&brandShortName; Browser Preferences Help

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# Browser Preferences

This section describes how to use the Browser preference panel. If you're not already viewing the panel, follow these steps:

1. Open the &brandShortName; Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Choose Browser.

In this section:

- Browser
- History
- Languages
- Helper Applications
- Location Bar
- Internet Search
- Tabbed Browsing
- Link Behaviour
- Downloads

## Browser Preferences - Browser

This section describes how to use the main browser preferences panel. If you're not already viewing it, follow these steps:

1. Open the &brandShortName; Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Click the Browser category.

The Browser preferences panel allows you to customise certain aspects of the browser.

- Display on: Use the drop-down list in combination with the tickboxes to control what will be displayed at startup or when you open a new window or tab:
  1. - Select Browser Startup to set what the browser will display at startup.
     - Select New Window to set what will be displayed when opening a new browser window.
     - Select New Tab to set what will be displayed when opening a new tab.
  2. Select one of the following tickboxes:
     - Blank page: Causes the browser to display a blank page.
     - Home page: Causes the browser to load your home page (specified below).
     - Last page visited: Causes the browser to load the page you were viewing right before you last exited &brandShortName;.
     - Restore Previous Session: Causes the browser to restore the windows and tabs you were viewing right before you last exited &brandShortName;, including form data and browsing history. This option is only available in connection with Display on Browser Startup.
- Default Browser: Allows you to set &brandShortName; as the default browser or shows you that it is.
  - Set Default Browser: Unless it is greyed out, click this to set &brandShortName; as your default browser.
- When restoring sessions and windows: Choose how many (if any) browser tabs should be restored at a time upon startup.
  - Restore all tabs immediately: All the tabs you had open the last time will be restored and loaded at once. This can affect startup performance negatively if a large amount of tabs needs to be restored in parallel.
  - Restore [__] tab(s) at a time: If you choose this, only the specified amount of tabs will be restored at a time. If you had more tabs open than specified here, any extra tabs will only be loaded once the loading of one of the other tabs has finished.
  - Only restore tabs when I need them: This disables automatic restoring of tabs, i.e. tabs will only be loaded if you switch to or reload them.
- Home button preferences: In the field, type the web page you want as your home page or do one of the following:
  - Choose File: Click this to locate a file on disk that you want to load as your home page.
  - Use Current Page: Click this to use the web page currently displayed in the browser as your home page.
  - Use Current Group: If you have two or more browser tabs open, click this to set them as your Home Page Group (a group of tabs that are opened as your home page). After clicking this button, the message Home Page Group is Set appears in the location field.

    Caution: If you edit the field after clicking Use Current Group, your Home Page Group will be lost.

  - Restore Default: Click this to revert to the default home page.

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## Browser Preferences - History

This section describes how to use the History preferences panel. If you're not already viewing it, follow these steps:

1. Open the &brandShortName; Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Browser category, click History. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Browser to expand the list.)

The History preferences panel allows you to configure the history settings for the browser.

- Browsing History:
  - Clear History: Click this to delete the list of web sites visited.
  - Remember visited pages: Select this to make &brandShortName; remember pages you visit within the browsing history. For example, you need that to be able to search for pages you have already visited from the location bar or history window.
- Location Bar History:
  - Enable Location Bar history: Tick this to enable &brandShortName; to keep the location bar history.
  - Clear Location Bar: Click this to clear the list of web sites in the Location bar menu.
- Form and Search History:
  - Enable form and search history: Select this to let &brandShortName; keep a history of the forms you fill in and the searches you do.
  - Remember form and search history for up to [__] days: Type the maximum number of days you want &brandShortName; to keep track of forms you fill in and searches you do. For example, if you set this number to 180 days, forms and searches 180 days old or less will be kept.

For more information about history in &brandShortName;, see Retracing Your Steps.

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## Browser Preferences - Languages

This section describes how to use the Languages preferences panel. If you're not already viewing it, follow these steps:

1. Open the &brandShortName; Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Browser category, click Languages. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Browser to expand the list.)

The Languages preferences panel allows you to choose the languages and text encoding for displaying web pages:

- Languages for Web Pages:
  - Move Up / Move Down: Click one of these buttons to move a selected language up or down, which sets the order of preference for the listed languages.
  - Add: Click this to add additional languages for displaying web pages. In the dialogue, select a language from the list. If you want to add a language that is not in the list, type a language code (both two- and three-letter codes can be used) in the field below the list. See the online document Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages for a complete list of language codes. Click OK to close the dialogue and save your changes.
  - Remove: Click this to remove a selected language.
- Text Encoding for Legacy Content:
  - Fallback Text Encoding: Web pages are supposed to declare the text encoding in which they are to be displayed, but legacy content may not do so. Use the drop-down list to select the default text encoding to be used for such web pages. This setting does not affect any web pages which properly declare their encoding.

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## Browser Preferences - Helper Applications

This section describes how to use the Helper Applications preferences panel. If you're not already viewing it, follow these steps:

1. Open the &brandShortName; Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Browser category, click Helper Applications. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Browser to expand the list.)

The Helper Applications preferences panel lets you choose applications and other handlers to handle different types of content (e.g. PDF documents). It shows you a list of content types and lets you select a handler for each type. To filter the list, use the search field. Text entered in there will narrow the list to entries containing that text either in the type description or the currently selected action.

You can choose a local application to handle any type. For some types, you can also choose a web application to handle the type, choose a plugin in &brandShortName; to handle the type, or save the type on your computer.

To choose a handler for a type, select the type from the list. The current handler for the type will turn into a menu. Open the menu and select the handler you want to handle the type. Depending on the actual type, you can:

- Choose an application by selecting it from the menu. If you want a local application that is not in the menu to handle the type, select Use other… from the menu and navigate to its location or use the native application chooser, if it is available and enabled.
- Choose a plugin by selecting it from the menu.
- Save files of this type on your computer by selecting Save File from the menu. If you have selected the Automatically download files to specified download folder preference in the Downloads panel, &brandShortName; will save content of this type on your computer automatically. Otherwise, when you encounter this type, &brandShortName; will prompt you for a location on your computer to save it to.
- Tell &brandShortName; to always ask what to do when encountering this type. When you choose this option, a dialogue will always be shown when files of this type are accessed, and you can choose how to handle that specific file from there.

Some systems have a native application chooser, which help you select suitable applications to handle different types of content:

- Use native application chooser when available: Select this to enable the native application chooser when it is available.

Note: When a plugin is available to handle a type, and you choose another handler for that type, &brandShortName; will only use your chosen handler when you access the type directly. When the type is embedded inside a web page, &brandShortName; will continue to use the plugin to handle it. See also Plugins and Downloads.

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## Browser Preferences - Location Bar

This section describes how to use the Location Bar preferences panel. If you're not already viewing it, follow these steps:

1. Open the &brandShortName; Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Browser category, click Location Bar. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Browser to expand the list.)

The Location Bar Preferences panel lets you fine-tune the behaviour of the Location Bar.

- Autocomplete:
  - Autocomplete from your browsing history as you type: Select this to let &brandShortName; automatically show suggestions from your browsing history when you type in the Location Bar.
    - Match only web sites you've typed previously: Shows only web sites that you've typed in the Location Bar and not web sites that were opened in other ways, such as clicking a link on a web page.
    - Only match locations, not web site titles: Shows only web sites where the location matches what you typed. Web sites where the title matches what you typed will not show up as autocomplete suggestions unless their location matches, too.
    - Match:
      - Anywhere in the location or title: The autocomplete suggestions will include all web sites where what you typed matches any part of the web site's location or title.
      - Anywhere but preferring word boundaries: The autocomplete suggestions will include all web sites where what you typed matches any part of the web site's location or title but matches at word boundaries (see next point) are preferred. This is the default setting.
      - Only on word boundaries: The autocomplete suggestions will include all web sites where what you typed matches the beginning of any word contained in the web site's location or title. Matches may also be found inside a word if it contains medial capital letters (as in CamelCase) since all non-lowercase characters are treated as word boundaries.
      - Only at the beginning of the location or title: The autocomplete suggestions will include all web sites where what you typed matches the beginning of the web site's location or title.
    - Automatically prefill the best match: As you type in the Location Bar, &brandShortName; will automatically complete your web address using the visited web site it most closely matches. Note: Having this option on will prefill local addresses (like paths to files on your hard drive) even if you have turned off Autocomplete from your browsing history as you type.
    - Show list of matching results: As you type in the Location Bar, &brandShortName; will show a drop-down list of matching visited web addresses. Note: If you have turned off Autocomplete from your browsing history as you type matching results from locations on your hard drive will still be shown in the drop-down list.
  - Show default Internet search engine: Shows a drop-down list item, allowing you to search with the default search engine for words you enter.
- Formatting:
  - Highlight the effective domain for web sites and FTP servers: Grays out all of the URL except for the effective domain, so that it is clear which site you are visiting.
  - Highlight web pages with a high level of connection security: Colorises the location bar for the next page loaded if all of its components are fully encrypted.
- Unknown Locations
  - Add www. and .com to the location if a web page is not found: Select this if you want &brandShortName; to automatically add `www.` to the beginning and `.com` to the end of a web page location that can't be found. For more detailed information about this feature, see the online document Domain Guessing.
  - Perform a web search when entered text is not a web location: Select this to let &brandShortName; automatically search the web for text entered in the Location Bar. If the text you've typed is not a web location, &brandShortName; will do a web search when you press `Enter` `Return` in the Location Bar. Note: The search engine used can not be changed by the Internet Search Preferences.

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## Browser Preferences - Internet Search

This section describes how to use the Internet Search preferences panel. If you're not already viewing it, follow these steps:

1. Open the &brandShortName; Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Browser category, click Internet Search. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Browser to expand the list.)

The Internet Search preferences panel allows you to configure how you search using &brandShortName;:

- Default Search Engine:
  - Search using: Use the drop-down list to select the search engine you want use for web searching.
  - Manage Search Engines: Click this to open a dialogue where you can manage the search engines list. In this dialogue you can also select Show search suggestions to have &brandShortName; show suggestions from the search engine as you type a search string in the Sidebar search tab or in the Search Bar.
- Search Results:
  - Open new tabs for sidebar search results: Select this to have &brandShortName; show your search results in a new tab rather than in the current one when you search using the sidebar.
  - Open a tab instead of a window for a context menu web search: Select this to have &brandShortName; show your search results in a new tab rather than a new window when you search on selected words in a web page.

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## Browser Preferences - Tabbed Browsing

This section describes how to use the Tabbed Browsing preferences panel. If you're not already viewing it, follow these steps:

1. Open the &brandShortName; Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Browser category, click Tabbed Browsing. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Browser to expand the list.)

The Tabbed Browsing preferences panel allows you to set up Tabbed Browsing:

- Tab Display:
  - Hide the tab bar when only one tab is open: Select this to display the Tabbed Browsing bar only when more then one browser tab is open.
  - Switch to new tabs opened from links: Select this to make &brandShortName; switch to the new tab when using Open in a New Tab to open a link.
  - Warn me when closing a window with multiple tabs: Select this to make &brandShortName; warn you when you try to close a browser window which has multiple tabs open in it.
  - Open related tabs after current tab: Select this to make new tabs open next to the tab from which they have been opened. When unticked, new tabs open after the last tab on the tab bar.
- Open tabs instead of windows for:
  - `Cmd`+click or `Cmd`+`Return` Middle-click, `Ctrl`+click or `Ctrl`+`Enter` on links in a Web page: Select this to open Web page links in a new tab when clicking a link and holding down the `Command` key or holding down the `Command` key and pressing `Return` on links with the middle mouse button, `Ctrl`-clicking on links, and pressing `Ctrl`+`Enter` on links.

    Tip: Use Find Links as You Type to navigate to the link you want to open with the keyboard commands above.

  - `Cmd` `Ctrl`+`Return` `Enter` in the Location bar: Select this to open a Web page in a new tab when you type the URL of the page in the Location Bar and press `Cmd` `Ctrl`+`Return` `Enter`.
- Open in a new tab instead of a stand-alone window:
  - Data Manager: Select this to open the Data Manager in a browser tab. If unticked, it will open in a separate dialogue window.
  - Add-ons Manager: Select this to open the Add-ons Manager in a browser tab. If unticked, it will open in a separate dialogue window.

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## Browser Preferences - Link Behaviour

This section describes how to use the Link Behaviour preferences panel. If you're not already viewing it, follow these steps:

1. Open the &brandShortName; Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Browser category, click Link Behaviour. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Browser to expand the list.)

The Link Behaviour preferences panel allows you to configure how links are opened in &brandShortName;:

- Link open behaviour: If a web page is designed so that certain links open in a new window by default, you may want to override this. You can define the behaviour separately for links with a target attribute and windows opened using JavaScript:
  - Open links meant to open a new window in:
    - The current tab/window: Open the linked page in the current tab of the active window.
    - A new tab in the current window: Open the linked page in a new tab instead of a new window.
    - A new window: Open the linked page in a new window. (This does not override the web page design and disables the below options for pages opened from scripts.)
  - When scripts want to open a new window:
    - Always divert windows into tabs: Open the page to be loaded in a tab according to the above settings.
    - Don't divert custom windows into tabs: Open the page to be loaded in a popup window if the script explicitly specifies features of the new window (such as size or position), else open the page in a tab according to the above settings.
    - Always open new windows: Open the page to be loaded in a new window. (This does not override the web page design.)
- Links from other applications: If &brandShortName; is called from another application with a web page address as an argument (like a click on a link in an external email program), you can control where the page will be loaded:
  - The current tab/window: Open the linked page in the current tab of the active window.
  - A new tab in the current window: Open the linked page in a new tab instead of a new window.
  - A new window: Open the linked page in a new window.

To ensure that &brandShortName; opens a new window, select the Browser option in Appearance Preferences - Appearance.

If you want &brandShortName; to open a new tab instead of a new window when you launch it and it is already running, ensure the following:

- If &brandShortName; is launched from the command line, no command line parameters that open windows (like `-new-window`) are used.
- No When &brandShortName; starts up, open option is set in Appearance Preferences - Appearance.
- The Links from other applications preference is set to A new tab in the current window.

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## Browser Preferences - Downloads

This section describes how to use the Downloads preferences panel. If you're not already viewing it, follow these steps:

1. Open the &brandShortName; Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Browser category, click Downloads. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Browser to expand the list.)

The Downloads preferences panel allows you to set up how &brandShortName; handles files you download from web pages:

- When starting a download:
  - Flash the download manager if it is already open: Select this to change focus to the Download Manager if it is currently open. It displays the status for current and previous downloads in a single window. This option only takes effect if the Download Manager is already open and overrides the other settings.
  - Open the download manager: Select this to display the Download Manager when starting a new download. It will be opened if the window isn't currently shown.
  - Open a progress dialogue: Select this to display a progress dialogue box, which display the status for your current download. The status of each download is kept in a separate window.
  - Don't open anything: Select this if you want to download files invisibly. No status is given for all your downloads.

- When saving a file:
  - Save files to: Select this if you want files to be saved to the specified folder without &brandShortName; prompting you for the download location.
  - Always ask me where to save files: Select this if you always want to be able to choose a folder for the file to be saved. The default will be the folder you last downloaded a file to.

- Download history:
  - Remove download entries: This determines when a completed entry is removed from the Download Manager listing (the downloaded file itself will not be affected):
    - When they have completed: Select this to remove an entry immediately once the download is successfully completed.
    - When quitting &brandShortName;: Select this to retain all entries until closing the program, the list will be empty upon restarting &brandShortName;.
    - Never: Select this to not remove any entry automatically, even after &brandShortName; is restarted. You can remove them manually in the Download Manager.

- When a download completes:
  - Play a sound: Select this if you want &brandShortName; to play a custom sound (typically in WAV format) when a download is completed. Use the Browse button to select the sound file in the file locator. To listen to the sound you've chosen, click Play.
  - Show an alert: Select this if you want &brandShortName; to show an alert on the screen when a download is completed.

For more information about downloading files from web pages, see Plugins and Downloads.

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