[Tip] How to Restore Backspace Key to Go Back to Previous Page in Mozilla Firefox

If you upgraded to the latest version of Mozilla Firefox browser (version 87 or later), you might have noticed that the “Backspace” key no longer works to go back to previous page. Also the Shift+Backspace keys no longer go forward to a page.

In previous Firefox versions, you could go back to previously visited web page by just pressing the Backspace key on your keyboard. Similarly, you could press Shift+Backspace keys to go forward to a web page. It was a very handy and useful keyboard shortcut. But in newer versions of Firefox, whenever you press Backspace key, nothing happens.

PS: Alt+Left Arrow and Alt+Right Arrow keys can be used to go backward and forward in pages in all web browsers.

It’s by design but you can change it!

It has been done to prevent data loss. Many times when users were filling online forms and they pressed Backspace key to delete typed characters and if the focus was moved from the text box to main web page body, the web browser loaded previous visited page and the users lost all typed data.

That’s why Mozilla team decided to deactivate or disable Backspace key action entirely. Now Backspace key can’t be used to go back to previous page. You can still click on Back button present on the toolbar to go back to previous page.

Although it’s a good initiative but many people may not like this change. Some people frequently use Backspace key to visit previous web pages and now they are forced to click on Back button.

Many people like to use keyboard shortcuts and using mouse to click on the Back button will definitely annoy them.

Don’t worry! There is a hidden preference/flag which can be used to restore Backspace key action to go back to previous page in Mozilla Firefox web browser.

This preference/flag exists since many years. If you are an old reader of this website, you might remember following article posted in 2010. We told you about this secret preference/flag present in Mozilla Firefox browser which can be used to disable Backspace key or customize its action:

How to Disable or Customize “Backspace Key” in Mozilla Firefox?

Fortunately the same preference/flag still exists and works perfectly in Firefox. We can use this preference to re-enable Backspace key action in Firefox.

If you also want to bring back Backspace key action to go back to previous page in Firefox, following steps will help you:

1. Open 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 backspace in Search filter box and look for following preference in the window:

The preference value will be set to 2 by default in newer versions of Firefox, which means the Backspace key action is disabled and you can’t press it to go back to previous page.

3. To activate and re-enable Backspace key to go back to previous page, double-click on browser.backspace_action preference and change its value to 0 which will immediately restore Backspace key action in Firefox.

BONUS TIP:

You can also change the above mentioned preference value to 1 which will set Backspace key to scroll up in the page. You can press SHIFT+Backspace key to scroll down in the page.

PS: In future, if you decide to restore default behavior and disable Backspace key action, set the above mentioned preference to 2 again.

Also Check:

[Tip] Enable Backspace Key to Go Back to Previous Page in Microsoft Edge

[Tip] Restore Classic Print Preview Dialog Box UI in Mozilla Firefox