Firefox has been present in the web browser market for 20 years. It is known that it places great emphasis on the privacy and security of its users, but another of its characteristics is the regular acquisition of new features. In fact, it happens so often that it is hard for regular users to keep track of what is new with it. Because of this, many people do not even realize how many special features Firefox has, and trying them out could easily keep you from going back to Chrome, Edge, or any other web browser.
For instance, Firefox was the second web browser, following once unchallenged Internet Explorer, that supported extensions. By doing so in 2004, Firefox enabled its users to have add-ons, with the help of which you can upgrade Firefox with bells and whistles. You may download add-ons to do things like customize Firefox’s appearance, check the weather, compare prices, play music, try your luck on the best Visa online casinos at TopCasinoExpert.com, and even update your Facebook profile.
Firefox add-ons can also be helpful since they make it simpler to shop online, manage passwords, block adverts and pop-ups, and increase browsing security. However, over time, add-ons also became old and unstable and were able to allow third parties to monitor your browser activity. Be cautious and remove any add-ons that look strange or suspicious the moment you notice something that bothers you occurs during Firefox sessions and reroutes you to other websites. Your entire experience will be hampered.
Now, we have selected 10 great but less-known features of Firefox, most of which are an integral part of the interface and you can use them at any time.
Fast and Effective Tab Switching
Firefox has a really large number of keyboard shortcuts, but one of the most useful is for quickly changing tabs.
The keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Tab will allow you to switch to the next tab to the right and the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Tab to the tabs to the left.
Quick Tab Search
You have probably noticed that Firefox displays certain results when you start typing words into the address bar. What is a very practical feature is the ability to filter results that are only related to tabs, and this is done by first typing the percent sign % in the address bar and then pressing the space bar.
In this mode, the search will be limited to your tabs only, and this can be extremely useful in situations where you have many open and you want to quickly find your way around your desktop. The results you get will be tied to the website itself. For example, if you know that you have a YouTube video open in some tab and you cannot remember where it is, a simple search with the words “youtube” will be enough in this mode to find it.
Quick Search for Bookmarks
Bookmarks are an extremely useful option, but many users use tabs instead to quickly jump to a specific page. Of course, opening multiple tabs can additionally slow down the work inside the web browser. To avoid this, Firefox allows you to easily and quickly open the pages you have marked as a bookmark, and you do not even have to use the mouse for that.
First of all, it should be said that you have several different options for displaying and organizing your bookmarks. As with Google Chrome and other web browsers, you can set the bookmarks bar to be hidden, to appear only on the new tab page, or to be always visible. To update this type of settings, right-click on the toolbar and select the option that suits you best under the “Bookmarks Toolbar” menu.
It seems like it might be most practical to have the Bookmarks Toolbar always visible because it does not take up much screen space and reduces the number of clicks needed to access a particular link. Certainly, the fastest way to open bookmarks is through the address bar. During the search, type the character * and press the space bar. This way, you will narrow down the results to just your tags.
Making Better Screenshots
Firefox has a built-in tool for screenshots that has been available for several years, but its characteristics are that it provides significantly more advanced options compared to the rest of the competition. Using the mouse, you can hover over a certain part of the web page to make a screenshot of it – a certain paragraph of text, a certain photo on the page, a displayed chart, or something else. There is also a button with which the visible part of the open web page can be saved, and in this way, you will only save time so that you do not have to crop and remove the rest later.
Another excellent option is the ability to save the entire website as a complete screenshot, including sections that are not visible without scrolling. Pages that load content only when you start scrolling can be a small problem, but here you simply need to scroll to the end and the screenshot will be complete.
Creating screenshots in Firefox is very easy to start. Anywhere on the website, use your right mouse click to select “Take Screenshot” from the menu. You can add it as a button to the toolbar. Go to the settings (menu with three vertical lines in the upper right corner), select “More tools” and below “Customize toolbar” where you can set the “Screenshot” button.
Bringing Back the Search Box
Remember when web browsers had separate address bars and search bars? You can still do this on Firefox. Right-click anywhere on the toolbar and select “Customize Toolbar” (or go to the main menu in the upper right corner and select More tools > Customize toolbar). After that, just drag the search box (“Search” option) to the toolbar and now you will be able to do Internet searches without any problems. How To Get Free PR 9 Backlinks From Mozilla.org
In Firefox, you can use the address bar to search even when you have already placed the search box on the toolbar. The main advantage of this feature is that the current URL is still visible to you and you have the possibility of advanced multitasking.
Move a Video to a Floating Window
Most web browsers have the ability to place videos in a separate floating window, called “Picture-in-Picture” mode. Firefox’s implementation of the same feature is even more useful when compared to other web browsers. You can turn it on by clicking the “Picture-in-Picture” button (the icon with two squares) when you hover over the video.
Firefox’s version of Picture-in-Picture mode works on more websites than the same feature in Chrome, Edge, and other web browsers because Firefox ignores the HTML attribute that some sites use to block the same mode. Sometimes there can be problems, so websites that will not support Picture-in-Picture mode can create a problem when playing the video itself, but mostly you will be able to use this feature successfully.
A good example from practice is the website of the streaming service Hulu, which does not allow the display of a movie or series in a floating window on Chrome, but the same can be done successfully on Firefox.
With the Firefox 113 update, a new “Picture-in-Picture” mode was introduced, which received a new interactive design with fast-forward and fast-reverse video buttons, a volume slider, and a “full-screen” button.
Opening and Editing PDFs
You probably already know that Firefox can display PDF documents from the web, but it can also view your saved PDF files on your computer. Firefox should appear as an option when you open a PDF document on your computer, but you can also use a keyboard shortcut for this. When using Firefox, press Ctrl + O to get the ability to search for files on your computer.
Firefox’s PDF viewer has a number of features, including a sidebar with “outline” and “thumbnail” options, the ability to select pages, several zoom options, a “full-screen” presentation mode, and various options for scrolling through pages if it is a larger document. There are many other options in it so it is a modern PDF viewer similar to the ones found inside Chrome or Edge.
“Containers” Feature
Mozilla has an extension called Firefox Multi-Account Containers that adds separate containers for the web browser. For example, you can set up a personal mailbox and a working mailbox, each of which will have isolated and separate cookies and active logins. This is a great feature for separating your online modes or managing multiple user accounts on the same site.
The “Containers” feature is not built into Firefox and it is an extension that you have to download, but it will definitely be worth it because it can significantly improve the organization of your work and online activities.
Deleting Recent Activities
If you have forgotten to use a private window for a specific task or need to clear recent activity within your web browser, there is an optional “Forget” button that can quickly clear the last five minutes, two hours, or 24 hours of activity.
To use this button, right-click anywhere on the toolbar and select “Customize Toolbar”. After that, you only need to slide the Forget button.
Changing the Appearance
Firefox themes may not be as popular as they used to be, but they are still a great option for a visual refresh.
All themes are available at the following link and they are all about images and colors so you do not have to worry about privacy like you do with visual extensions of other web browsers.