[Tip] Enable “Site Specific Browser” (SSB) Mode in Mozilla Firefox

In this article, we are going to tell about a hidden secret feature introduced in Mozilla Firefox web browser’s newer versions such as version 76 and later. This new feature is called “Site Specific Browser” or SSB. This new feature is disabled by default and interested users need to manually activate and enable it using a hidden preference or flag.

“Site Specific Browser” allows users to install or open a webpage as a desktop app. When you open a webpage in “Site Specific Browser” mode, you just get a minimal window UI displaying the webpage. No toolbar, address bar, bookmarks bar, browser chrome are shown. Only the window titlebar and the webpage.

Following screenshot shows our website AskVG.com running in “Site Specific Browser” mode in Mozilla Firefox web browser:

This feature is available in Firefox 76.0 and later versions only. If you want to use this feature, you’ll need to activate and enable it using following steps:

STEP 1: Enable Site Specific Browser Mode in Mozilla Firefox

1. Open Mozilla Firefox and type about:config in the addressbar and press Enter. It’ll show you a warning message, click on “Accept the Risk and Continue” button. It’ll open Firefox’s hidden secret advanced configuration page i.e. about:config page.

2. Now type ssb in Search filter box and look for following preference in the window:

The preference value is set to false by default, which means the Site Specific Browser mode is deactivated and disabled in Firefox.

3. To manually activate and enable SSB feature, double-click on browser.ssb.enabled preference and set it to true. Alternatively, you can click on the Toggle icon given next to the preference name.

4. You’ll need to restart Firefox to apply changes. If you have opened multiple tabs and you don’t want to lose them, you can restart Firefox without losing tabs using methods given in following tutorial:

[Tip] How to Restart Mozilla Firefox Without Losing Tabs

That’s it. Restart Firefox browser and you have successfully activated and enabled Site Specific Browser (SSB) mode in Mozilla Firefox web browser.

STEP 2: Use Site Specific Browser Mode in Mozilla Firefox

There are 2 ways to use Site Specific Browser mode in Mozilla Firefox:

METHOD 1:

1. Open any website in Firefox and then click on 3-dots button (page actions menu) present at the end of the address bar.

2. Select “Install Website as App” option from page actions menu.

It’ll immediately move the webpage to a separate window opened in Site Specific Browser mode.

PS: All sites which you open in Site Specific Browser mode using above method, are stored under “Installed Websites” menu present in main Firefox Menu (Hamburger menu).

You can open the “Installed Websites” menu and delete unwanted webpages by clicking on the cross (X) button.

METHOD 2:

You can also use a command-line parameter to directly launch any specific webpage in Site Specific Browser (SSB) mode in Firefox.

1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box.

2. Now copy-paste following text string:

Replace https://www.askvg.com/ with any desired webpage URL.

Press Enter key and it’ll directly launch the webpage in Site Specific Browser Mode in Mozilla Firefox web browser.

Also Check:

[Tip] How to Use Secret “Kiosk Mode” in Mozilla Firefox Web Browser