How To Make Firefox Browser Speeden Up In Ten Easy Steps

Firefox has recently grown to become one of the fastest browsers, so if Firefox is running slow on your device, then there is a problem that could be a result of the numerous extensions, and add-ons available on the browser.

Aside from its incredible speed, this browser offers great security and privacy. 

That being said, if you are searching for solutions on how to make Firefox browser speeden up, then this is for you.

Simple Steps To Make Firefox Browser Speeden Up 

As I earlier stated, Firefox is one of the best browsers out there, especially the most recent Firefox Quantum which is incredibly fast enough even for content-heavy websites. 

Despite its speed, some users experience slowdowns, and the essence of this article is to help resolve the issue and make your Firefox browser speeden up.

Check below:

1. Update Firefox

If you are experiencing slow down with your Firefox browser, the first thing you may want to do is to ensure that your Firefox is up to date as it is one of the easiest ways to make Firefox faster and perform better. 

Below are the steps involved if you want to check for updates:

Step 1: Click on the menu button, and then hover on Help in the context menu. 

Step 2: Click on the About Firefox option.

Step 3: Firefox will check for updates, and if a new update is found, it will automatically download them. 

Step 4: Click on the Update to **.**.* button.

Step 5: After you are done with the processes, click on the Restart to update Firefox button. 

Wait for your browser to enforce the updates as this will enable you to have access to every new feature and bugfix.

2. Allow Hardware Acceleration

Another way to speeden up your Firefox browser is to accelerate the hardware to enable your computer’s resources to function more effectively.

Step 1: Launch Firefox, and go to the address bar, and type “about:preferences” into it. 

Step 2: Click the Enter key on your keyboard to be redirected to the preferences page.

Step 3: Stay on the General tab, and then scroll down until you see the Performance section. While at it, ensure that you do not select the “Use recommended performance settings” option.

Step 3: A new option should become visible. Turn on hardware acceleration by enabling “Use hardware acceleration when available” 

Step 4: If need be, adjust the content process limit, and if your computer has over 8GB of RAM installed, you can leave it at the default 8 or reduce the limit if Firefox is slowing down your computer.

Finally, check if your browser is faster now.

3. Private Browsing

You may have to frequently clear your browsing history or you can start private browsing, this way, there won’t be any need to remember history.

This can improve the speed of your Firefox browser, and you don’t have to go through the hassle of deleting all the time.

To achieve this, look at the steps below: 

Step 1: Go to about:preferences#privacy in the address bar.

Step 2: Scroll down to History, and beneath the History tab, choose Never remember history.

Also, if you have any history, clear it, clear Data if they’re taking up a lot of space, and ensure you’ve checked the box Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed.

All these are necessary because overloaded history will slow your Firefox down.

4. Update Your Graphics Driver

Just like some plugins, and advanced web features like WebGL, Firefox makes use of your graphics card to speed up the display of web content. 

That being said, there is a need to update your graphics card drivers as having obsolete drivers might be a contributing factor to the slowness of your Firefox browser. 

Below is a guide on how to update your graphics card driver.

There are two options through which you can get this done, and they are: manually and automatically.

A. Manually

If you want to manually update your graphics driver, get the most recent graphics driver from its manufacturer’s website and take the necessary steps as instructed by the manufacturer to download & install it.

– For NVIDIA: Go to Official Website for NVIDIA Driver Downloads

– For AMD: Go to Official Website for AMD Drivers and Support

B. Automatically

Another way to get this done is through the automatic route using Driver Easy, especially for people who don’t have the necessary skills, time, or patience to get it done.

With the automatic method, you don’t have to undergo the risk of downloading and installing the wrong driver, or knowing the exact system your computer is running as the essence of Driver Easy is to automatically recognize your system and locate suitable drivers for it. 

Follow the steps below to automatically update your graphic driver:

Step 1: Download and install Driver Easy.

Step 2: Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button so that Driver Easy can scan your computer and identify any problem drivers.

Step 3: To automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or outdated on your system, click Update All.

However, note that this requires the Pro version in case you are prompted to upgrade when you click Update All. 

Step 4: Restart your computer to effect the changes.

Step 5: Choose the items you wish to remove and ensure that you carefully review the ones you’ve selected so as not to misplace important information like your saved passwords. 

Step 6: After selecting everything you want to remove, click Clear Now.

Step 7: Ensure you repeat this process anytime you feel that your Firefox has become slow.

5. Disable Add-ons 

Add-ons can in no small measure slow down your browser, especially third-party ones, and the solution to this is to either remove or disable any add-ons you don’t always use so as to speeden up your Firefox browser.

Follow the steps below to get this done:

Step 1: Go to Mozilla Firefox, and click on the menu button, then from the context menu, choose Add-ons and Themes.

Step 2: Switch to the Extensions tab, and check if there are any extensions you no longer use or suspicious entries – the ones you don’t recognize, or ones that look sketchy.

Step 3: Click the More actions button and choose Remove from the context menu to uninstall any extensions you no longer need on your device. 

6. Turn Off Accessibility services

Firefox Accessibility Service is yet another factor that can cause the slowness of your Firefox browser, so you need to turn it off as long as you are not using any type of physical impairment assistive software.

The steps involved are as follow:

Step 1: Click the menu button and choose Options.

Step 2: Choose the Privacy & Security tab.

Step 3: Scroll down to the Permissions section.

Step 4: Check the Prevent accessibility services from accessing your browser box.

Step 5:  Restart your Firefox to effect the changes.

7. Reduce Memory Usage

Thankfully, Firefox features an in-built function that helps to reduce memory usage to the minimum, and this may help to make the browser faster.

Step 1: Open Firefox, and then type “about:memory” into the address bar. 

Step 2: Click the Enter key on your keyboard to be redirected to the memory management page.

Step 3: Under the Free memory section, click on the Minimize memory usage button. 

Step 4: After this, the browser will release all memory it is not using, which may help.

8. Disable Firefox Data Collection

In a bid to offer users an amazing browsing experience, Firefox anonymously reports how you use the web browser. 

Sadly, this may play an active role in slowing down your browsing experience, so you need to turn off those data collection options if need be

Step 1: Go to Settings > Privacy and Security.

Step 2: Scroll down on the page until you see the Firefox Data Collection and Use header. Ensure that all options in this section are unchecked.

Step 3: Restart your browser and check if the performance of your Firefox browser is better.

9. Tweaks In The Advanced Configuration

Another way to speed up your Firefox browser is by tweaking the settings below with just one click.

Step 1: Open Firefox, and in the URL bar, type “about:config”. 

Step 2: Click Enter to go to the advanced configuration page. Click the button that reads I’ll be careful, I promise to proceed.

Step 3: Enforce the following changes:

– Set browser.download.animateNotifications to false

– Set security.dialog_enable_delay to 0

– Set network.prefetch-next to false

– Set browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.feeds.telemetry to false

– Set browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.telemetry to false

-Set browser.ping-centre.telemetry to false

– Set toolkit.telemetry.archive.enabled to false

– Set toolkit.telemetry.bhrPing.enabled to false

– Set toolkit.telemetry.enabled to false

– Set toolkit.telemetry.firstShutdownPing.enabled to false

– Set toolkit.telemetry.hybridContent.enabled to false

– Set toolkit.telemetry.newProfilePing.enabled to false

– Set toolkit.telemetry.reportingpolicy.firstRun to false

– Set toolkit.telemetry.shutdownPingSender.enabled to false

– Set toolkit.telemetry.unified to false

– Set toolkit.telemetry.updatePing.enabled to false

Step 4: Restart Firefox and check how it compares before making these adjustments.

10. Refresh Firefox

Refreshing your Firefox is another easy way to make Firefox browser speeden up if you notice it is unusually slow.

Refreshing it will remove your add-ons and restore your browser settings to defaults.

To do this;

Step 1: Go to about:support in the address bar.

Step 2: Click Refresh Firefox.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Any of the aforementioned ways can help to speeden up your Firefox browser so as to give you an incredible browsing experience.

Have you tried any of the methods, and did it solve the issue? Are there other ways to fix the issue of sluggishness in Firefox browsers aside from the one you mentioned? 

If yes, share your thoughts with us in the comment section.