How to opt out of add-on metadata updates

Since Firefox 4, the Add-ons Manager displays additional information about each add-on you have installed, including screenshots, description, ratings, downloads, Contributions, and other metadata.

In order to keep this information updated, Firefox will ask the Mozilla Add-ons gallery for information about the add-ons you have installed once a day. This involves sending the identifiers of each add-on you have installed to Mozilla, as well as information on how long it last took Firefox to start up.

The add-on identifiers are used to return updated information to you, as well as in aggregate to provide personalized recommendations in the Get Add-ons pane of the Add-ons Manager. Start-up time information is used to improve Firefox and identify add-ons that may be causing Firefox to be slow. This data is collected as described in the Mozilla Firefox Privacy Policy.

Opting Out for Users

Opting out of this daily ping will stop Firefox from sending the add-ons you have installed and most recent start-up time to Mozilla, and will also stop displaying updated metadata for your add-ons and discontinue personalized recommendations if they were displayed in the Get Add-ons pane of the Add-ons Manager.

To opt out, follow these instructions:

  1. In Firefox’s location bar, type about:config
  2. A warning may be displayed if this is your first time modifying Firefox config. If you wish to continue, click the button.
  3. In the Filter text box, type extensions.getAddons.cache.enabled.
  4. Double click the extensions.getAddons.cache.enabled item to turn it from true to false

That’s it; Firefox will no longer update your add-on metadata.

Opting Out for Developers

Add-on developers can opt out of their add-on being included in this ping by following these instructions on MDN.