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allow updates
I do not want firefox to allow: automatically install; check for: or use a backround service for updates and i especially dont want any annoying pop ups telling me about updates. How do I stop it from doing this?
All Replies (6)
Hello,
Before you turn off the automatic update function of Firefox please note:
Important: Turning off Firefox automatic updates is not recommended. Only the latest version of Firefox gets regular security updates and will keep you safe on the Internet.
However, if you really need to turn off the automatic update of Firefox, please follow these steps:
- Click the Firefox menu
button at the top-right corner.
- Select the Settings menu item. The Settings tab will open.
- In the General panel, scroll down to the Firefox Updates section.
- Under Firefox Updates, select Check for updates but let you choose to install them.
- Close the Settings tab. Your new settings will be saved.
Firefox will still check whether an update is available but will offer to download and install the update. Please report back if this helped you.
Note: Never check for updates was removed from update preferences in Firefox version 63. The only way to achieve this now is through an enterprise policy, as explained in the release notes.
Thanks for the response. Unfortunately "Check for updates but let you choose to install them" generates a very annoying popup frequently, therefore not solving the problem.
The release notes link appears to give a solution (I think) but is stingy on instructions. I think its saying to put this in the registry: Windows (GPO) Software\Policies\Mozilla\Firefox\DisableBuiltinPDFViewer = 0x1 | 0x0
Since I'm not a computer wiz and dont even know what Windows (GPO) means and there are no detailed instructions , I am reluctant to pursue this. Could you be so kind as to explain how to do this?
Note that disabling updates like this will require you to manually update the application by downloading the exe. Once you do this, it will be completely up to you to keep Firefox up to date.
GPO is a policy editor, available on windows for versions that are not home. As far as I know, it is effectively a nice frontend to regedit. You can access it (If you are on an edition that supports it) by searching group policy editor.
If you do not have access to this, you still can use policies.json with the following code:
{ "policies": { "DisableAppUpdate": true | false } }
Because I use Linux, I update through the package manager. I am unsure if these about:config tweaks will work on a non-beta on windows. app.update.auto => false app.update.disabledForTesting => true
Okulungisiwe
to Andmagdo
Thank you for the information. Unfortunately given my expertise I fear I am quite likely to screw something up by messing with regedit and things of that ilk. And because of my lack of understanding i'm not even sure of the meaning of terms you are using. So to be safe for now I will just live with the annoying Firefox popups or maybe change to a different browser.
Again thank you for your help.
With the policies.json, you don't have to do mess with regedit. It's just a file.
Note that with the policy set, the only way to update is downloading and installing the newer version what would remove the policies.json file.
There is also this policy;
{"policies": {"ManualAppUpdateOnly": true}}