Configure Firefox Add-ons to Update Manually

Mozilla Firefox is perhaps the first web browser that made the browser add-ons or extensions popular with the public. With the popularity of Firefox, the number of browser extensions available for Firefox have also increased. By default when you install a new add-on in Firefox, it is set to be automatically updated. So as soon as the add-on author updates an add-on on Mozilla website, the new version gets automatically downloaded and installed. While this should cause no problems for most people, some users may not find newer version of add-ons quite to their taste.

If you do not want the add-ons to get automatic updates because you are comfortable with the currently installed versions, then you can set all the add-ons to be updates manually. Here is how:

  1. Start Firefox web browser, type about:config in the address bar and press Enter key.
  2. You would see the familiar add-ons management screen for Firefox with all the currently add-ons neatly listed along with their descriptions and options for removing or disabling them. Click on the small gear-like icon near the top-right corner of this management screen and select Reset all add-ons to update manually from the drop-down menu.Firefox Update Add-ons Manually
  3. This will reset the update settings for all the add-ons and prevent any further attempts of Firefox to fetch automatic updates for these add-ons.

If in future, you want to check for updates for the installed add-ons, then you can go to the add-ons management screen once again (as explained above), click on the gear-like icon and choose Check for updates from the menu. Similarly, if you want to re-enable the automatic updates for add-ons, then you have to choose the option Update add-ons automatically from the menu.