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How To Make Mozilla Firefox The Default Browser

When you run Firefox for the first time, you get the chance to make the browser the default browser of the system. You can uncheck that option which you may want to do if you want to test the browser first, or want that another installed browser remains the default browser on the system.

You may at a later time come to the decision that you’d like to make Mozilla Firefox your default browser. Many users however seem to have a hard time finding the setting or preference to make the browser the default program on the system.

Here is a quick guide on how you configure Firefox to be the default system browser after it has been installed on a computer system.

If you are running Firefox 4 select the Firefox button on top and then Options > Options. Users who are running an earlier version of Firefox, and users who have enabled the old menubar need to select Tools > Options instead.

firefox default browser

Locate the Advanced tab on top and load it. Select General from the list of sub-tabs. Locate the System Defaults section.

You have two options now. A click on the Check Now button performs the default browser check immediately, and you will get a notification prompt if it is not the default browser.

firefox default system browser

A click on Yes there will set the version of Firefox as the default system browser. No on the other hand cancels the request.

The second option is to place a checkmark in the “Always check to see if Firefox is the default browser on startup” preference. This forces Firefox to check if it is the default browser on every startup, again with a prompt to make it the default browser if it is not.

Hope this helps Firefox users who have difficulties finding the right setting in the browser.

Please note that some programs on Windows may override the default browser setting.

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About the Author:Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand. You can follow Martin on Facebook or Twitter.

Author: , Thursday May 19, 2011 -
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Responses so far:

  1. jesus says:

    What does it mean default browser? Is it a browser that is defaulting? Would it be possible to have two or three default browsers?

    Is there a difference in browser performance if it’s not defaulting? Do you think world is better place with default browsers or not?

    Do you agree that firefox is ok?

    • Default browser means that it is used as the default program to display Internet pages on the system. It has no impact on performance, and it is not possible to have more than one default browser.

  2. odio says:

    this jesus must be kidding. crucify him.

    • neuroxik says:

      Odio, I am afraid we may have a Jesus impersonator here, Jesus is not supposed to come back before May 21st.

      @Jesus: you’ve been unveiled, you were witty but forgot that May 21st is in two days.

  3. Alec_Burgess says:

    jesus said: > Would it be possible to have two or three default browsers?
    Not sure if that was trolling but BrowserTraySwitch from Donation Coder is handy when you want to switch back and forth between any of several browsers.

    http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/browsertray/

    requires being able to figure out how to set target browser as default (eg. Firefox per above) then capture the settings from tray icon.

  4. Andrew says:

    i love firefox,but my default browser is avant browser .
    firefox is really good ,however,avant browser is better than FF
    .its Very low memory usage, very easy to customize (such disable JavaScript, ActiveX, …), being able to block ads and pop-ups.
    by the way ,i found that firefox 4.0 didnt release memory thoroughly when i use some time .it’s boring

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