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Firefox

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Browsing with Firefox

Browsing with Firefox

Firefox makes browsing the Web quick and easy. In this lesson, we'll talk about navigating to websites in Firefox. You'll also learn how use tabs, access your browsing history, and view your downloads.

If you don't have much experience using a web browser, you may want to check out our lesson on Browser Basics, which covers the basic points of Internet browsing in more detail.

To navigate to a website:

  1. Enter a web address, also known as a URL, into the address bar, then press Enter.
    Screenshot of FirefoxNavigating to a website
  2. The website will appear.
    Screenshot of FirefoxViewing a website in Firefox

To search the Web:

Firefox makes it easy to search the Web for the information you need. Rather than navigating to a search engine, like Google or Bing, you can perform a Web search directly from the search box.

  1. In the search box to the right of the address bar, type a search term, then press Enter, or click the Search icon.
    Screenshot of FirefoxSearching the web
  2. The search results will appear.
    Screenshot of FirefoxViewing the search results

You can click the drop-down arrow to select a different search engine, or click Manage Search Engines to add or remove search engines.

Screenshot of FirefoxCustomizing the search box

Navigating in Firefox

Firefox uses four main buttons for navigation: the Back, Forward, Refresh, and Home buttons.

  • The Back and Forward buttons allow you to move through pages you have recently viewed. Click and hold either button to see your recent history.
    Screenshot of FirefoxViewing recent history
  • The Refresh button will reload the current page. If a website stops working, try using the Refresh button.
    Screenshot of FirefoxRefreshing a page
  • When a website is loading, the Refresh button will temporarily become the Stop button. Click this button to stop a webpage from loading.
    Screenshot of FirefoxThe Stop button appears when a website is loading
  • Clicking the Home button will take you directly to your homepage.
    Screenshot of FirefoxNavigating to the home page

By default, the Home button will navigate to the Firefox start page. Check out our lesson on Customizing Firefox to learn how to choose your own homepage.

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