arkenfox/user.js

★ 12,515JavaScriptAudience · generalComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((arkenfox user.js))
    What it does
      Blocks tracking
      Stops fingerprinting
      Hardens Firefox settings
    How it works
      user.js file in profile
      Applied at browser start
      Override file for exceptions
    Resources
      Settings wiki
      Interactive config tool
      Changelogs
    Limitations
      Some sites will break
      Desktop Firefox only
      Not for Tor Browser

mindmap root((arkenfox user.js)) What it does Blocks tracking Stops fingerprinting Hardens Firefox settings How it works user.js file in profile Applied at browser start Override file for exceptions Resources Settings wiki Interactive config tool Changelogs Limitations Some sites will break Desktop Firefox only Not for Tor Browser

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Apply a battle-tested privacy configuration to Firefox to reduce cross-site tracking and browser fingerprinting.

USE CASE 2

Use the wiki and interactive tool to understand and selectively enable or disable individual privacy settings.

USE CASE 3

Create a user-overrides.js file to restore functionality on specific sites without editing the main configuration.

Tech stack

JavaScriptFirefox

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 30min

Some websites will break with default settings, a user-overrides.js file is the recommended way to restore functionality on a site-by-site basis.

No license information is mentioned in the explanation.

In plain English

Firefox browsers store their settings in various places, and one way to configure them is through a special file called user.js. When Firefox starts up, it reads this file and applies whatever settings are listed inside. The arkenfox user.js project provides a carefully crafted version of this file that sets Firefox to prioritize privacy, reduce tracking, and block fingerprinting (a technique websites use to identify you based on your browser's unique characteristics). The goal is to protect people from being tracked across the web while keeping the browser usable. The project acknowledges upfront that some websites will break or behave unexpectedly when these settings are active, because the settings restrict behaviors that many sites depend on. Some loss of functionality is unavoidable. This is not a browser extension you install from a store. It is a configuration template file you download and place in your Firefox profile folder. The project includes a wiki with explanations of individual settings, an interactive web tool for browsing the current configuration options, and changelogs tracking each update. The project is built specifically for the desktop version of Firefox and is not recommended for other Firefox-based browsers, including the Tor Browser, which ships with its own separate privacy configuration. If you need to browse over the Tor anonymity network, the maintainers recommend using the official Tor Browser rather than this configuration file. The README is intentionally brief and directs most users to the wiki for guidance on specific settings and how to apply them correctly.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

I installed arkenfox user.js but a website I need is broken. How do I identify which setting is causing it and override just that setting for my use?

Prompt 2

Explain what browser fingerprinting is and walk me through exactly how arkenfox user.js settings block it.

Prompt 3

Help me write a user-overrides.js file that re-enables WebRTC and canvas access for a video-calling site without touching the rest of the arkenfox config.

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← arkenfox on gitmyhub — every repo by this author, as a profile.

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