There is no way to skip updates. Even though you don't think the update applies to you, there may be fixes in the update that fix issues you haven't run into yet.

Also, updates are very small, and only require a quick restart to apply. There's no real reason not to update

My guess is that this won't happen. The option to block updates was recently removed because people were running outdated and vulnerable versions. Allowing a skip option would present the same problem.

It's fairly rare when there is an update that will not apply to your system and the Firefox developers can't trust that every user will research the update as much as you before deciding to skip it.

Installing Firefox updates is a vital part of staying safe when browsing the internet.

There are only a few small minor updates available as you can see on this page:

• https://download-installer.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/firefox/releases/68.0.1/update/win64/en-US/

The update from 68.0 to 68.0.1 is only 4 MB and shouldn't be a problem. However if you wait too long and no minor update is available then you need to download the full update version of 49 MB.

Tyler Downer said

There is no way to skip updates. Even though you don't think the update applies to you, there may be fixes in the update that fix issues you haven't run into yet. Also, updates are very small, and only require a quick restart to apply. There's no real reason not to update

I don't know if you are a person or a bot? The email I received said to expect replies from bots.

Your answer didn't tell me anything new. I read what has been fixed, changed or updated for each update. Only occasionally do what's described apply to me.

I get your point about they are easy and quick to install, however haven't you experienced a Firefox update breaking things? I have more often than I'd like!

Wesley Branton said

My guess is that this won't happen. The option to block updates was recently removed because people were running outdated and vulnerable versions. Allowing a skip option would present the same problem. It's fairly rare when there is an update that will not apply to your system and the Firefox developers can't trust that every user will research the update as much as you before deciding to skip it. Installing Firefox updates is a vital part of staying safe when browsing the internet.

That makes sense Wesley, not everyone will research the update and just decide to skip.

I agree that some updates are safety updates but many are marketing updates, like the update to require everyone to create a Firefox Account. I've had one for 2 years. I didn't need that update. I installed it)

What would be great is if the Updates WERE SMART. If they read the state of your browser, your configuration and automatically skipped the updates that were either redundant or didn't pertain to the situation.

Hear that Mozilla?

Amy_energy said

Tyler Downer said

There is no way to skip updates. Even though you don't think the update applies to you, there may be fixes in the update that fix issues you haven't run into yet. Also, updates are very small, and only require a quick restart to apply. There's no real reason not to update

I don't know if you are a person or a bot? The email I received said to expect replies from bots.

Your answer didn't tell me anything new. I read what has been fixed, changed or updated for each update. Only occasionally do what's described apply to me.

I get your point about they are easy and quick to install, however haven't you experienced a Firefox update breaking things? I have more often than I'd like!

Hello!

Tyler's a real person! He's not a bot. As far as I know we do not have any bots or AI that respond on the SUMO forums, it's all real people.

However, in most update instances there are no issues and for most of our users never see issues. In the case you still see issues, feel free to make a forum post and we will do our best to support you.

cor-el said

There are only a few small minor updates available as you can see on this page:

• https://download-installer.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/firefox/releases/68.0.1/update/win64/en-US/

The update from 68.0 to 68.0.1 is only 4 MB and shouldn't be a problem. However if you wait too long and no minor update is available then you need to download the full update version of 49 MB.

I know this is a small minor update, however I have never been aware of the short version of the update expiring and being forced to download a full update version.  That makes no sense.   What would cause the update to increase in size?

Thank you humans and bots. :-)

My gripe about the updates is that Firefox often breaks things that are working with the updates. I don't have a lot of active add ons, perhaps 4 or 5? But those add ons are ones that I really need.

Turns out Firefox broke my password and email account manager with two updates ago. I spent weeks going back and forth with the company trying to get them to fix it. The add on was not working at all, it was dead. Then Firefox issued another update for some minor unrelated thing and after installing it, my add on was working again.

If Firefox did not routinely break things with the updates I would not even think twice about installing them.

I think it would be great to get your feedback in the following feedback format.

https://qsurvey.mozilla.com/s3/FirefoxInput/

Jeremy Sanders said

Hello! Tyler's a real person! He's not a bot. As far as I know we do not have any bots or AI that respond on the SUMO forums, it's all real people. However, in most update instances there are no issues and for most of our users never see issues. In the case you still see issues, feel free to make a forum post and we will do our best to support you.

Thank you Jeremy! Glad Tyler's a real person!

Thank you for the suggestion to make a forum post if I run into an update breaking something.

I will definitely do that in the future if I see issues.

Archived.

I want to point out there was never an update that requires a Firefox account

Updates do not expire, but there are only a few minor updates generated for the most recent Firefox versions. If you wait too long and update from a version that isn't included in the available minor updates then Firefox need to download a full update. For instance no minor update from Firefox 66 versions to Firefox 67.0.4 and from Firefox 67.0 and 67.0.1 to Firefox 68.0.1.

• https://download-installer.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/firefox/releases/67.0.4/update/win64/en-US/
• https://download-installer.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/firefox/releases/68.0.1/update/win64/en-US/

Answering "Not now" has worked for me very recently. I skipped Fx 67.0.3, and Fx 67.0.4, and also skipped Fx 68.0; no issue with using "Not now" other than it would ask every day.

But when I did update to Fx 68.0.1 the whole new version was installed; when you skip just one update and then you do install an update you get "the whole enchilada".

As far as any update breaking an extension goes; shame on the extension developer - they should be testing compatibility throughout the 6 week beta stage of development. Although the "dot #" chemspill updates do put extension developers "in a pickle" - but hey, the chemspill updates don't install anything new and the "fixes" are very minor, and shouldn't affect any extensions.

Tyler Downer said

I want to point out there was never an update that requires a Firefox account

Hi Tyler. I did not mean that the update required a Firefox account. I meant that the stated primary purpose of the update was to get people to create a Firefox account. (A nag perhaps?)

I already had a Firefox account so I did not experience anything requesting that I create one.

the-edmeister said

Answering "Not now" has worked for me very recently. I skipped Fx 67.0.3, and Fx 67.0.4, and also skipped Fx 68.0; no issue with using "Not now" other than it would ask every day. But when I did update to Fx 68.0.1 the whole new version was installed; when you skip just one update and then you do install an update you get "the whole enchilada". As far as any update breaking an extension goes; shame on the extension developer - they should be testing compatibility throughout the 6 week beta stage of development. Although the "dot #" chemspill updates do put extension developers "in a pickle" - but hey, the chemspill updates don't install anything new and the "fixes" are very minor, and shouldn't affect any extensions.

Thank you. I have used the Not Now myself and skipped an update. I usually install them. It's just after my recent experience with this Add On that was killed by a Firefox update that I became leery.

I remember back in the 30's updates and 40's updates it was common for Firefox updates to mess things up. I used to skip updates a lot then.

I don't know anything about the development end with the app, so I don't know what testing they do. It's a paid product so I would think they would do testing.

Since Firefox 57 updates don't break addons. There was an issue with addons a few months ago but that wasn't an update that caused that

Amy_energy said

It's a paid product

          <big>? ? ? ? ?</big>

McCoy said

Amy_energy said

It's a paid product

          <big>? ? ? ? ?</big>

I was referring to the add on being a paid product, not Firefox. Sorry for the confusion!

Tyler Downer said

Since Firefox 57 updates don't break addons. There was an issue with addons a few months ago but that wasn't an update that caused that

This is really good to know Tyler! I do remember that issue a few months back, it was due to Firefox allowing licenses to expire!

I remember it was common for updates to break something before 57.  When this last add on was affected and apparently by the Firefox update (because the next update fixed the add on!) I was concerned Firefox was back to it's disruptive  ways.