Mozilla Firefox 156.0.1 for Windows

Mozilla Firefox 156.0.1 for Windows is the current stable release of Mozilla's free and open-source web browser, published on 22 September 2026. You can download it from firefox.com or mozilla.org, and it runs on Windows 10 or later.

Overview

Firefox traces back to 23 September 2002, when Dave Hyatt, Joe Hewitt and Blake Ross started it within the Mozilla project. Today it is developed by the Mozilla Corporation, backed by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation, and released under the Mozilla Public License 2.0. That background explains its character. Firefox uses its own rendering engine instead of sharing one with most other browsers, and privacy is a default rather than an option you have to find: tracking protection is switched on out of the box. On a Windows PC it behaves like a modern browser in every other respect, with tabs, a combined search and address bar, a password manager, sync through a Mozilla account and a large library of add-ons. People choose it when they want a fast, capable browser that is not tied to an advertising company, or when a website works better in it for development and testing.

Release at a glance

System requirements

Mozilla's system requirements page lists Windows 10 or later, a 1 GHz or faster processor, 1GB of RAM for the 32-bit version or 2GB for the 64-bit version, and 500MB of hard drive space.

How to install Firefox on Windows

1. Open the official Firefox download page.
2. Click Download and run the installer.
3. Allow it to import bookmarks and passwords from your current browser if you want.
4. Decide whether to make Firefox your default browser.

Beta, Developer and Nightly builds are offered on the desktop channels page; the stable release is the one to use every day.

Privacy and safety

Only download Firefox from Mozilla's own sites. Tracking protection is on by default, and the privacy settings let you make it stricter. Install add-ons only from Mozilla's official add-ons site and review the permissions each one asks for.

Moving from another browser

The first-run import brings over bookmarks, history and saved passwords, so switching takes a few minutes. Give it a week before judging: pin the sites you use daily, add the two or three extensions you really need, and adjust the new tab page.

Price

Firefox is free, with no paid version. The source code is public on GitHub.

Pros and cons

• Pro: independent engine and strong privacy defaults.
• Pro: large add-on library.
• Con: some websites are tested mainly in other browsers.
• Con: fewer built-in extras than some competitors.

Alternatives

Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera and Brave Browser are popular Windows browsers in the same category. LibreWolf and Firefox ESR are close relatives for privacy-focused users and organisations.