Get started with Firefox - An overview of the main features
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- Creator: Lan
- Comment: Hello in FX45
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- Reviewed by: Chris_Ilias
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- Readied for localization by: Chris_Ilias
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New to Firefox? Well you’ve come to the right place. This article covers all the basics and will get you up and running in just a few minutes. It also has tons of links to other great articles that you might want to explore later.
Table of Contents
Set or change your home page
Choose the page that opens when you start Firefox or click the Home button.
- Open a tab with the webpage you want to use as your home page.
- Drag and drop that tab onto the Home button .
- Click to set this as your home page.
More options can be found in the home page article.
Search the web
Pick your favorite search engine with Firefox's built-in Search bar.
- Just click the search icon, on the left side of the search bar, to pick the one you want.
- Just start typing into the search bar and pick the search engine you want.
Learn more search tricks with the Search bar article.
Bookmark a website
Save your favorite sites.
- To create a bookmark, click the star in the toolbar. The star will turn blue and a bookmark for the page you're on will be created in the Unsorted Bookmarks folder. That's it!
For more information, see the bookmarks article.
Find everything with the Awesome Bar
We like to call Firefox’s address bar the "Awesome Bar" because it quickly finds places you've visited before.
- Start typing in the address bar and you'll see a list of pages from your browsing history and bookmarks. When you see the page you want, just click on it.
To learn more tricks, see the Awesome Bar article.
Private Browsing
Firefox’s Private Browsing feature allows you to browse the Internet without saving any information on your computer about which sites and pages you’ve visited.
- Click the menu button and then click
Learn more about how Private Browsing works.
Customize the menu or the toolbar
You can change the items that appear in the menu or your toolbar.
- Click the menu button The image "new fx menu" does not exist. and choose
- A special tab will open which allows you to drag and drop items in or out of the menu and the toolbar.
.
- When you are done, click the green button.
Learn more about customizing Firefox.
Add features to Firefox with add-ons
Add-ons are like apps that you can install to make Firefox work the way you want.
- Click the menu button , click and select .
- To see more information on a Featured Add-on or Theme, click it. You can then click the green
- You can also search for specific add-ons by using the search box at the top. You can then install any add-ons you find with the
button to install it.
- You can also search for specific add-ons by using the search box at the top. You can then install any add-ons you find with the
- Firefox will download the requested add-on and may ask you to confirm that you want to install it.
- Click if it pops up. Your tabs will be saved and restored after the restart.
To learn more about add-ons, see Find and install add-ons to add features to Firefox.
Keep your Firefox in sync
Access your bookmarks, history, passwords and more from any device.
- First create a Firefox account:
- Click the menu button and choose and follow the instructions to create your account.
- Then just sign in to connect another device.
For detailed instructions, see How do I set up Sync on my computer?
Connect with friends on video
Enjoy free video calls directly on your browser with Firefox Hello.
- Click on the Hello button at the top of the browser to create a conversation room.
- Send the conversation link to a friend.
- Firefox will notify you when your friend joins the conversation.
To learn more about video calls, see Firefox Hello - video and voice conversations online.
Browse webpages with friends
With Firefox Hello, you can call your friends and discuss web pages with them.
- Click on the Hello button at the top of the browser to create a conversation.
- Send the conversation link to a friend.
- Firefox will notify you when your friend joins the conversation.
To learn more about video calls, see Firefox Hello - video and voice conversations online.
Get help
If you have more questions or ever need help with Firefox, you're on the right website.
- This site has hundreds of articles that cover nearly every Firefox question you might have.