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Disable "Update Available" popup

  • 7 replies
  • 0 have this problem
  • 17 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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I'm pretty sure I'm not alone when I ask how we can disable the "Update available" popup in the top right-hand corner that appears every time we open the browser.

I have auto-updates turned off because I would like to choose myself when to update the browser and really hate being nagged by the update popup to do so!!!

To be clear, I don't want to turn off updates entirely with the "policies.json" file that I've seen with other questions; I just want to disable the update popup and still be able to update periodically AT MY OWN DISCRETION.

I really don't know why it's so hard for FF developers to give us that popup disabling option. I have always suggested using FF to people I know for over 10 years, but will no longer do so and will be looking for an alternate browser if this continues.

FF is becoming more like Microsoft by trying to dictate what's best for us at the expense of user experience.

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone when I ask how we can disable the "Update available" popup in the top right-hand corner that appears every time we open the browser. I have auto-updates turned off because I would like to choose myself when to update the browser and really hate being nagged by the update popup to do so!!! To be clear, I don't want to turn off updates entirely with the "policies.json" file that I've seen with other questions; I just want to disable the update popup and still be able to update periodically AT MY OWN DISCRETION. I really don't know why it's so hard for FF developers to give us that popup disabling option. I have always suggested using FF to people I know for over 10 years, but will no longer do so and will be looking for an alternate browser if this continues. FF is becoming more like Microsoft by trying to dictate what's best for us at the expense of user experience.

All Replies (7)

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There is a policies.json file to limit downloads to manual. (Remove the blank space in the link.)

http://github. com/mozilla/policy-templates#manualappupdateonly

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Will that disable the nagging update popup notification?

I have the auto-update option turned off in the settings; that's not the issue.

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Yes it will.

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Ok, so what exactly do you do with that file? I need a step-by-step instruction.

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I deduced from your question that you had read information about that but here are relevant links.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/customizing-firefox-using-policiesjson https://github.com/mozilla/policy-templates/blob/master/README.md

Modified by Terry

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Ok, I had to Google it because github just gives you the policy code and what it does; not HOW to execute it.

For anyone who, like me, is not sure how to implement it, here's what I did:


On PC, go to Local Disk > Program Files > Mozilla Firefox (path may differ depending on PC). Create new folder in the Mozilla Firefox folder and name it Distribution.

Open Microsoft Word and copy and paste exactly as follows:

{

 "policies": {
   "ManualAppUpdateOnly":  true
 }

}

Save as "policies.json" (the extension MUST be saved as .json; not .doc or .rtf or any other extension) and save in Distribution folder.


And again, the FF devs need to stop making the browser so intrusive with that annoying "Update available" popup nag. It shouldn't take having to know how to essentially code and go through hoops like this to get around it and should have options to not only turn off auto-updates, but should have the option in FF settings to turn off that update notification and change how often it appears (Never / Once / Once a day / Every time the browser starts, etc...).

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