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] https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/wiki/4.1-Extensions
In In 2024, please switch to Firefoxarkenfox
user.js
JavaScript2018–2026
arkenfox / user.js
user.js
Firefox privacy, security and anti-tracking: a comprehensive user.js template for configuration and hardening
78Distinct people
110Mentions
5Explicit recommenders
13KGitHub stars
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
- pyllyukko/user.js · linked in 3 of the same discussions
- yokoffing/betterfox · linked in 3 of the same discussions
Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 8–Nov 15 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/15/2026, 10:02:05 AM 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.
* 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
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2019 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 13 | 1 | 12 |
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 11 | 1 | 10 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 25 | 1 | 24 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 20 | 0 | 20 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 10 | 1 | 9 |
| 2025 | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 20 | 0 | 20 |
| 2026 (partial) | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
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 GitHubWhat Hacker News says
20 sources> Firefox remains a stable option to come back to everytime
Don't get me wrong, I've been using Firefox for the last decade and I don't intend on using anything else for the foreseeable future, but Mozilla has no idea what they're doing with Firefox nowadays. Firefox View is the most useless thing I've ever seen, that expiring "independent voices" theme picker was some weird hippie stunt[1], the latest UI redesign which split the tab from the window looks hideous, and it's not like Firefox doesn't have things you can tweak for a more private experience[2]. I miss Firefox Test Pilot where they tried out different new features, I found a lot of them to be very useful but sadly lots of them didn't make it. I don't know what's going on at Mozilla but they seem to lack any vision, they're just existing as an option without trying to be the bes
Read the rest
https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/
I don't use or recommend exactly what they do but they have a long list of settings you might want to change that is better documented than any other source I've seen and if you click the wiki link there is detailed info about how user.js works.
In LibreWolf – Custom version of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedomFirefox at least exposes an endless amount of toggles to tweak pretty much every behaviour the browser has.
This is includes settings for removing or disabling all the integration with Mozilla services and their ads.
See for example: https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js
In Mozilla stops Firefox fullscreen VPN ads after user outrageGo arken. https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js
In Firefox displayed a pop-up ad for Mozilla VPN over an unrelated pageIf you ask me, it can't get better than a properly setup firefox
https://librewolf.net/docs/features/
https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js -- If you're constrained using ff
In Forgetful BrowsingThis is because Cloudflare is not happy with Firefox 'resist fingerprint' feature.
Some related issues:
- https://forum.gitlab.com/t/cant-open-the-signin-page-it-keep...
- https://gitlab.com/librewolf-community/browser/linux/-/issue...
- https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/issues/1253
In Tell HN: Cloudflare verification is breaking the internetHey, Congratulations on your upgrade to Windows 7!
Not 48 hours ago, I spoke highly of the benefits of Windows 7[1], as a user myself.
It is absolutely possible to use Windows 7 reasonably securely, if you take the appropriate precautions(again, see my comment)
> I can use the latest versions of Google Chrome
Firefox? Yes. Chrome? No.
Chromium 109 is the last version to support Windows 7. Here's the last working ungoogled variant [2].
Switch to LibreWolf[3] Firefox based browser with user.js modifications[3] pre-installed. Or if you don't trust librewolf, use Firefox and manually add the same user.js[4]
It's better for security than Chrome could ever hope to be.
Your web browser's javascript continues to be the predominant way for malware to make its entry. So just make sure to take the appropriate security precautions elsewhere, as menti
Read the rest
oned in my comment [1].
> When Firefox stopped receiving upgrades I switched to Mypal browser, an open source browser specially made for Windows XP. It is cruder than Google Chrome but does the job most of the time.
Have you tried K-Meleon on Windows XP[5]? It's Old Firefox(pre-Australis) based, and still gets updates.
-----------
Windows 7 is the last legit good Microsoft Operating System.
It truly is a wonder and a delight to use and modify.
Anyway, all the very best on your Windows 7 journey. May it serve you well.
Cheers!
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35431587
[2] https://github.com/macchrome/winchrome/releases/tag/v109.541...
[3] https://librewolf.net/installation/windows/
[4] https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/blob/master/user.js
[5] https://kmeleonbrowser.org
I'm quite surprised nobody mentioned Librewolf yet.
https://librewolf.net/
It's a custom build of Firefox with somewhat sensible, sometimes strict, privacy respecting default settings.
There's also the Arkenfox user.js which you can put on top of vanilla Firefox, aiming for the most privacy and security possible.
https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js
In The Mullvad BrowserI use a custom Firefox config that tweaks and disables lots of features, based on this template: https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js .
Fun fact: this makes you extremely easy to identify, because it gives your browser a very unique fingerprint. If JS is enabled, that is, which you can disable by default, but JS is simply a requirement for many websites to function.
I wonder how they approached this problem this for the Mullvad Browser.
In The Mullvad BrowserA hardened Firefox config exists: https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js
But it needs tech skill to adopt, so even if this Mullvad Browser is basically just prepackaged Arkenfox, that's great to drive adoption.
In The Mullvad BrowserOr the Arkenfox config (https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js), which enables resistFingerprinting among other essentials. In this kind of game, a community config is exactly what you want.
In Web fingerprinting is worse than I thoughtYou can disable some of firefox's background network requests by modifying the about:config key/value pairs of your firefox profile (for example, by using a user.js file). The Arkenfox user.js (https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/) has some pretty good defaults that disable a lot of the background requests.
There are also firefox forks that disable background requests. Librewolf (https://librewolf.net/) is a popular fork that uses a combination of about:config tweaks, policies, and patches to disable all background requests (technically some requests still go through, but are replaced with a dummy url that you can block). Librewolf also downloads uBlock Origin by default, and is close to upstream. Overall it's a pretty good out-of-the-box solution.
In Ask HN: Is Firefox really privacy friendly?I know it's probably way harder than I think but I started a little project [1] to help to address the privacy concerns with firefox. Along the way I discovered there are projects like [2] that aim at hardening firefox settings.
[1] https://github.com/grzegorzk/ff_in_podman
[2] https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js
In Ask HN: Is Firefox really privacy friendly?uBlock Origin works well enough for me with some basic lists. Recommended reading for firefox users:
https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/wiki/4.1-Extensions#-don...
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