How to disable Firefox’s new AI features in 6 simple steps

Mozilla Firefox has quietly introduced a suite of artificial intelligence features that many users are discovering for the first time—often through unexpected pop-ups and sidebar panels that appear while browsing. These AI-powered tools, which include text highlighting assistants, automated tab organization, and integrated chatbot functionality, are enabled by default in recent Firefox updates.

While these features aim to enhance productivity, many users find them intrusive or unnecessary, particularly when they already have preferred AI tools and workflows. For business users concerned about data privacy or IT administrators managing corporate browser deployments, understanding how to control these features becomes essential.

Firefox’s AI implementation centers around a built-in machine learning platform that powers everything from chat interfaces to content summarization. Unlike standalone AI tools that you visit in separate tabs, these features integrate directly into your browsing experience, analyzing page content and offering contextual assistance as you work.

The good news is that Firefox provides granular control over each AI feature through the browser’s advanced configuration system. Here’s how to regain control over your browsing experience.

How to access Firefox’s AI settings

Firefox stores its AI configuration options in the advanced settings panel called “about:config”—a powerful interface that lets you modify browser behavior beyond what’s available in standard preferences. To access these settings, type about:config directly into your Firefox address bar and press Enter.

The system will display a warning about modifying advanced settings, which you can safely proceed through if you follow the specific instructions below. Once inside, you’ll see a search interface that lets you locate specific configuration options by name.

Complete AI feature control guide

1. Master AI disable switch

The quickest way to turn off all AI functionality is through the master control setting browser.ml.enable. Search for this option in about:config and set its value to false. This single change disables Firefox’s entire machine learning platform, effectively turning off every AI-powered feature at once.

This approach works well for users who want to eliminate all AI functionality without reviewing individual features. However, it’s an all-or-nothing solution that prevents you from selectively keeping useful features while disabling problematic ones.

2. AI chatbot integration controls

Firefox’s chatbot system provides several entry points for AI conversations, each controlled by separate settings:

• browser.ml.chat.enabled controls the core chatbot functionality that powers AI conversations within Firefox
• browser.ml.chat.sidebar manages the persistent chat panel that appears in the browser’s side navigation area
• browser.ml.chat.shortcuts governs keyboard shortcuts and quick-access methods for triggering AI conversations

These chatbot features essentially bring ChatGPT-style interactions directly into your browser interface, allowing you to ask questions about web content or general topics without switching to a separate application.

3. Page interaction AI features

Several AI features activate when you interact with web page content, particularly when highlighting text:

• browser.ml.chat.page powers the contextual menu that appears when you select text on websites, offering to explain or elaborate on your selection
• browser.ml.chat.page.footerBadge controls the floating AI assistant badge that appears at the bottom of web pages
• browser.ml.chat.page.menuBadge manages the “Ask AI” option that appears in Firefox’s page menu
• browser.ml.chat.menu adds AI chat options to right-click context menus throughout the browser

These features aim to make AI assistance more accessible during normal browsing, but many users find the constant prompts distracting from their primary tasks.

4. Content analysis and preview features

Firefox’s AI also analyzes web content to provide enhanced browsing features:

• browser.ml.linkPreview.enabled generates AI-powered previews and suggestions when you hover over or interact with links
• browser.ml.pageAssist.enabled runs background content analysis to provide page summaries and contextual assistance

These features represent Firefox’s attempt to make browsing more informative by providing instant context about links and pages, though they require sending page content to AI systems for analysis.

5. Tab management automation

One of Firefox’s more practical AI implementations focuses on tab organization:

• browser.tabs.groups.smart.enabled allows Firefox to automatically analyze your open tabs and group them by topic or relationship
• browser.tabs.groups.smart.userEnable gives users manual control over when the smart grouping feature activates

For users who frequently work with dozens of open tabs across multiple projects, this feature can provide genuine productivity benefits by creating logical organization without manual effort.

6. Extension integration controls

• extensions.ml.enabled determines whether browser extensions can access Firefox’s machine learning capabilities through the browser’s API (Application Programming Interface)

This setting affects how third-party extensions interact with Firefox’s AI systems, which matters for users concerned about data sharing between different applications.

Strategic approach to AI feature management

Rather than disabling everything immediately, consider testing individual features to determine their value for your specific workflow. The tab grouping functionality, for instance, might prove useful for project-based work, while the text highlighting prompts might feel intrusive during focused reading.

For business environments, IT administrators should evaluate these features’ impact on productivity and data privacy policies. The page analysis features, in particular, may raise concerns about sensitive content being processed by external AI systems.

Privacy and performance considerations

Firefox’s AI features process browsing data to provide their functionality, which raises important considerations about information sharing and system performance. Users handling confidential business information should carefully consider which features to enable, particularly those that analyze page content or provide contextual assistance.

Additionally, AI processing requires computational resources that may impact browser performance on older systems or during resource-intensive tasks. Disabling unused AI features can help maintain optimal browsing speed.

The introduction of AI into Firefox reflects broader industry trends toward intelligent browsing assistance, but the default-enabled approach has clearly frustrated users who prefer explicit control over their digital tools. By understanding and configuring these settings, users can maintain the browsing experience that best serves their needs while taking advantage of genuinely useful AI capabilities when appropriate.