This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

How can I install multiple versions of Firfox, and block the older versions from updating while allowing one version to continue updating?

  • 3 ŋuɖoɖowo
  • 1 masɔmasɔ sia le esi
  • 3 views
  • Nuɖoɖo mlɔetɔ miklewis

more options

I need to have several versions of FF installed for training and testing purposes, but I can't keep older versions from updating. All versions will auto-update regardless of setting auto-update to off or suggest.

I need to have several versions of FF installed for training and testing purposes, but I can't keep older versions from updating. All versions will auto-update regardless of setting auto-update to off or suggest.

Ŋuɖoɖo si wotia

You really need a separate Profile for each version of Firefox you have installed, to avoid updating issues and triggering a "scan" of addons every time a Profile is launched with a different version. Also, the preference for turning off updates resides in the Profile, so you can't have it both ways in one Profile.
https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Profiles

The easiest way of having multiple versions of Firefox installed is to use multiple older versions Firefox, Portable Edition installed.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/portableapps/files/Mozilla%20Firefox%2C%20Portable%20Ed./

P.E. packages the "Profile" with the program files installation, each version automatically has its own Profile without the user needing to do anything. P.E. also avoids "competition" for which version of Firefox is the "default browser" in Windows; PE can't be set as the "default" as no registry entries are made. The biggest "downside" is that Plugins need special treatment to work, specific DLL's need to be copied to each PE installation.
http://portableapps.com/forums/support/firefox_portable

Xle ŋuɖoɖo sia le goya me 👍 0

All Replies (3)

more options

hello miklewis, you can try to use portable versions of older versions of the browser & set them to not update (those are not provided by mozilla directly): http://sourceforge.net/projects/portableapps/files/Mozilla%20Firefox%2C%20Portable%20Ed./

more options

Ɖɔɖɔɖo si wotia

You really need a separate Profile for each version of Firefox you have installed, to avoid updating issues and triggering a "scan" of addons every time a Profile is launched with a different version. Also, the preference for turning off updates resides in the Profile, so you can't have it both ways in one Profile.
https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Profiles

The easiest way of having multiple versions of Firefox installed is to use multiple older versions Firefox, Portable Edition installed.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/portableapps/files/Mozilla%20Firefox%2C%20Portable%20Ed./

P.E. packages the "Profile" with the program files installation, each version automatically has its own Profile without the user needing to do anything. P.E. also avoids "competition" for which version of Firefox is the "default browser" in Windows; PE can't be set as the "default" as no registry entries are made. The biggest "downside" is that Plugins need special treatment to work, specific DLL's need to be copied to each PE installation.
http://portableapps.com/forums/support/firefox_portable

more options

Thank you both!