How to update Firefox on Linux

Keeping your Linux system’s software up to date is always a good practice to follow, and Mozilla Firefox is no exception. Having the latest updates means that you have access to the newest features, bug fixes, and security patches for your web browser.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to update Firefox on all the most popular Linux distributions. Firefox normally takes care of updates by itself and doesn’t require much user intervention, but there are still a few methods that can be used to manually update the application.

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • How to update Firefox via browser menu
  • How to update Firefox via GUI
  • How to update Firefox via command line
  • How to update Firefox via direct download

Updating Firefox version on Linux

Updating Firefox version on Linux

Software Requirements and Linux Command Line Conventions
Category Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used
System Any Linux distro
Software Mozilla Firefox
Other Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the sudo command.
Conventions # – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command
$ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

How to Update Firefox via Browser Menu

Firefox should keep itself up to date automatically. If you look inside the settings, there’s not even an option to disable automatic updates.

Automatic updates are unable to be turned off in Firefox

Automatic updates are unable to be turned off in Firefox

Older versions of Firefox once allowed users to toggle automatic updates on or off, but that option has been gone for some time. Even so, this doesn’t guarantee that Firefox updates will always function as expected. It may take a few days for the update to occur or you might want to give Firefox a helpful nudge and force it to check for updates.

Mozilla’s documentation claims that opening the “About Firefox” panel will prompt Firefox to check for updates, but we had some trouble reproducing this on our test system. You can try it yourself and see if it works. If not, there are more effective methods that we’ll go over later in the guide.

  1. Click the menu button and go to help.
    Navigate to the help menu

    Navigate to the help menu



  2. Then, click on “About Firefox.”
    Click About Firefox

    Click About Firefox

  3. This window will display the current version of Firefox and, with any luck, also give you an option to download the latest update. If not, keep reading below for alternative methods. If nothing else, you can at least use the information in this window to determine if your web browser is up to date or not.
    Menu showing the current version of Firefox

    Menu showing the current version of Firefox

How to Update Firefox via GUI

Every GUI has a way to update software packages. Accessing the software manager on each GUI may be a little different, but they all function in mostly the same way. To update Firefox via GUI on your system, you’ll need to open the software manager application. It may be called “software manager,” “software updater,” “software,” or something very similar.

We can’t include precise instructions for each distro and GUI, as they all have a slight variance. However, take a look at some screenshots below to get a general idea of the update process across different systems.

In the GNOME environment on CentOS, Firefox can be updated in the app called “Software.” In this menu, you can click on the Updates tab and should see Firefox listed if there is indeed an update available.

Updating Firefox via GNOME GUI on CentOS

Updating Firefox via GNOME GUI on CentOS

In the KDE environment on Ubuntu, software downloads are done in the “Discover” software center. Click on the Updates tab and you should see Firefox listed if there’s a new version available for download.

Updating Firefox via KDE GUI on Ubuntu

Updating Firefox via KDE GUI on Ubuntu

In the Xfce environment on Manjaro, updates are located in “Add/Remove Software.” Click on the Updates tab and you should see Firefox listed if there’s a new version available for download.



Updating Firefox via Xfce GUI on Manjaro

Updating Firefox via Xfce GUI on Manjaro

How to Update Firefox via Command Line

You can also use your system’s package manager to keep Firefox up to date. The commands you use will depend on the distribution you’re running. Here’s a quick list for the commands on all the most popular Linux distros and their derivatives. Note that these commands will simply upgrade all the installed packages on your system, which should include Firefox. If you don’t have Firefox installed, see our guide on how to download and install Firefox on Linux.

Update Firefox on Ubuntu, Debian, and Linux Mint

Open a terminal and use the following commands to update Mozilla Firefox (and all other installed packages) on Debian based Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu, Debian, and Linux Mint.

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt upgrade

Update Firefox on Red Hat, CentOS, and Fedora

Open a terminal and use the following command to update Mozilla Firefox (and all other installed packages) on Red Hat based Linux distributions, such as CentOS, Red Hat, and Fedora.

$ sudo dnf update


Update Firefox on Arch Linux and Manjaro

Open a terminal and use the following command to update Mozilla Firefox (and all other installed packages) on Arch Linux based Linux distributions, such as Manjaro and Arch Linux.

$ sudo pacman -Syyu

How to Update Firefox via Direct Download

If none of the other methods have worked for you, it’s probably because the latest version of Firefox has not yet made it into your distro’s official repositories. If you absolutely need the latest version and can’t wait for it to become available, you can download it directly from Mozilla’s website.

Alternatively, most distros have an additional method like Firefox’s developer PPA on Ubuntu, or the AUR on Manjaro, etc. These instructions would be distro-specific and out of the scope of this guide. However, downloading the latest version from Mozilla’s website will work the same regardless of what Linux distribution you’re on.

Head over to the Firefox download page to get the installer. For step by step instructions on how to download the file and setup Firefox on your system, see the appropriate section in our download and install Firefox guide.

Closing Thoughts

In this guide, we saw several methods for updating Mozilla Firefox on various Linux distributions. For the vast majority of users, Firefox’s auto update functionality should suffice just fine. If not, updating the packages on your Linux system via package manager will do the trick. And, for niche situations, downloading the latest update from Mozilla’s website is a guaranteed solution.



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