How to prevent Firefox add-ons from uninstalling on Windows 11/10
If you are a Firefox user and want to prevent uninstallation of Firefox add-ons On your Windows 11/10 computer, then this article can help you with two built-in features of Windows operating system. You will be able to add any add-ons you want that you want to protect from uninstallation. Once you have used any of these features for this task, the option to enable / disable or disable the add-on (s) will disappear from the add-on page and the option to remove the add-on (s) will be grayed out / disabled. Just as it can be seen in the added image below.
Disabling the delete option and enabling / disabling the button for selected add-ons does not mean that you will not be able to use those add-ons. You will be able to continue using all of these add-ons, customize their options, and add new add-ons in Firefox as usual. Only the options to disable and uninstall selected add-ons will not work. Later, you can also undo the changes at any time.
Prevent uninstallation of Firefox add-ons on Windows 11/10
Before trying this trick, you need to create a system restore point first. If you encounter any unwanted changes, you will be able to restore your computer. After that, try one of the following methods to prevent disabling or removing Firefox add-ons:
- Using the Group Policy Editor
- Using the registry editor.
Let’s check the two ways one by one.
1]Using the Group Policy Editor
Here are the steps:
- Integrate Firefox with the Group Policy Editor
- Open the Firefox browser
- Find and copy the ID of the add-on that you want to prevent uninstallation
- Open Group Policy Editor
- Access Extensions case
- Open Prevent extensions from being disabled or removed setting
- Use Enabled option
- Click on the Spectacle button
- Paste the add-on ID in the required field
- Press the OK button
- Press the Apply button
- Press the OK button
- Restart the Firefox browser.
Let’s check these steps in detail.
First, you need to integrate Firefox with the Group Policy Editor on your Windows 11/10 computer. This is because Firefox settings are not available in the Group Policy Editor. You need to grab its templates and add them to the required folders so that Firefox settings are visible in the Group Policy Editor window.
After that, open the Firefox browser from the start menu or any other way.
Now you need to find and copy the ID of that add-on that you want to protect from removal or uninstallation. To do this, follow these steps:
- Type about: memory in the Firefox address bar
- Press the Enter key
- Click on the Measure button available for the View memory reports section
- Scroll down until you find the Extensions section. You will now see all active add-ons for the current session
- Look carefully and then copy the add-on ID. You can see the screenshot added below to easily find the add-on ID. It will look something like [email protected]
Once this part is finished, type gpedit in the search box and press the Enter key to open the Group Policy Editor window.
Access now the Extensions case. Here is its path:
Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Mozilla/Firefox/Extensions
In the right section, open Prevent extensions from being disabled or removed setting by double-clicking on it. This will open a separate window.
In this window, click on the Enabled option. After that, click on the Spectacle button on the left central part.
A Show content The pop-up box will be visible. Paste the add-on ID (which you copied by following the above steps) into the Value field and press the OK button.
hurry To apply and Okay buttons. Repeat the above steps to add other add-ons to the list that you want to prevent from uninstalling.
Finally, restart the Firefox browser if it is already open.
That’s it! When you go to the add-on page, you will notice that the on / off button is not there for that add-on. The delete option will also be grayed out. In addition, the Remove extension The option available when you right-click the add-on icon will also be grayed out.
To undo the changes you made, follow these instructions. Repeat the above steps, open Prevent extensions from being disabled or removed, select the Not configured and use the Apply and OK buttons.
Finally, restart the Firefox browser to successfully revert all changes.
Related: How to disable access to the Firefox Add-ons Manager page.
2]Using the registry editor
Here are the steps:
- Launch the Firefox browser
- Find and copy the ID of the add-on you want to protect from removal or deactivation
- Open Windows Registry Editor
- Access Strategies key
- To create Mozilla name Registry key
- Under the Mozilla key, create a Firefox key
- Under the Firefox key, create a Extensions key
- To create Locked under the Extensions button
- Create a new string value under the locked key
- Paste the add-on ID in the String Value Value Data field
- Press the OK button
- Restart the Firefox browser.
First, launch the Firefox browser, then find and copy the ID of the add-on that you want to prevent from uninstalling / deactivating / removing. You can access the about: memory Firefox browser page, measure and load memory reports, and navigate to the extensions section to find and copy an add-on ID (just like the steps mentioned in the first method above.
You should now launch Registry Editor. To do this, press Win + R keyboard shortcut, type regedit, and press the Enter key. If not, you can try one of the other ways to open the Registry Editor window.
After that, go to Strategies key using this path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPolicies
Under this policies key, create a registry key with the name Mozilla. In the same way, create Firefox Mozilla key under key, Extensions key under the Firefox key, then finally create a Locked under the extensions. See the screenshot added below for your convenience.
Now create a new String of characters value of the locked registry key. To do this, right click on an empty area, use the New menu and select the String value option.
Once this string value is created, you can also rename it to 1 or another name if you want.
Double click on the string value you created and a pop-up window will open. Paste the add-on ID in the Value data field and press the OK button.
You can repeat all of the above steps to add other Firefox add-ons that you want to protect from removal or deactivation.
Finally, you need to restart the Firefox browser if you have already opened it. Your work is now complete. You will find that the options to disable and remove these add-ons are not there.
You can also undo all changes to easily reset on / off option and remove option for all these add-ons. All you need to do is access the Mozilla key in the registry editor window and delete that key. It will automatically delete all the subkeys present inside this key.
Relaunch the Firefox browser and the cancellation process will be successful.
How do you prevent users from installing Firefox add-ons?
If you are a Windows user, the Windows operating system provides two built-in features to allow or disable the installation of add-ons on Firefox. These two characteristics are Group Policy Editor and Registry Editor. You can use any of these features to prevent users from installing Firefox add-ons. But it’s always a good idea to create a system restore point before trying any of these two features.
How do I prevent Firefox from removing extensions?
There are two native methods present in Windows operating system to prevent Firefox from removing extensions. These two methods are known as Registry Editor and Group Policy Editor. Both of these methods are described above in this article along with step-by-step instructions to prevent Firefox extensions from being removed or disabled.
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