r/firefox

Hi there! Many of you have noticed the design updates in certain Firefox configs, which we've been calling Project Nova internally. We want to give this community an official first look at some of the design work coming to Firefox later this year.

A few things we’re exploring that people have been curious about:

• Simpler navigation & a redesigned Settings
• Better access to productivity features like tab groups, split view, and vertical tabs
• The return of Compact Mode 
• Several refreshed design updates, such as tab shape, icons, and spacing
• More customization, including new themes and wallpapers

We're working to make the browser feel faster, more cohesive and customizable, and distinctly Firefox. Here's a deeper look at what's to come. The work is still evolving, so keep the feedback coming – we're listening.

Ever since the release of Firefox 151.0, I have been forced to solve CAPTCHAs for every Google search. Google Chrome 148.0.7778.178 works perfectly. This is 100% reproducible in incognito/fresh sessions in both browsers. I have no malware and I don't generate bad traffic. I'm not using VPN.

Recently my firefox updated to android version 151, I downloaded a file in incognito, and to my surprise as soon as I closed incognito the file got erased. No trace of it anywhere.

I investigated and figured out why quickly. There is a setting that was checked to delete files whenever the download history entry is deleted. Since closing incognito automatically deletes the download entry having this setting checked always deletes all downloaded files as soon as you close the incognito tab.

This is absolutely unacceptable and a horrible and dangerous design choice. Had I cleared my download history for any reason without knowing about this setting hundreds of files I downloaded months back could have been irreversibly deleted from my device, if you have set your download history to auto delete after a period of time or when closing firefox, immediately check your settings and secure your files.

Firefox maliciously changed the setting regardless of my preference during the last update. This has never happened to me before and needs to be addressed.

EDIT:
Half of the comments did did not read past the first sentence or have low reading comprehension before commenting nonsense. So I'll simplify it here.

THIS IS NOT AN INCOGNITO MODE ISSUE, IF AFFECTS EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR FILES EVER DOWNLOADED BY FIREFOX ON MOBILE.

Firefox has a setting to separate file download history from actual files downloaded, you can configure it to either delete the file when the history is deleted, or delete only history and not touch the files.

Theres multiple ways file download history can be deleted:
- You manually delete items from your history
- You have firefox configured to auto delete your download history when closed
- You have firefox delete your history after a period of time
- You leave incognito mode after downloading something (this will clear all entries in the download history made during the incognito session)

Now comes the issue: firefox has in the past update reset this setting, regardless of your previous preference, to auto delete files when they're removed from download history, here is a picture of what the setting looks like before and after v151: https://imgur.com/a/KmmOys0

This means, if you do not manually change this setting immediately, if any of the previously mentioned events capable of deleting history occur, all the entries deleted will take their respective files down with them. Meaning you can lose thousands of files you downloaded in the past without ever pressing any button that would have never been deleted otherwise.

Finally, thanks to everyone confirming this issue in the comments and trying to help respond to the massive amounts of people that never read the post before commenting.

I have so many passwords and bookmarks saved on this account, and when I click "let us know," it takes me to a page explaining everything. Then at the end it says to click the "let us know" link there to let them know... But that was the link that brought me here..

HOW DO I ACTUALLY LET THEM KNOW???

I'm not great with computer stuff, but I can usually figure things out eventually. This one is genuinely breaking my brain.

So I decided to make a post about it. It'll probably get taken down because of some rule 6 in the subsection 7 I missed, but at this point I made it anyway

I downloaded the Firefox installer directly from the Firefox website. Does the installer have a false positive on virustotal?

Download link (defanged)

www(dot)firefox(dot)com/en-US/thanks/

The file properties show the digital signature is ok and signed by Mozilla on May 16th 2026.

i think i accidentally updated firefox or something and now everything on my home screen is really low and i have to scroll to get to my third row of shortcuts. theyre also really close together now. is there any way to reverse this? its really throwing me off.

Firefox is right and Brave left

Hi everyone - You may have noticed several updates to the Firefox Settings for some time. As of today, we’ve officially updated the Settings in Nightly, and want to share the new UI and architecture with this community.

The goal of this redesign is to simplify the Settings, making it more intuitive to navigate and easier to customize your browser based on your preferences. Think, less digging through long pages to find what you need. A few things to expect:

• A reorganization of the Settings pages for improved discovery, including dedicated pages for a11y and passwords.
• No settings are being removed.
• Advanced settings and controls remain available.
• Your individual preferences will not change.

We’re rolling out these updates to make it even easier and clearer for you to customize your browser, one of Firefox’s most valued features. The plan is to bring the new design to Desktop Release starting with Firefox 152 in June. 

Before the update, it was all black without the firefox logo.

I found a fix that said,

Settings -> Home -> New Windows and Tabs -> New Tabs -> Blank page.

But that removes my color.

So I added the timer and notes widget to my startpage! When I got rid of them, the Search Bar just resized and became a lot larger. Also the weather widget does not even display. (See picture 1 & 2)

So far I just turned browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.nova.enabled to false and that changed the startpage look to pre-151. (See picture 3)

Is there any fix to this so I could continue using the nova design for my startpage?