4. Select one of the following options as desired:
    • Automatically install updates
    • Check for updates, but let me choose whether to install them
    • Never check for updates
  5. Check or uncheck the “Use a background service to install updates” option as desired.

From about:config Menu

  1. Type “about:config” in the address bar, then press “Enter“.
  2. Search for the “app.update.auto” setting.
  3. Double-click the “app.update.auto” option to toggle the setting. If set to “true“, automatic updates are enabled. If set to “false“, automatic updates are disabled.

Via prefs.js file

  1. Close Firefox.
  2. Navigate to the following location based on your operating system.
    • Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10 – “%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox“
    • Unix/Linux – “~/.mozilla/“
    • Mac OS X – “~/Library/Mozilla/” or “~/Library/Application Support/“
  3. Open the “Profiles” folder.
  4. Open the folder that represents the profile you would like to edit. The name of the folder will vary. It is usually a bunch of characters, followed by “.default”.
  5. Open the prefs.js file with a text editor like Notepad.
  6. Look for a line that contains app.update.enabled. If it doesn’t exist, add a line for it in the file and set it as desired using these examples:
    • user_pref("app.update.enabled", true); = Automatic updates enabled
    • user_pref("app.update.enabled", false); = Automatic updates disabled

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I have done all three things. Firefox continually rams updates down my throat and screws up countless websites, worst of all the banking websites I use. I’m tired of being a victim, and no one knows how not to be one,

  2. Unfortunately some websites have their own auto refresh setting which over-rides any Firefox settings. This why it keeps doing it despite the ‘fix’

  3. I am on firefox 37, and it updated automatically even though i set it not to in the options. Any idea why? It just started doing this a couple weeks ago, even though I’d been on firefox 37 for years. I run on XP, and Win 2008.

  4. Hi Mitch! I was so hoping to see a response (on this page) to my ‘help’ request re: FF forcing auto updates despite doing everything you suggested. Do you have any idea why your ‘fix’ doesn’t work, and do you have any other idea how to stop FF from automatically updating? Seems hard to believe I’m the only one with this problem, :). Sincere thanks, Susan

  6. I have, in both Options and “about:config”, checked or changed settings for Firefox to NOT update automatically. It goes ahead and does it anyway. Now what can I do? Obviously, Firefox ignores my preferences and forces automatic updates, :( Thanks!!

  7. Great help! Up to date too!(I guess I can thank my k9 search engine for that..
    Yes, I too resent updates being done automatically. I got onto Firefox for thinking it was protecting my choice freedom and such, but it seems that the new regime of bosses is forgetting why people originally got it. Figures, since the new guys in control got that way by a political decision which turfed one of the founders of Firefox.

  8. Thank you so much for your share, I want stay in 48.0.2 and it still update daily even I configuration in Options. I will try your steps.

  9. Yes, this post absolutely helped! I have been searching for a way to turn off auto updates and search for updates only when I choose, which used to be the way for browsers or if it’s still use, used to be easy to set.

    As a former computer tech of 15 years working on getting back in; the idea of using default Firefox or install ESR for a Firefox that doesn’t update that fast, basically an ultimatum of choosing one side or the other, removing user customization is VERY stupid and is the sole reason why the tech industry used to be good — fix now, ship later — and its not anymore — ship now, fix later —

Did this post help or not? Let us know!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.