Imagine returning to Firefox Settings to make web pages open larger by default. In Firefox 151, you would go to General → Language and Appearance → Zoom → Default zoom. Firefox 152 retired General on June 16, 2026, moving Default zoom to Accessibility and file handling to Downloads. Where would you look first? Firefox 152 release notes
| What you want to do | Before · Firefox 151 | After · Firefox 152 |
|---|---|---|
| Change where Firefox saves files | General → Files and Applications → Downloads → Save files to | Downloads → Save files to |
| Change what happens when you open a PDF | General → Files and Applications → Applications → Portable Document Format (PDF) → Action | Downloads → Files and applications → Portable Document Format (PDF) → Action |
| Make web pages open larger by default | General → Language and Appearance → Zoom → Default zoom | Accessibility → Default zoom |
Change where Firefox saves files
- Before · Firefox 151
- General → Files and Applications → Downloads → Save files to
- After · Firefox 152
- Downloads → Save files to
Change what happens when you open a PDF
- Before · Firefox 151
- General → Files and Applications → Applications → Portable Document Format (PDF) → Action
- After · Firefox 152
- Downloads → Files and applications → Portable Document Format (PDF) → Action
Make web pages open larger by default
- Before · Firefox 151
- General → Language and Appearance → Zoom → Default zoom
- After · Firefox 152
- Accessibility → Default zoom
In desktop Firefox, open the application menu and choose Settings. The first label in each route names a Settings page; later labels identify sections or controls. Downloads and file actions · Downloads redesign QA · PDF settings · Default zoom
Firefox now groups save locations and PDF handling under Downloads. Someone choosing which app opens a document may think of that task as reading a file.
Default zoom: two plausible homes
Default zoom used to sit under Language and Appearance. A returning user could look for that familiar word in the new menu, while someone concerned about reading small text might choose Accessibility.
“I want pages to be easier to read.”
“I want to change how pages look.”
Illustrative expectations, not findings reported by Mozilla. Mozilla’s default zoom instructions
Apple’s WWDC26 naming session asks what people expect to find behind a label. In a settings menu, the information architecture, including how controls are grouped and labeled, shapes that prediction.
Test the move before you make it
Mozilla says interviews, usability testing, card sorting, and usage data informed the redesign. Mozilla’s account of the research
An open card sort would let participants group zoom with nearby controls such as fonts, themes and contrast, then name their groups. Two participants might put zoom and fonts together while thinking of different tasks. In UXbeam Card Sorting, Mental Model Detection groups similar open-sort responses so you can examine recurring arrangements alongside participants’ category names and develop candidate structures. How Mental Model Detection works
Then compare the old menu and a candidate in a tree test. Randomly assign participants to one version and give both groups the same task: “Web pages usually open smaller than you’d like. Where would you go to make them open larger from now on?” UXbeam Tree Testing shows recorded navigation paths and backtracking alongside first choices and final destinations. Those paths reveal whether participants reached Default zoom after trying Appearance and returning to the menu. Repeated detours would give you a reason to test another label or placement. To distinguish their effects, change one at a time and keep the task wording consistent.
Accessibility → Default zoom
Appearance → back to the menuAccessibility → Default zoom
Illustrative paths: the second reaches the same control after backtracking.
Include people who know the old menu and people seeing it for the first time. In UXbeam, you can invite your own participants or use the paid panel to recruit for the study. Give each version a similar mix of experience, then compare the routes taken by familiar and first-time users.
Before moving a setting in your own product, see where people look for it with UXbeam Tree Testing.
In a prototype, include settings search and test the complete journey. If returning users look under Appearance, test whether a cross-link there helps them reach Default zoom in Accessibility.
