[Tip] Enable / Disable “Mozilla Firefox Restarts With Windows” Feature

Newer versions of Mozilla Firefox web browser come with a new feature called “Restart With Windows“. This feature automatically starts/launches Mozilla Firefox when the user restart Windows. This feature is activated and enabled for a few selected Firefox installations. It is disabled by default for most of the users. According to Mozilla, the feature will be enabled for all users in coming weeks.

This feature comes in action when you leave Firefox running and shutdown or restart your computer. You notice that when Windows restarts, Mozilla Firefox automatically re-opens its program window just like a startup program launches with Windows. Although Firefox doesn’t add its entry to Windows startup. It registers itself with the Windows Restart Manager.

This feature looks useful and might come handy in some situations but some users may want to disable this feature due to privacy reasons.

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Today in this tutorial, we’ll tell you how to enable or disable this automatic restart with Windows feature in Mozilla Firefox web browser. If you have this feature enabled by default, you can disable it with the help of this tutorial and if you don’t have this feature enabled, you can enable this feature using this tutorial. We’ll modify this feature using the hidden secret advanced configuration page i.e. about:config page in Firefox.

Following steps will help you in turning on/off “Restart With Windows” feature in Mozilla Firefox web browser:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox and type about:config in the addressbar and press Enter. It’ll show you a warning message, click on “I accept the risk!” button.

2. Now type restart in Search filter box and it’ll show following preference in the window:

toolkit.winRegisterApplicationRestart

3. If the preference value is set to true, it means the feature is activated and enabled. If the value is set to false, it means the feature is deactivated and disabled.

Mozilla_Firefox_Restart_With_Windows_Feature.png

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To modify the preference, double-click on toolkit.winRegisterApplicationRestart preference and change its value. Alternatively, you can right-click on the preference and select Toggle option.

To enable the feature, set the value to true.

To disable the feature, set the value to false.

That’s it. The changes apply immediately.

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

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. That’s ridiculous default setting. If you need to restart your PC repeatedly (e.g to update Windows or troubleshoot a process), the last thing you need is additional startup programs.

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