[Did You Know] Mozilla Firefox Hidden Secret Features

Everyone knows here that we love and use Mozilla Firefox, that’s why we regularly post interesting tips-n-tricks, about:config tweaks and useful add-ons for Mozilla Firefox which can be found in our exclusive Mozilla Firefox section.

If you are a Firefox user, you must be knowing about the hidden about:config command present in Firefox. This command is executed in Firefox addressbar and opens the secret Preferences Manager which allows you to change so many hidden settings in Firefox which are not available in Firefox Options window.

about:config not only allows you enable/disable many options in Firefox but also allows you to reveal many hidden secret features in Firefox which are not even documented by Mozilla developers.

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We have posted about lots of secret features present in Firefox in past and today in this topic we are going to put them together for your convenience.

So in this topic, we are sharing all those hidden secret features of Mozilla Firefox browser which are not known by many Firefox users but are extremely useful and interesting if enabled.

So without wasting time lets share the ultimate list of all secret features of Mozilla Firefox:

1. Enable Secret Animation in Firefox Options Window:

This is my favorite feature which exists since a long time in Firefox but never comes enabled by default. I wonder why Mozilla developers never talk about this cool feature and why do they not provide any option to enable/disable in Firefox preferences window?

Anyway this feature is all about enabling an awesome slide animation in Firefox preferences window. Its quite similar to Safari preferences window animation.

If you enable this feature and open Firefox Options window and switch between tabs, the Options window automatically changes its height depending upon the number of options available in that particular tab. While changing the window height Firefox shows a cute slide animation as shown in following video:

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You can enable this secret feature using following tutorial:

How to Enable New Animation in Mozilla Firefox Preferences / Options Window?

2. Preview or Instant Apply Preferences Without Closing Options Window:

This secret feature is also related to Firefox Options window. If you try to change a setting using Firefox Options window, you need to click on OK button to apply the changes. As soon as you click on OK button, the Options window gets closed as Firefox Options window doesn’t have any “Apply” button.

Many times we just want to check what a particular option does but we can’t check it until we close Options window.

This secret feature changes this behavior of Firefox. It enables instant apply feature for Firefox preferences so as soon as you enable or disable an option in Firefox Options window, Firefox instantly applies the change and you don’t need to click on OK button. In this way you can test the result of a particular option without closing Options window. It saves a lot of time.

You can enable this feature using following tutorial:

How to Instant Apply Preferences in Mozilla Firefox Without Closing Options Window?

3. Enable “Click and Hold Context Menu” Feature:

This hidden feature allows you to show context menu (right-click menu) for a hyperlink by just left clicking on it and holding for one or two seconds. Many people might find it useful as you don’t need to right-click on a link to get the context menu.

Check out following link to read the full guide to enable it:

How to Enable Secret “Click and Hold Context Menu” Option in Mozilla Firefox?

4. Enable “Middle-Click to Paste Clipboard Content” Feature:

This is again an excellent hidden feature. This feature allows you to paste the clipboard data by simply middle-clicking in a text box or Firefox addressbar or search box. So you don’t need to right-click and select paste option or use keyboard shortcuts.

You can enable this cool feature using following tutorial:

How to Enable Secret “Middle Click to Paste Clipboard Content” Feature in Mozilla Firefox?

5. Enable IE Style “Quick Tabs” Feature:

This hidden feature is similar to Internet Explorer’s “Quick Tabs” feature. In Firefox, its called “All Tabs Previews“. This feature puts a square icon in Tab bar which shows a list of live thumbnails of all opened tabs in Firefox.

Mozilla_Firefox_4_All_Tab_Previews.png

You can enable this feature using following tutorial:

How to Enable IE Like “Quick Tabs” Feature (All Tabs Previews) in Mozilla Firefox

6. Enable “Ctrl+Tab” Preview Thumbnails Feature:

This feature is similar to Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8’s “Alt+Tab” feature. When you press Alt+Tab keys together in Windows, it shows a list of live thumbnails of all running programs. A similar feature can be enabled in Firefox.

Using this secret feature, you can show a list of live thumbnails of all running tabs by simply pressing “Ctrl+Tab” keys together.

Ctrl_Tab_Preview_List_in_Mozilla_Fi.png

You can enable this feature using following tutorial:

How to Enable New Ctrl+Tab Preview Thumbnails List in Mozilla Firefox?

7. Move Scrollbar from Right to Left:

This feature might be very useful for left-handers. By default the scrollbar is shown on the right-side of the screen but using this hidden feature, you can move it to left-side of screen.

Scrollbar_on_Left_in_Firefox

You can enable this feature using following tutorial:

How to Move Scrollbar from Right to Left in Mozilla Firefox?

8. Show Tabs below Titlebar in Maximized State:

When Firefox is running in normal window mode i.e. not maximized, the tab bar is shown below the titlebar but when you maximize Firefox window, the tab bar automatically shifts to the top and starts showing in titlebar.

By enabling this hidden feature, you can show the tab bar always in a separate row below titlebar even if Firefox window is maximized.

Firefox_Tabbar_Below_Orange_Button.png

Visit following link to enable this feature:

How to Show Tabs Below Titlebar When Mozilla Firefox is Maximized

9. Reset Firefox Master Password:

In Mozilla Firefox, you can set a master password to protect your locally saved usernames, passwords, etc. In case you forget this master password, you can use following simple and easy to use guide to reset/remove master password in Mozilla Firefox:

How to Reset Master Password in Mozilla Firefox?

10. Some More Cool Tips-n-Tricks for Mozilla Firefox:

You can also visit following links to read some cool tips-n-tricks for Firefox which help you in disabling unnecessary animations to speedup Firefox and customizing existing features of Firefox:

That’s all for now guys. If you know about any other hidden secret feature present in Mozilla Firefox, feel free to share it in your comment…

Published in: Mozilla Firefox

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

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  1. i hv read about some of them here in past but few were unknown to me. thnx m8 πŸ™‚

  2. Hey VG , this is a secret for hiding tab bar if only one tab is there
    browser.tabs.autoHide , set its value to true

  3. ^^ Its not hidden. Its same option “Always show the tab bar” in “Tabs” tab of Firefox Options window. πŸ˜‰

  4. VG, dont forget the new facebook API feature in firefox. it can be toggled with setting “social.active” and “social.enabled” to true.

  5. not sure if you saw your Google plus comment i made, but Firefox 31 has new features! Such as Search in new tab page and tells you when a file has malware πŸ™‚

  6. Firefox is rubbish now. Honestly. Sponsored content, removing features power users liked, no metro version for W8…so really, no one really uses this browser anymore.

    Plus, with the sponsored content, I’d like to challenge how “private” Firefox is vs Chrome and IE and Opera.

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