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arkenfox
user.js
JavaScript2018–2026
arkenfox / user.js

user.js

Firefox privacy, security and anti-tracking: a comprehensive user.js template for configuration and hardening

Security & PrivacyWeb Development
Explore on GitHubRead Hacker News discussions
78Distinct people
110Mentions
5Explicit recommenders
13KGitHub stars
REPOSITORY AT A GLANCE

What to know before exploring

What it is

Firefox privacy, security and anti-tracking: a comprehensive user.js template for configuration and hardening

GitHub

Where it is used

No documented product use was verified in the last source check.

What people are saying

For extensions, I recommend people follow the recommendations[1] in the arkenfox repo and either harden their firefox or use librewolf. Umatrix is unmaintained since 2019. [1]…

bmikaili used a recommendation phrase. 5 indexed comments match. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.

No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.

Also in these discussions

Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.

This week on Hacker News

Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 3:03:16 PM UTC.

No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.

Mentions over time

HN mentions by year110 dated mentions

Observed mentions: 2018-09-14 13:37:15 UTC to 2026-03-07 01:03:43 UTC.

05101520252018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 1 mentions; 0 submissions, 1 comments20182019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 13 mentions; 1 submissions, 12 comments2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 8 mentions; 0 submissions, 8 comments2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 11 mentions; 1 submissions, 10 comments2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 25 mentions; 1 submissions, 24 comments20222023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 20 mentions; 0 submissions, 20 comments2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 10 mentions; 1 submissions, 9 comments2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 20 mentions; 0 submissions, 20 comments2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 2 mentions; 0 submissions, 2 comments. Incomplete calendar period.2026*

* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.

Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.

View mention counts and date ranges
UTC ranges include their start and exclude their end. Select a period to filter the source evidence.
PeriodStart (UTC)End (exclusive, UTC)MentionsSubmissionsComments
20182018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC101
20192019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC13112
20202020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC808
20212021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC11110
20222022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC25124
20232023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC20020
20242024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC1019
20252025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC20020
2026 (partial)2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC202

From the project README

An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.

Read the project’s introduction
This repo and the interactive webpage linked below are the only official sources - do not trust any other sites claiming to be Arkenfox 🟪 user.js A user.js is a configuration file that can control Firefox settings - for a more technical breakdown and explanation, you can read more in the wiki 🟩 the arkenfox user.js The arkenfox user.js is a template which aims to provide as much privacy and enhanced security as possible, and to reduce tracking and fingerprinting as much as possible - while minimizing any loss of functionality and breakage (but it will happen). Firefox's built-in profile feature (enabled since FF150) can copy some preferences across profiles, including data-reporting and Health Reports preferences set by this template. Do not assume these settings are independent per profile; review Permissions and data > Firefox data collection and use in Firefox Settings and verify the shared behavior. The exact shared-preference list is Firefox-version-dependent. See 1933264 and permanentSharedPrefs. Everyone, experts included, should at least read the wiki, as it contains important information regarding a few user.js settings. There is also an interactive current release, thanks to icpantsparti2. Note that we do not recommend connecting over Tor on Firefox. Use the Tor Browser if your threat model calls for it, or for accessing hidden services. Also be aware that the arkenfox user.js is made specifically for desktop Firefox. Using it as-is in other Gecko-based browsers can be counterproductive, especially in the Tor Browser. 🟧 sitemap releases changelogs wiki stickies diffs common questions and answers 🟥 acknowledgments Literally thousands of sources, references and suggestions. Many thanks, and much appreciated.
Read the full README on GitHub

What Hacker News says

110 sources
Baljhin·Mar 7, 2026
Another post listed the Arkenfox project, but that's focused on privacy & security, and secondarily performance -- not on UI/UX. (Changing some parameters might affect contextmenu entries.) It's a thankless task - except by nontech browser users - to modify Fx's menus. Anybody remember the XUL-era addon 'Menu Editor'? So many years and so much effort to make it 'simple' for typical users to customize Menu Bar and context-menus; and always a target that refused to stay standard given Firefox version changes ALWAYS break something about the UI. Ultimately a valiant but unrewarded failure, no blame to the 'Menu Editor' developer(s) and userbase. As the writer will learn, the 'best' way to UI changes current (and XUL) Firefox is via userChrome.js/.css -- which has also had troubled history, as waves of main-office Fx developers have been open
Read the rest
ly hostile to promoting and supporting is functionalities. [0] https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/
In Making Firefox's right-click not suck with about:config
bstsb·Jan 5, 2026
unfortunately, it's close to useless in 2026. i'll take an excerpt from arkenfox's repo as to why: > Replacing some version specific scripts on CDNs with local versions is not a comprehensive solution and is a form of enumerating badness. While it may work with some scripts that are included it doesn’t help with most other third party connections. > CDN extensions don't really improve privacy as far as sharing your IP address is concerned and their usage is fingerprintable as this Tor Project developer points out. They are the wrong tool for the job and are not a substitute for a good VPN or Tor Browser. Its worth noting the resources for Decentraleyes are over six years out of date and would not likely be used anyway https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/wiki/4.1-Extensions
In Decentraleyes
roscas·Sep 2, 2025
Amazing work. But this is just a small step. You do need to block many Mozilla domains on your firewall or Pi-Hole because most of the times even Firefox does not respect your privacy. If you reading this still use Windows, I'm sorry for you. Really. If you are using Linux, please use OpenSnitch to block this abusive pattern. I hope these guys will add those settings to their also amazing job like: https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js https://github.com/pyllyukko/user.js These are config lists that I also use and it would be great to have this on those lists. Again, thank you for your amazing work. I will apply this for LibreWolf also.
In Firefox Privacy Guide
Bender·Aug 30, 2025
Good work. There are some hardening options that you may be able to glean from ArkenFox [1] and Betterfox [2]. Another addon to consider listing is CSS Exfil protection [3a] CSS Exfil Test Site [3b]. [1] - https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js [2] - https://github.com/yokoffing/Betterfox [3a] - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/css-exfil-pro... [3b] - https://www.mike-gualtieri.com/css-exfil-vulnerability-teste...
In Hardening Firefox – a checklist for improved browser privacy

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