How to Set Up a Proxy in the Firefox Browser (Desktop & Mobile)

Accessing browser settings

Settings

In the browser’s settings, go to the «General» tab. At the bottom of the page, you can find the «Network Settings» section; click the «Settings» button.

Select the «Manual proxy configuration» option, then enter your proxy details according to the protocol. Firefox supports HTTP, SOCKS, and HTTPS proxies. Enter the IP address and port of the proxy next to the corresponding protocol. If you do not want to use the proxy for certain websites, you can list them in the «No proxy for» section. Once you have finished configuring the proxy, click «ok».

HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS: which one to choose

Firefox lets you enter a separate address for each protocol, so it helps to know the difference before you fill in the fields.

HTTP and HTTPS proxies work at the level of web requests. They are the right choice for regular browsing, working with websites, and routing normal page traffic through the proxy.

SOCKS proxies work at a lower level and pass any type of traffic, not only web pages. Choose SOCKS if you need the proxy to handle connections beyond standard browsing. If you use a SOCKS5 proxy, you can also enable «Proxy DNS when using SOCKS v5» so that domain names are resolved through the proxy as well.

If you are not sure which one to use, enter the same proxy details next to HTTP and tick the option to use this proxy for all protocols.

Using a proxy for specific sites only

You do not have to route every website through the proxy. The «No proxy for» field controls which addresses Firefox should always open with a direct connection, bypassing the proxy.

Enter the domains you want to exclude, one per line or separated by commas, for example example.com, internal.local. Firefox will use the proxy for every other site and connect directly to the ones listed here.

This is useful when you only need the proxy for a few resources, or when local and internal addresses should never go through it. There is no separate «only for these sites» list in Firefox: you set the proxy globally and use «No proxy for» to carve out the exceptions.

Setting up a proxy

When accessing any website, if you are using private proxies that require authentication, a window will appear prompting you to enter a «Username» and «Password». To check the functionality of your proxy, you can use our IP Checker tool.

After entering your proxy, open any website and then check your connection with our IP Checker. If the tool shows the proxy’s IP address instead of your own, the proxy is working. If it still shows your real IP, re-open «Network Settings» and confirm that «Manual proxy configuration» is selected and the IP and port are correct.

Authentication

You may find free public proxy servers, but using them does not ensure security. On the contrary, such proxies can threaten your privacy. A significant drawback is that these proxies are often used by multiple users simultaneously, leading them to be blacklisted and potentially causing your social media accounts to be blocked.

How to set up a proxy in Firefox on Android

Firefox for Android does not have the same «Network Settings» screen as the desktop version, so the proxy is configured through the browser’s advanced settings.

In the address bar, type about:config and confirm the warning. In the search box, find and edit the following entries:

• Set network.proxy.type to 1 (this enables manual proxy configuration).
• Set network.proxy.http to your proxy IP and network.proxy.http_port to the port.
• For HTTPS, set network.proxy.ssl and network.proxy.ssl_port. For a SOCKS proxy, set network.proxy.socks and network.proxy.socks_port.
• To apply one proxy to every protocol, set network.proxy.share_proxy_settings to true.

Restart the browser to apply the changes. If your proxy requires authentication, Firefox will ask for a «Username» and «Password» the first time you open a site, just like on desktop.

For an easier setup without editing config values, you can manage proxies directly with our Firefox proxy add-on.

How to change or turn off a proxy in Firefox

To switch proxies, open «Network Settings» again, keep «Manual proxy configuration» selected, and replace the IP address and port with the new ones.

To stop using a proxy, open the same screen and select «No proxy» to connect directly, or «Use system proxy settings» to follow your operating system. On Android, set network.proxy.type back to 0 in about:config to disable it.

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