Skip to content
IronFox
⌘+K

Mozilla Patches

These patches disable, remove, or replace unwanted Mozilla-related functionality from the browser. This includes advertising, data collection, promotions, and other services not required for critical functionality.

Patches

Section titled “Patches”

Remove Nimbus (Android Components)

Section titled “Remove Nimbus (Android Components)”

Removes the Nimbus library/service from Android Components.

Reason
To reduce data collection and remove Mozilla’s ability to remotely change browser settings.
Effect
Ensures user configurations remain consistent and are controlled locally, reduces attack surface, and reduces unwanted dependencies.

Disable Telemetry (Fenix)

Section titled “Disable Telemetry (Fenix)”

Disables data collection and submission mechanisms within Firefox for Android.

Reason
To prevent any usage data, diagnostics, or technical metrics from being sent to Mozilla.
Effect
Prevents unwanted collection and transmission of telemetry data.

Remove about:telemetry

Section titled “Remove about:telemetry”

Removes the internal about:telemetry page.

Reason
To improve UX.
Effect
Prevents users from incorrectly believing telemetry is supported/enabled.

Remove about:restricted

Section titled “Remove about:restricted”

Removes the internal about:restricted page (used for parental controls).

Reason
To improve UX and eliminate unwanted components.
Effect
Ensures that parental controls are not active and filtering webpages, and reduces unwanted resources.

Disable Crash Reporting (Android Components)

Section titled “Disable Crash Reporting (Android Components)”

Disables the collection and submission of crash reports within Mozilla’s Android Components.

Reason
To prevent submitting personal and/or sensitive data to Mozilla.
Effect
Prevents unwanted collection and transmission of crash reports.

Disable Crash Reporting (Fenix)

Section titled “Disable Crash Reporting (Fenix)”

Disables the collection and submission of crash reports within Firefox for Android.

Reason
To prevent submitting personal and/or sensitive data to Mozilla.
Effect
Prevents unwanted collection and transmission of crash reports.

Disable Crash Reporting (GeckoView)

Section titled “Disable Crash Reporting (GeckoView)”

Disables the collection and submission of crash reports within GeckoView.

Reason
To prevent submitting personal and/or sensitive data to Mozilla.
Effect
Prevents unwanted collection and transmission of crash reports.

Disable Nimbus Experimentation (Fenix)

Section titled “Disable Nimbus Experimentation (Fenix)”

Prevents A/B testing and remote configuration of settings via Nimbus within Firefox for Android.

Reason
To reduce data collection and remove Mozilla’s ability to remotely change browser settings.
Effect
Ensures user configurations remain consistent and are controlled locally.

Disable Nimbus Rollouts (Fenix)

Section titled “Disable Nimbus Rollouts (Fenix)”

Prevents A/B testing via Nimbus within Firefox for Android.

Reason
To reduce data collection and remove Mozilla’s ability to remotely change browser settings.
Effect
Ensures user configurations remain consistent and are controlled locally.

Disable Nimbus Experimentation (Gecko)

Section titled “Disable Nimbus Experimentation (Gecko)”

Prevents A/B testing and remote configuration of settings via Nimbus within Gecko.

Reason
To reduce data collection and remove Mozilla’s ability to remotely change browser settings.
Effect
Ensures user configurations remain consistent and are controlled locally.

Disable Firefox Suggest

Section titled “Disable Firefox Suggest”

Disables Firefox Suggest functionality.

Reason
To remove sponsored suggestions, and to prevent sending address bar data to Mozilla.
Effect
Cleaner, more private address bar experience, without web suggestions.

Disable Firefox Relay

Section titled “Disable Firefox Relay”

Disables Firefox Relay functionality.

Reason
To reduce reliance/integration with external Mozilla services, and provide users with more control over whether they wish to use this functionality.
Effect
Cleaner browsing experience, with more control provided to users.

Remove ToS and Privacy Policy

Section titled “Remove ToS and Privacy Policy”

Removes unwanted elements related to Mozilla’s terms of service and privacy policy.

Reason
To prevent confusing users and to remove unwanted Mozilla branding.
Effect
Users are provided with a cleaner browsing experience.

Disable AI Controls

Section titled “Disable AI Controls”

Disables the ‘AI Controls’ settings menu.

Reason
To prevent undesired AI functionality from being enabled in the browser and provide a cleaner UI.
Effect
Prevents unwanted AI features from being exposed to users.
Section titled “Disable AMO Featured Collections and Recommendations.”

Disables fetching featured collections, recommendations, and icons from AMO (addons.mozilla.org).

Reason
To prevent Firefox from connecting to services.addons.mozilla.org on every launch and periodically after.
Effect
Reduces unwanted network activity and integration with third party services.

Disable Contile

Section titled “Disable Contile”

Disables integration with Mozilla’s Contile service (sponsored tiles) - https://mozilla-services.github.io/contile/.

Reason
To remove unwanted advertising and unnecessary third-party services.
Effect
Cleaner interface without promotional content.

Disable Pocket

Section titled “Disable Pocket”

Disables integration with Pocket.

Reason
To remove unnecessary third-party services and sponsored content.
Effect
Cleaner interface without promotional content or third-party integrations.

Disable Firefox Sync

Section titled “Disable Firefox Sync”

Disables Firefox Sync by default.

Reason
To prevent automatic sync of browser data to Mozilla servers.
Effect
No data is synchronized with Mozilla unless explicitly enabled by user.

Disable Firefox Sync Avatar Fetching

Section titled “Disable Firefox Sync Avatar Fetching”

Disables downloading the user’s profile picture from Mozilla if Firefox Sync is enabled.

Reason
To prevent Firefox from connecting to https://profile.accounts.firefox.com/v1/avatar/b every time the user navigates to settings if Firefox Sync is enabled.
Effect
Reduces unwanted network activity and integration with third party services.

Block Remote Settings (Gecko)

Section titled “Block Remote Settings (Gecko)”

Restricts Remote Settings to only download collections specified in preferences.

Reason
To prevent the download/use of unnecessary and undesired Remote Settings from Mozilla (ex. for experimentation).
Effect
Network activity is further limited, less data is shared with Mozilla, and the user is put in control of what specifically they want to download from Remote Settings.

Support add-on installation without mozAddonManager

Section titled “Support add-on installation without mozAddonManager”

Adds support for installing add-ons from addons.mozilla.org, without allowing Mozilla to enable, uninstall, and query a list of the user’s installed add-ons (via the privileged mozAddonManager API), in addition to websites specified with the xpinstall.whitelist.add series of prefs.

Reason
To prevent fingerprinting, reduce attack surface, and to improve freedom by allowing users to install add-ons from sites other than AMO if desired (though installing add-ons outside of AMO is of course STRONGLY recommended against).
Effect
Allows users to install add-ons from addons.mozilla.org (via the mozAddonManager API) without compromising their privacy and security, and allows installation from other sites if desired by the user.

Remove privileged add-on signing status

Section titled “Remove privileged add-on signing status”

Prevents Mozilla add-ons from returning the ‘PRIVILEGED’ and ‘SYSTEM’ add-on signing states.

Reason
To improve privacy, security, and control for users, by preventing external add-ons developed By Mozilla from utilizing special privileged functionality.
Effect
Users have improved privacy, security, and control over their extensions.

Disable Nags

Section titled “Disable Nags”

Disables Contextual Feature Recommendations, prompts encouraging users to set the browser as the system default, and other promotional messaging.

Reason
To remove promotional suggestions for Firefox features, and to eliminate unnecessary engagement messages that may interrupt user workflows.
Effect
Provides a cleaner interface without contextual prompts, recommendations, and unwanted nags.

Local Wallpapers

Section titled “Local Wallpapers”

Adds a built-in collection of wallpapers for the browser’s homepage.

Reason
By default, Firefox fetches wallpapers from Mozilla servers on every browser launch. We disable this, due to the associated privacy concerns, and to reduce unwanted network activity.
Effect
Users can personalize the browser and take advantage of wallpapers, without introducing unnecessary/unwanted network activity and dependence on Mozilla services.

Configure GeckoProvider

Section titled “Configure GeckoProvider”

Configures Firefox’s implementation of GeckoView (GeckoProvider)

Reason
Disables integration with crash reporting and experimentation (Nimbus).
Effect
Prevents unwanted collection and transmission of crash reports, and ensures user configurations remain consistent and are controlled locally.

Remove Firefox Sync Bookmark Promotion

Section titled “Remove Firefox Sync Bookmark Promotion”

Removes Mozilla’s promotion to enable Sync at the bookmarks fragment.

Reason
To prevent unwanted nags/promotional suggestions from interrupting user workflows.
Effect
Improves user experience by removing an unwanted Sync promotion.

Remove Firefox Sync Settings Promotion

Section titled “Remove Firefox Sync Settings Promotion”

Removes Mozilla’s promotional banner to enable Sync at the top of the settings fragment.

Reason
To prevent unwanted nags/promotional suggestions from interrupting user workflows.
Effect
Improves user experience by removing an unwanted Sync promotion.

Remove URL Tracking Parameters

Section titled “Remove URL Tracking Parameters”

Prevents the browser from appending URL tracking parameters to Mozilla support links.

Reason
To improve privacy.
Effect
Improves privacy by removing unnecessary URL tracking parameters from Mozilla support links.