Mozilla Firefox automatically becomes your default browser on Windows 11 during installation

Mozilla is testing a new approach to promoting its Firefox browser. Specifically, in Beta 134 and possibly 135, the team is running an experiment that allows the browser to automatically be set as the primary browser during installation on Windows 11.

As Mozilla explains, this mechanism works thanks to a special attribution campaign. If a user downloads the browser from a specific marketing page, the installer recognizes the unique campaign ID set_default_browser. In this case, Firefox is automatically set as the default browser. In addition, there are options to pin Firefox to the taskbar and import data from other browsers.

In the bug report, the company emphasizes that this is a low-risk experiment, as it is limited to users who downloaded Firefox through a special campaign link. In addition, these steps are no different from the standard steps that most browsers offer during installation.

This test approach is part of Mozilla's broader work. Among the new features that the team is developing are a deepfake text detector from Fakespot, a unified button in the address bar, and other features that should improve the user experience.

Firefox has significantly expanded its capabilities for mobile devices over the past year. The browser added support for over 450 new extensions for Android, an important step in maintaining its competitiveness.