Category: Firefox

If you surf the web with Firefox, then you’ve no doubt noticed the Downloads window that appears when you download a file. While this window makes it easy to view the progress of downloads as they occur, one default behavior can be a little annoying for those who download files on a regular basis – namely the fact that the program will leave the Download window open once the download is completed.

This feature is helpful for users who like to launch downloads immediately (using the window’s Open link), but not as much for users who’ve configured Firefox to download files to a particular folder for later use. If you’re in the latter camp, follow these steps to have the Downloads window close automatically once your downloads are complete.

Open Firefox, type about:config in the address bar, and press Enter. Browse to the setting called browser.download.manager.closeWhenDone, double-click it to change the value to True, and the the Download window will now close automatically when downloaded files are complete.

When you browse the web with Firefox and attempt to view an image file (a JPG, for example), Firefox wants to ensure you see the “whole” image and therefore resizes the image dynamically to ensure a complete view. Unfortunately, resizing the image often results in less-than-optimal quality, a situation that’s easily remedied in Firefox by simply clicking on the image once to view it at its original full-glory resolution.

While the ability to full-size images in this way is handy, some people will want to view all images in their full size by default. A simple Firefox tweak will get the job done if this is what you want:

In the Firefox address bar, type about:config and press Enter. Next, browse to the preference named browser.enable_automatic_image_resizing. This value is set to true by default, but if you double-click on it, it will switch to false. Once complete, all images will appear without any resizing applied bu default. To switch to the resized, fitted view, simply click on the image as you normally would.

There’s nothing worse than being directed to a web site and then having to spend minutes browsing through the page trying to find the information that you’re looking for. Rather than endlessly scrolling through the page and trying to scan text on the fly, why not let Firefox do the searching for you?

Like other popular browsers, Firefox includes a built-in “Find” feature. The search feature is hidden by default, but appears in the lower-left corner of your screen when you select the Edit > Find in This Page option or press the Ctrl+F shortcut. Type in a word and Firefox will jump to its first instance on the page, after which you can use the Next and Previous arrows to find additional instances.

The Find feature is great, but there’s an even easier way to use it by having it open on its own. Click Tools > Options, click the Advanced icon, and then select the General tab. Check the option marked Search for text when I start typing and click OK. Now, when you surf to a web page and begin typing, Firefox will begin looking for the text you type in immediately. To avoid conflicts, the feature only works when your “focus” isn’t already within a text box or other editable element.

Want to save energy when using Mozilla Firefox? If so, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with these helpful time-saving keyboard shortcuts. From quickly getting “Home” to switching between tabs with ease, there’s a little something for everyone on this list:

1. Alt+Home takes you back to your configured web home page.

2.  F5 refreshes the current page being viewed. If you want to ensure that the refreshed version isn’t pulled from cache, use Ctrl+F5 instead.

3. Ctrl+T opens a new blank tab.

4. To switch between open tabs, press Ctrl+(1 or 2 or 3 etc…), where the number pressed is the ordered number of the tab moving from left to right.

5. To switch to the next tab to the right, press Ctrl+Page Down. For the next tab to the left, press Ctrl+Page Up.

6. To move backwards through your surfing history, press the Backspace button.

7. To move forward, press Shift+Backspace.

8.  To increase the size of the text on the current page, press Ctrl+ + (in other words, hold down the Ctrl key and then press the + key). Press the + sign multiple times for larger text.
9. To decrease the size of the text on the current page, press Ctrl+ – (in other words, hold down the Ctrl key and then press the – key). Press the – sign multiple times for smaller text.

10. To navigate to the top of the current page, press the Home button.

11. To get to the bottom of the current page, press the End button.

12. To view a web page in Full-screen mode, press F11. Press F11 again to return to normal view.

13. To bookmark the current page, press Ctrl+D.

14. To clear all private data stored during your browsing session (including things like your surfing history) press Ctrl+Shift+Del.

15. To open the Firefox Downloads window, click Ctrl+J.