Using Firefox/Installation

Getting Firefox

Firefox can be downloaded from this page. Pressing the large green button will download Firefox. To get a version of Firefox in another language or operating system, see this page.

Installing

Microsoft Windows

Firefox's installer on Windows 10.

The current Windows version of Firefox supports Windows 7 and later, and is distributed as an installer called Firefox Setup (version).exe, where (version) corresponds to the version of Firefox you're installing. You won't need to do this process after Firefox is installed; Firefox checks for updates in the background and installs the update on the next launch.

To install Firefox, double click on the installer and follow the installation instructions. Choosing the standard installation is recommended for most new users. This will install Firefox under Program Files, and create a desktop and start menu shortcut. These can be changed by clicking "Custom installation" instead.

You can run Firefox from the Program Files entry or by double-clicking the Firefox icon on your desktop. The first run of Firefox will give you the option of importing your settings from Microsoft Edge (or any other browser installed on your computer). Choosing 'Yes' will import all your bookmarks (also known as favorites), saved passwords, history and browsing options. After it finishes importing all these settings, the Firefox browser will start up and a dialog box will pop up alerting you that Firefox is not set as the default browser. Selecting 'Yes' will associate Firefox with web related files on your PC and Firefox will also open when links are selected from (most) external applications, such as from an instant messenger.

Firefox should automatically appear on Windows's Start Menu. However, if it doesn't, it can be manually set.

Firefox MacOSX Disc Image

Mac OS X

Double click on the compressed Disk Image to mount it. Drag the Firefox application icon to the "Applications" folder on your hard drive. Do not double-click the Firefox icon inside the Disk Image; doing so can cause a program hang. To make Firefox always appear in the dock, drag the icon from the "Applications" folder to the dock.

Linux distributions

Many distributions include Firefox by default. Check your distribution's documentation for details. There should be a Firefox icon in your desktop environment's program menu.

If your distribution does not come with Firefox pre-installed, it may be in the repository. Go to your package manager and search for firefox. Look for a firefox package and install it. The package manager may tell you that the package will require dependencies to install. Once installed, Firefox may appear in the menu.

If your distribution does not include or carry Firefox, you can download it from the official Firefox website. Once the download is complete, decompress the file, which can be done usually by opening the file in a file archiver (such as ark or file roller) and extract it to another folder. Alternatively, typing tar -xvzf firefox-<version>.tar.gz or tar -xvzf firefox* at a command line will generate directory named "firefox." This directory can be moved anywhere. Typing ./firefox in the shell from the install directory should launch Firefox.

Other Operating Systems

Since the Mozilla Foundation makes the Firefox source code available, users can also compile and run Firefox on a variety of other architectures and operating systems. Operating systems not supported by Firefox, but known to run the browser include:

• Solaris (x86 and SPARC)
• OS/2
• AIX
• FreeBSD
• PC-BSD
• NetBSD
• BeOS
• SkyOS
• RISC OS (ARM)
• OpenBSD