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.
   Navigating to a website
2. The website will appear.
   Viewing 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.
   
   Searching the web
2. The search results will appear.
   Viewing 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.

Customizing 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.
  Viewing recent history
  
• The Refresh button will reload the current page. If a website stops working, try using the Refresh button.
  Refreshing 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.
  The Stop button appears when a website is loading
• Clicking the Home button will take you directly to your homepage.
  Navigating 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.

Windows and tabs

Like all browsers, Firefox allows you to open new windows to view different pages. In addition, Firefox allows you to open multiple websites in the same window using tabs. Tabs are usually more convenient than opening several windows at the same time.

To open a new window:

1. Click the Firefox menu in the top-right corner of the browser, then select New Window. Alternatively, press Ctrl+N on your keyboard.
   Opening a new window
2. The new window will appear.
   The new window

To open a new tab:

1. Click the New tab button to the right of any open tabs. Alternatively, press Ctrl+T on your keyboard.
   Opening a new tab
2. The new tab will appear. Type an address and press Enter to navigate to a new page.
   Using the new tab
3. The website will appear in the new tab.
   The currently selected tab

Whenever you open a new tab, the New Tab page will appear. The New Tab page will show thumbnails of the websites you visit most frequently. You can click any thumbnail to navigate to that page.

The New Tab page

 To switch between tabs:

1. Click any tab that is not currently selected.
   Switching between tabs
2. The tab will be selected.
   The newly selected tab

You can also press Ctrl+Tab on your keyboard to switch between open tabs.

To close a tab:

• To close a tab, hover the mouse over any tab and click the Close tab button. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+W on your keyboard to close the current tab.
  Closing a tab

To open a link in a new tab:

Tabs can also make it easier to browse the Web. If you find a link to a website, you can open that link in a new tab. This allows you to open the site without losing your place on the original page.

1. Right-click the link you want to open, and select Open link in new tab from the drop-down menu. Alternatively, hover the mouse over the link, then press the scroll wheel on your mouse.
   Opening a link in a new tab
2. The website will open in a new tab.
   The link opened in a new tab
3. Click the tab to view the website.
   
   Navigating to the new tab

Managing tabs

Tabs can be moved, pulled in and out of windows, and pinned into place for easy access.

To move tabs:

1. Click and drag the tab you wish to move.
   Moving a tab
2. Release the mouse when you have moved the tab to the desired position.
   Releasing a tab

To pull tabs:

If you want to view two tabs at the same time, it's easy to pull a tab to its own window.

1. Click and drag the tab you wish to pull out of the window. A transparent preview of the new window will appear.
   Pulling a tab out of a window
2. Release the mouse. The tab will now appear in its own window.
   The tab pulled into its own window
3. To put a tab back into a window, click and drag the tab over the desired window. Release the mouse when a small arrow appears on the tab bar.
   
   Putting a tab back into a window

To pin tabs:

If there are some pages you use every time you open your browser, like your email or calendar, you might consider pinning the tab. Pinned tabs will open automatically whenever you start Firefox, making your favorite pages easy to access.

1. Right-click the desired tab, then select Pin Tab from the drop-down menu.
   Pinning a tab
2. The pinned tab will appear as a smaller tab in the top-left corner of the browser.
   The pinned tab
3. To unpin a tab, right-click it, then select Unpin Tab from the drop-down menu.
   Unpinning a tab

Browsing history

Like all browsers, Firefox keeps a record of the websites you visit, which is known as the browsing history. Firefox allows you to search your history to find a previously viewed page and delete your history for the sake of privacy. 

To view your browsing history:

1. Click the Firefox menu in the top-left corner of the browser, hover the mouse over History, and select Show All History.
   Opening the browsing history
2. The Library will appear in a new window with your recent browsing history. The history includes every site you've viewed in the last week. The list is sorted by date, so the most recent history appears at the top of the page. If you wish to return to a website, simply double-click the link.
   Viewing the browsing history
3. If you can't remember the exact address or name of a webpage you've visited before, you can try searching the history. Enter a search term or website into the search bar. A list of results will appear automatically.
   Searching the history

Review our lesson on Firefox Security and Privacy to learn how to delete your browser history.

Downloading files

Firefox can display many different types of documents, media, and other files, such as PDF and MP3 files. But there may be times when you'll want to access a file outside of the browser. To do this, you'll need to download the file directly to your computer.

For example, suppose you need to complete and print a form you find online. You could download it to your computer, then open it with the appropriate program (such as Microsoft Word) to edit it.

To download a file:

If you click a link to a file, it may download automatically. However, depending on the file type, it may just open within the browser. To prevent a file from opening in Firefox, you can use Save link as to download it to your computer.

1. Right-click the file you wish to download and then select Save Link As.
   Clicking Save Link As
2. A dialog box will appear. Select the location where you wish to save the file, enter a file name, and click Save. Your Downloads folder will be selected by default.
   Downloading a file
3. The file will begin downloading, and the download progress will appear in the top-right corner of the browser under the Downloads button. When the download is complete, click the file to open it.
   Opening a downloaded file

For various reasons, many websites do not allow you to download content. For example, YouTube does not offer a way to download its videos.

To access your downloads:

Firefox makes it easy to view and manage all of your downloads.

1. Click the Downloads button, then select Show All Downloads.
   Clicking Show All Downloads
2. The Library will appear in a new window with a list of all your downloaded files. From here, you can open previously downloaded files, search for downloads, or clear the list of downloads if desired.
   Viewing all downloads