How to Check for Updates in Firefox

The Firefox browser from Mozilla is one of the most popular Web browsers that you can use on your computer or smartphone. It’s well-liked for its speed, extensions, and general user-friendliness.

Like many of the applications that you use on your computer, Firefox needs to be updated periodically. Whether this is to fix bugs, add features, or repair any potential security issues, Firefox updates happen on a fairly regular basis.

If you are about to perform an action in your browser and need to make sure that you have the most current version of Firefox installed, then our tutorial below will show you how to check for updates in Firefox.

How to Update Firefox

The steps in this guide were performed in Firefox version 61.0.1. I am using Firefox on a computer using the Windows 7 operating system.

Step 1: Launch Firefox.

Step 2: Click the Open menu button at the top-right corner of the window.

click open menu

Step 3: Click the Help option at the bottom of this menu.

choose the help option

Step 4: Choose the About Firefox option.

open the about firefox menu

Step 5: Click the Restart to update Firefox button if there is one available. This will install the current update that is available. Note that you can simply click the x on this pop-up window if you aren’t ready to restart Firefox and install the available update.

how to check for updates in firefox

How to Change the Firefox Update Settings

Rather than manually installing updates in Firefox using the method above, you might prefer to update Firefox automatically. Or maybe you already have Firefox configured to automatically install updates, but it seems like it happens too often and you want to reduce its frequency. The steps in this section will show you how to change the Firefox update settings.

Step 1: Click the Open menu button at the top-right corner of the Firefox window.

open menu in firefox

Step 2: Click the Options button.

firefox options menu

Step 3: Confirm that the General tab is selected at the left side of the window, then scroll down to the Firefox Updates section and choose the method that you would like Firefox to use when handling updates.

firefox update settings

Note that the options available are:

  • Automatically install updates
  • Check for updates but let you choose to install them
  • Never check for updates

Additionally you can choose whether or not to:

  • Use a background service to install updates
  • Automatically update search engines

Finally, at the top of the section is some additional information concerning Firefox updates, such as the current version of your Firefox installation, a button that you can click to see Firefox’s update history, as well as a button that you can click to Restart to update Firefox (if an update is available and downloaded.)

How to Turn Off Automatic Updates in Firefox

The steps in this section piggyback a bit off of the steps in the previous section, but I felt that this was a setting that was important enough to justify its own section.

If you didn’t change anything from when Firefox was first installed, then it’s very possible that the browser is currently updating itself. While this is the recommended section to keep the browser as secure as possible, it can feel like Firefox is installing updates all the time.

The steps in this guide will show you how to change this setting so that you are either asked if you want to install an available update, or you can choose to take care of the entire update process manually.

Step 1: Click the Open menu button at the top-right of the window.

Step 2: Select Options from this menu.

Step 3: Click the General tab at the left side of the window.

Step 4: Scroll down to the Firefox Updates section and choose either the Check for updates but let you choose to install them option, or the Never check for updates option.

how to turn off automatic updates in firefox

How to Uninstall Firefox in Windows 7

While the sections above should square away the updating process for most Firefox users, it’s possible that you’re still having trouble updating. In some cases this could be due to an issue with your current Firefox installation. If that’s the case, then you might need to uninstall Firefox and reinstall it to hopefully fix whatever issue you were experiencing.

Step 1: Click the Start button at the bottom-left corner of the screen.

click the start menu

Step 2: Select the Control Panel option in the right column.

open the control panel

Step 3: Click the Uninstall a program link under the Programs section of this screen.

open the program list

Step 4: Scroll down to find Firefox in your list of programs, select it, then click the Uninstall button above the program list.

how to uninstall a program in windows 7

You can then follow the steps in the Install Wizard to complete the removal of the application from your computer. Note that you may need to restart your computer when finished.

How to Download and Install Firefox

If you are in the process of reinstalling Firefox, then you will need to re-download it and re-install it to complete that process. This will give you the most current version of Firefox that is available, which should help resolve whatever issue you were experiencing that caused the need for the reinstallation.

Step 1: Go to the Firefox download page at https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/.

Step 2: Click the Download Now button to get the installation file.

download firefox

Step 3: Once the file has finished downloading in your browser, click or double-click the downloaded file to launch the Firefox installer.

open the firefox install file

Step 14: Confirm that you wish to open the file and run it, then wait for the installation to complete.

installing firefox in windows

How to Update Firefox on an iPhone

The steps in this section were performed on an iPhone 7 Plus in iOS 11.4.1. This section assumes that you have already installed the Firefox app on your iPhone and that you wish to update it.

Step 1: Open the App Store.

open the iphone app store

Step 2: Choose the Updates tab at the bottom of the screen.

select the updates tab

Step 3: Scroll through the list of available updates until you find Firefox, then tap the Update button to the right of it. The update will then proceed to download and install.

how to update an app in ios 11

If you would like to avoid needing to manually install updates, you can turn on automatic updates for your iPhone apps by:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Select iTunes & App Store.
  3. Tap the button to the right of Updates to turn on automatic updating.

Now that you know how to check for updates in Firefox, you can use these steps whenever you want to update the browser.

Do you have a lot of usernames and passwords saved in Firefox and you’re worried that someone else with access to your computer could see or use them? Find out how to delete all saved login information from Firefox and get rid of those saved credentials.

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