Table of Contents
Firefoxes latest update added the ability to enable Windows Group Policy Support which you can use to further secure your local profile. Group Policy support means you can now completely block access to your Firefox profile, preventing anyone from making changes or deleting content and settings.
How to Find Out the Version Of Bluetooth You Have on Windows.
If you are using Firefox on your own personal computer which you don’t share with anyone, you won’t find any real benefit in adding Group Policy Support to Firefox. If however, you are using a shared or company machine, adding Group Policy Support may be quite useful.
By adding GPE support to Firefox you can essentially disable access to Firefox accounts, the built-in PDF viewer, pocket, form history, developer tools, private browsing, telemetry, add-ons manager, about:config, and quite a few other features. Unfortunately, the process of adding Firefox to Group Policy isn’t the most simple, so follow along closely as we guide you through the entire process.
Related: How to Add Two Factor Account Authentication (2FA) to Firefox.
How Do You Add Firefox to the Windows Group Policy Editor?
The first thing you need to do in order to add GPE support to Firefox is download the policy templates ‘aka’ ADMX templates from Mozilla’s GitHub page. These are *.admx and *.adml files which will create an entry for Firefox inside the Windows GPE.
Download the Firefox Policy Templates From GitHub.
Once you have the files unzipped on your computer, open the Run tool by pressing Windows Key + R, then copy the following command into the run tool and press Enter.
%systemroot%\PolicyDefinitions
This will open the Windows Policy Definitions folder which is full of *.admx and *.adml files. Now paste the firefox.admx and mozilla.admx files you downloaded earlier into this folder. (You will have to confirm a permissions request) When the files are in place, close the folder.
Next, open the Run tool again and copy the following command into the tool and press Enter.
%systemroot%\PolicyDefinitions\en-US
When the folder opens, minimize it, then go back to the folder you downloaded from GitHub and copy the two files from within the en-US folder (firefox.adml and mozilla.adml) Now paste the two files into the %systemroot%\PolicyDefinitions\en-US location. (You will have to confirm a permissions request)
Now that you have those four files in their designated locations, you can open the Group Policy Editor. To do this open the Run tool again, type gpedit.msc into the box then press Enter. When the tool opens, navigate to the following location using the left-hand pane:
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Mozilla > Firefox
This is your new Firefox Group Policy, which you can use to better secure and lockdown Firefox with. Some of the things you can do are shown below.
- Block Add-ons Manager.
- Block about:config.
- Disable built-in PDF viewer.
- Disable Developer Tools.
- Disable Safe Mode.
As you are more than likely unfamiliar with making changes to Firefox in Group Policy, check out the following guide for a full rundown on all the options.
How to Make Changes to Firefox Using the Group Policy Editor on Windows 10.
