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How do I stop Firefox Update from Popping-Up?

  • 21 replies
  • 7 have this problem
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by Matthias

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I wish to stop the new pop-up update notification message built into Firefox 69.0.#.

A pop-up message is not necessary, irritating and tiresome.

Why is there no option available to turn it off?

I wish to stop the new pop-up update notification message built into Firefox 69.0.#. A pop-up message is not necessary, irritating and tiresome. Why is there no option available to turn it off?

Modified by blebadef

All Replies (20)

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Hi blebadef, do you already have Firefox 69.0.3?

And is what you see similar to this one associated with the main menu button (this was from a few versions ago):

I'm not aware of a setting to stop that "door hanger" from appearing once or twice a day. If you routinely exit and restart Firefox, perhaps it would appear more often (I don't do that).

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I've not upgraded yet from 69.0.1 because I would like to find a way to make the pop-ups stop besides upgrading.

It keeps notifying me multiple times every day.

I know there is an upgrade already, Firefox, and no I do not wish to upgrade. Stop notifying me, or let me select an option to turn it off.

Why is the feature missing to make it stop?

I'd rather downgrade to an earlier version if it would mean no more upgrade pop-ups, or just migrate to a different web browser.

Modified by blebadef

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Selecting Not Now pushes off further notification for the day, for me. I don't see it again until the next day that I open Firefox.

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blebadef said

Why is the feature missing to make it stop?

Because Mozilla does not want users' installations of Firefox to become out-of date.

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The release notes for 69.0.2 and 69.0.3 indicate a number of fixes that will not have any effect on anything I use in Firefox.

I won't be updating just to get rid of their update message.

There is a more subdued and user-friendly way to notify people than by using a Pop-Up message that continually appears, like a dormant icon that turns Green when there's a new update. It does not need to have a stick-n-click appear over and over again.

How about a new feature to customize when and how update notifications are displayed, if at all?

These things are what have changed in the last two versions, for which I have absolutely no reason to perform an upgrade:

-Fixed a crash when editing files on Office 365 websites (bug 1579858) -Fixed detection of the Windows 10 Parental Controls feature being enabled (bug 1584613) -Fixed a Linux-only crash when changing the playback speed while watching YouTube videos (bug 1582222) -Fixed download errors for Windows 10 users with Parental Controls enabled (bug 1586228) -Fixed Yahoo mail users being prompted to download files when clicking on emails (bug 1582848)

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The good news is that it is possible to disable the annoying update notification without completely disabling the updates. To do this:

1. Type about:config in Firefox address bar and enter.

2. Search for the following preference: app.update.doorhanger

3. Double click the preference to toggle its boolean value to false.

Restart Firefox and the pestering notification should be gone. You will however soon notice that doing this enables the following old Software Update window. software update window

While not as annoying as the notification, the pop up window also has to be dismissed by clicking the Ask Later button. By default the pop up only appears after every 24 hours.

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Thanks for helping, but unfortunately it would be replacing the popup with another one.

Quest: Configure Firefox to be popup free at long last.

I like to update by activating the update button on the About Firefox window after I know just what will change, or manually. Updating at every turn and opportunity caused a loss on my system when the Firefox engine was modified and became incompatible with previously installed addon software.

If a greater reliability or cross-compatibility is present in other non-profit web browsers between different version releases, is what I'm wondering besides how to get rid of continual notifications which to not subside on their own or by in-programmed features.

The reason I don't turn on Automatic Updates is because the idea of handing the data structure on secure system drive over to a phone cord plug is adverse to what is logical. More logical security would be to serve Firefox to users from a central server designed to keep it constantly updated.

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I too have been suffering under this fascist pop-up feature of Firefox.

If this is not fixed to make it more of a user-defined (as in a simple opt-out) characteristic very soon (as in the next few days) I have decided to remove the scourge of the pop-up notice from all the machines that I administer by removing Firefox from the entire system. People are irritated, and I am tired of fielding complaints about this utterly avoidable characteristic.

I suppose I will go with Opera, or something with more user friendliness, even at the expense of features with which we are familiar.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, MOZILLA!

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Hi philbin, how many machines are you administering? Perhaps the Rapid Release version is not the best choice for your environment and you should considering switching them to the Extended Support Release.

https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/enterprise/

You probably will need to migrate the profile.

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Ok

It seems the issue of Firefox and unstoppable updates began back when version 63 was released, which did away with the option to turn off checking for updates.

Mozilla Support - turn off update message after firefox 62

Mike Kaply shared a way to restore update silence on Firefox two months beforehand on bugzilla. rado84 has another method to silence updating.

So far M.Kaply's method has worked to remove the blinking on-and-off clicky sticky box on 69.0.1. If it returns I'll let it be known, but currently all visible signs of notifying and checking for updates have been erased.

Bugzilla - Comment 137, Mike Kaply

Mozilla Support - alternate method?

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@blebadef - both solutions work but they disable updates entirely and require you to go and manually download new versions from the site each time you decide to update... which is really inconvenient compared to just going to Help->About and updating from there... and I'm pretty sure that when this convenience is removed many more people will upgrade far less often than before...

Not that any of the above helps you with anything, I'm just really frustrated by this decision of the dev team...

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Yes, I agree except that it appears the decision to remove the turning-off-updates option began with a single person's vote about two years ago, and was reported as a Bug. The reasoning behind it doesn't really stand up to logic, considering that the last two version updates did not solve any critical issues for my system.

Sylvestre Ledru : Reporter, Bug 1420514

The update notifications have still not returned after an entire day, so I consider the Quest completed.

Updating manually will become second nature it seems.

Perhaps this ordeal will spur a new Bug Report, something about belligerent notifications interrupting workflow.

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You can still use the policies.json file in the distribution folder and modify the policy from true to false when you are ready to update.


{
  "policies": {
    "DisableAppUpdate": true
  }
}

{ "policies": { "DisableAppUpdate": false } }

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It would be nice to be able to change the DisableAppUpdate value in about:config and have it keep its setting, or to install Firefox with password protection for the Update Options setting to keep it from being modified on computers in a public network, now that it has become a matter of changing the internal coding with special commands just to accomplish what could have been right from Options menu before.

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cor-el said

You can still use the policies.json file in the distribution folder and modify the policy from true to false when you are ready to update.
{
  "policies": {
    "DisableAppUpdate": true
  }
}

{ "policies": { "DisableAppUpdate": false } }

OR, Mozilla could just fix their stupid software to work FOR humans instead of against them.

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blebadef said

Perhaps this ordeal will spur a new Bug Report, something about belligerent notifications interrupting workflow.

Already tried that and it was closed on the spot... apparently it's "not a bug, but a feature"... which they can keep to themselves... I'm too old and tired to keep punishing myself by trying to change anything, so I accepted my defeat and decided to start migrating to Basilisk instead of staying where I'm not wanted anymore. And in case someone from Mozilla accidentally reads this - "thank you" for managing to drive me away after more than a decade of using Firefox...

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stop the continual updates or set option to stop them.

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jamespeace this is a thread on a support forum and is not a form of instant chat. There is no need to repeat that some thirteen times in three minutes.

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And for those who do not appreciate being spammed with useless notifications, if you return to this thread, to the right of the original question there is a section called Question tools where you can unsubscribe from notifications.

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Mandy said

The good news is that it is possible to disable the annoying update notification without completely disabling the updates. To do this: 1. Type about:config in Firefox address bar and enter. 2. Search for the following preference: app.update.doorhanger 3. Double click the preference to toggle its boolean value to false. Restart Firefox and the pestering notification should be gone. You will however soon notice that doing this enables the following old Software Update window. software update window While not as annoying as the notification, the pop up window also has to be dismissed by clicking the Ask Later button. By default the pop up only appears after every 24 hours.

Thank you, Mandy. The only solution that worked - a gem hidden away among all the noise. Thanks.

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