Firefox

Firefox security and privacy

Firefox includes a range of security features, such as security indicators and malware protection. Because of its advanced security features, Firefox offers an extremely safe browsing experience. Firefox also allows you to control what information you share online, keeping your personal information private.

Website security indicators

Whenever you navigate to a website, Firefox will display a security indicator to the left of the web address in the address bar.

A website security indicator

Understanding these indicators can help you stay safe when entering personal information on the Web.

•   The non-SSL indicator will appear for most websites, which means the site is not using a secure connection. This is not important for many websites, like a news source or weather forecast, but you should avoid entering sensitive personal information on these pages.
•   The HTTPS indicator will appear if the site is using a secure connection. Always check for this icon when entering sensitive information on the Web, like your credit card number or birth date. A secure connection makes it almost impossible for someone to access your information.
  
  

Firefox offers a high level of protection from malicious websites, but you should still use your best judgement when browsing the Web. Check out our tutorial on Internet Safety to learn more about staying safe online.

Maintaining your privacy in Firefox

Firefox takes great care to keep your personal information private. It offers many ways to control your privacy, like modifying your Privacy Settings, deleting your History, and browsing in a Private window.

Privacy settings

Firefox allows you to control some of the information you share on the Web, which you can modify in your Privacy Settings. We recommend that you do not change Firefox's default selections, as they allow for the best balance of privacy and security while browsing. However, you can modify them if you choose.

To modify your privacy settings:

1. Click the Firefox menu in the top-left corner of the browser, hover the mouse over Options, then select Options.
   Clicking Options
2. The Options dialog box will appear. Click Privacy.
3. From here, you can customize your privacy settings. For example, you can tell websites that you don't want your browsing habits tracked, stop Firefox from recording your history, and more.
   
   Privacy options
   

Deleting browsing history

Like all browsers, Firefox keeps a record of every website you visit in your browsing history. You may want to remove some or all of your browsing history for the sake of privacy.

To remove specific sites from history:

1. Click the Firefox menu in the top-left corner of the browser, hover the mouse over History, then select Show All History.
   Opening the browsing history
2. The Library will appear in a new window with your full browsing history.
3. Click any link to select it, then press the Delete or Backspace key on your keyboard to remove it from the history. Press and hold the Ctrl key to select multiple items.
   Removing sites from the history

To clear all browsing data:

Firefox makes it easy to delete some or all of your history. For example, sometimes you might want to remove only your history from the past hour instead of removing your entire history. You might also want to remove all of your saved pages and cookies, but keep your saved passwords.

1. Click the Firefox menu in the top-left corner of the browser, hover the mouse over History, then select Clear Recent History.
   Clicking Clear Recent History
2. A dialog box will appear. Click the Details drop-down arrow, then choose the time range and browsing data you want to delete.
3. When you're ready, click Clear Now.
   Clearing all browsing data
4. The selected browsing history will be cleared.

Private browsing

For added privacy, Firefox also offers private browsing, which allows you to browse the Web without recording your history or storing cookies. This is a great way to keep your browsing history secret when planning a party or buying a gift for someone who shares your computer.

To create a private window:

1. Click the Firefox menu in the top-left corner of the browser, then select New Private Window.
   Creating a private window
2. A private browsing window will appear, which you'll use just like a regular Firefox window. Note the Private icon in the top-left corner of the browser, which confirms that you are in private browsing mode.
   The new private window

Private browsing does not make Firefox more secure—it only stops Firefox from saving history and cookies for that session. Don't use a private window to view any websites you wouldn't feel safe viewing in a regular Firefox window.