How To: Double Your Firefox Browsing Speed with a Few Easy Tweaks

by James on January 25, 2009

firefoxlogo-main_fullWhether or not you’re a hard core Firefox user or a casual surfer, you’re going to want to start using these tweaks. Now. You’re just a few steps away from reducing the amount of RAM that Firefox uses and cutting your page load times in half.

Some of you hardcore users may already have known about some of these tweaks but Gnoted has put together a few new ones that will make you forget about how fast Chrome was that one time you tried it.

Reduce the amount of RAM Firefox uses for its cache feature

1. Type “about:config” (no quotes) in the adress bar in the browser.
2. Find “browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewer
3. Set it’s value to “0“;(Zero)

Increase the Speed at Which Firefox loads pages

1. Type “about:config” into the address bar and hit Enter.
(Normally the browser will make one request to a web page at a time. When you enable pipelining it will make several at once, which really speeds up page loading.)

2. Alter the entries as follows:
Set “network.http.pipelining” to “true
Set “network.http.proxy.pipelining” to “true
Set “network.http.pipelining.maxrequests” to some number like 10.

This means it will make 10 requests at once.

3. Lastly, right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer. Name it “nglayout.initialpaint.delay” and set its value to “0“;.(Zero)

This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives. If you’re using a broadband connection you’ll load pages faster now.
Optionally (for even faster web browsing) here are some more options for your about:config (you might have to create some of these entries by Right Click –> New– > Interger or String

network.dns.disableIPv6: set “false”
content.notify.backoffcount”: set “5“; (Five)
plugin.expose_full_path”: set “true”.
ui.submenuDelay”: set “0; (zero)

Reduce RAM usage to 10MB when Firefox is minimized:

This little hack will drop Firefox’s RAM usage down to 10 Mb when minimized:

1. Open Firefox and go to the Address Bar. Type in about:config and then press Enter.
2. Right Click in the page and select New -> Boolean.
3. In the box that pops up enter “config.trim_on_minimize”. Press Enter.
4. Now select True and then press Enter.
5. Restart Firefox.

[Thanks Gnoted!]

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    • thanks for you tips,by the way ,is these sets are safety for the website browser?
    • gb5
      wow, these really worked! thanks for the tips.
    • Tim
      why do we need to tweek for improved performance, why doesn't FF just run flat out anyway, rather than the resource hogging pig that it is? Don't get me wrong, FF is a great browser, much better than IE IMO. However, I think I'll just stick to the beta version of Chrome which does not need tweeks to be sleek and resource savy.
    • Baker
      There seems to be a problem with loading a lot of pictures or icons. It feels as if after so many images are loaded it stops loading the rest
    • @Robert: glad you got it figured out!
    • Robert
      thanks, that worked!
    • @Robert: aha! Right click on the filter you want to delete, choose reset, then restart firefox. That should do the trick.
    • Robert
      Of course, I tried highlighting, deletion key; back space key; right clicking; searching for menu items; etc. No luck. I am amazed that there is no obvious method. One other possibility is if this file is separate from the browser application and not stored within it's structure. then mousepad might be used to edit it directly, but I don't know file name or location.
    • Not to sound too simplistic but have you tried just highlighting the one you want to delete and pressing the delete button?

      I haven't tried it since there's not one I want to delete :) but it just may work.
    • Robert
      thanks for tips. i made a typo on one line, but cannot seem to delete that entry. any suggestions?
    • These really made a huge difference. Thanks!
    • Phil Ducker
      Hi,
      Great tweaks, seems faster. Only problem is the memory tweak when minimized only works for a few seconds then shoots back up to what it was previously.
      Any other way around this?
    • @SIA: I'm not sure I understand what you're seeing. Is there any way you can take a screencap of it and upload it somewhere so I can take a look. I performed all of these tweaks as well and facebook is showing up fine for me.
    • @bmaya: I don't think any of these tweaks should effect your CPU loads.
    • SIA
      I did as you said but now I am seeing funny pics all over some sites..for example on facebook i see a banner of Calender icon all the way on the side, or on a forum i go to i see funny images all over the posts? any way to fix this/?
    • bmaya
      While these tweaks really do seem to work, I am wondering if there are any downsides to them? Like... higher CPU-load maybe? Or cause of "latency peaks" for other people with whom I share my broadband connection/router? Thanks.
    • @daren: Yup, what he said.
    • daren
      @robert: The tweak reduces FF memory usage to 10Mb when minimized. It resumes full usage (about 80Mb for me) when maximized. This is useful when you're running memory intensive programs but still want FF open for downloads or whathaveyou.
    • @daniel: Hi Daniel, I'm sorry but I have heard of no one else having a similar issue. Perhaps you could go back through each step and checking afterwards to find out which one is the culprit. If you do please let us know what you find out.
    • @Don: Thanks for the update Don. I'll check around, I would imagine there has to be a mac alternative to that step since right clicking isn't an option.
    • Don
      @James: I'm pleased to report that these tweaks work well and safely when applied to Firefox's sibling, Camino. However a right-click in the about:config screen does nothing in Camino, so I'm unable to call up the "New-> Integer" based modifications.
    • daniel
      i just did the steps it seems to work thanks but i cant see pictures on site like myspace now any solutions??
    • Thanks for pointing that out Kamal. It should have read "cutting your page load times in half. It's now been updated.

      Also, there is no warranty with Firefox, it's just a joke.
    • Kamal
      It says "You’re just a few steps away from reducing the amount of RAM that Firefox uses and doubling your page load times." in the first paragraph.

      Does doing this void any kind of warranties?
    • @Don: They're both built on Mozilla's gecko rendering engine, I would think these tips would have the same effect. If you try it out make sure to let us know what you find out.
    • @JDHannan: The title says "Double your browsing speed" not your "page load times".
    • It seems that reducing RAM usage will only slow it down. Strange advice...
    • Don
      Thanks for these great tips! Are the same alterations safe (and increase the speed) for Camino?
    • robert
      The last part of your tips (Reduce RAM usage to 10MB when Firefox is minimized) works for about 2 seconds. The RAM then shoots back up to its original usage (45MB or so). Any fix to this?
    • Why would you want to "double your page load times"??
    • Oli
      Immediately much quicker and i'm behind firewall... thanks.
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