topic Re: How to Disable this disturbing nova design in Discussions

How to Disable this disturbing nova design

Fledi — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 16:20:00 GMT

about:config
browser.nova.enabled
change true to false

this should be the standard

Re: How to Disable this disturbing nova design

dftf — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 18:32:56 GMT

Don't forget "pdfjs.enableNova" to "false" too, if you don't like Nova when viewing PDFs in Firefox

I think a restart may be required for that one to take effect 🤔

Re: How to Disable this disturbing nova design

nvh — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 06:23:21 GMT

Cosmetic changes should always be optional during an upgrade or installation. The Nova code should be an optional component because otherwise it unnecessarily consumes memory. It is strange that the trend of forcing such changes on users has reached Firefox as well. Many of us still use older machines whose performance is made artificially "insufficient" precisely by this kind of "improvement".

Re: How to Disable this disturbing nova design

JibsouX — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 21:34:48 GMT

Nova is the worst design ever keep itt optional please

Re: How to Disable this disturbing nova design

mmavrov — Sun, 04 Oct 2026 09:09:43 GMT

THANK YOU!

Re: How to Disable this disturbing nova design

t1Mb — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 10:57:59 GMT

I have to admit that I completely missed the fact that Mozilla had planned a new Firefox interface.

As a result, I was quite surprised when I suddenly opened Firefox and was greeted by all these rounded buttons, tabs, and input fields.

I'm one of those people who spend a lot of time customizing their desktop and applications. With the theme I had been using, my Firefox looked perfect.

My first assumption was that the theme author was responsible, so I immediately started looking for a way to restore the old appearance. Only then did I discover that the new Firefox design simply overrides the theme's styling.

Frankly, I find that hard to understand. I would never have expected Mozilla to force a new design on users without giving them a choice.

I value Mozilla highly and have been using Firefox for decades. I even donate to Mozilla on a regular basis.

But decisions like this are exactly the kind of thing that drive people like me toward other browsers.

Fortunately, I was able to disable Nova through the configuration settings.

Even so, the whole experience has left a rather unpleasant aftertaste.

Re: How to Disable this disturbing nova design

Agentvirtuel — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 11:22:13 GMT

Bonjour

As for me, i'm not a fan the Nova Style. I use, css. Among others css.

Firefox est à jour.

Re: How to Disable this disturbing nova design

JRepinc — Fri, 13 Nov 2026 19:51:51 GMT

I updated my nightly Firefox and the option is now locked to true. I sure hope Mozilla will not prevent us from reverting this ugly new Nova design. But yeah don't have much hope since Mozilla is doing so many bad decisions lately that smell of the worst corporate modus operandi. Hopefully alternative forks like LibreWolf save us from Mozilla once again.

Re: How to Disable this disturbing nova design

dftf — Fri, 13 Nov 2026 20:01:20 GMT

The plan is to end the reversing of Nova in Firefox 161, due out November 24th.

So what you're seeing (not being able to change "browser.nova.enabled" to "false") would be correct, yes.

Your only option after that is to move to the "ESR" version of Firefox, which is aimed at business users, and means you can avoid Nova until late next September. However, you'll need to backup your current data first.

1. Download the ESR installer from: https://www.firefox.com/download/all/desktop-esr/
2. Backup current Firefox data: Menu -> Settings -> Accounts and Sync -> Turn on backup
3. Uninstall Firefox 160.0*
4. Install Firefox ESR 153.7.0 from the earlier download
5. If your data isn't there, bring it back in: Menu -> Settings -> Accounts and Sync -> Restore your data

* or you can have both the regular version and ESR installed at the same time, but when installing the ESR, you'll need to select a different folder to install it into. So instead of C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox change it to something like C:\Program Files\Firefox ESR and you can have both.

Re: How to Disable this disturbing nova design

dftf — Fri, 13 Nov 2026 20:04:32 GMT

@t1Mb : the ability to reverse Nova will end in Firefox 161, due for release November 24th.

You can move to the ESR release to continue to avoid it until late next September. See process here:
https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/how-to-disable-this-disturbing-nova-design/m-p/147197/highlight/true#M60373

Re: How to Disable this disturbing nova design

dftf — Fri, 13 Nov 2026 20:05:40 GMT

Nova will become mandatory starting in Firefox 161, due for release November 24th.

To keep avoiding it until late September next-year, you can move to the "ESR" version. See this post:
https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/how-to-disable-this-disturbing-nova-design/m-p/147197/highlight/true#M60373

Re: How to Disable this disturbing nova design

dftf — Fri, 13 Nov 2026 20:06:26 GMT

Nova will become mandatory as of the release of Firefox 161.0, expected November 24th.

Move to the "ESR" release if you wish to avoid it for longer, following the steps here:
https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/how-to-disable-this-disturbing-nova-design/m-p/147197/highlight/true#M60373