How to Browse the Web Using a Proxy in Firefox

A proxy server (or proxy for short) is a computer system or server that acts as an intermediary, or "middleman," between a client and other network services. Proxies can be used to make indirect connections to other servers or computers. There are many reasons why a user might want to use a proxy, such as to conceal their actual IP address when browsing the web thus allowing the user to surf anonymously. This guide will show you how to use a proxy with Mozilla's Firefox internet browser.

In order to browse the web through a proxy in Firefox, click the Tools drop-down menu at the top of the Firefox browser window. In this drop-down menu, select Options. This will bring up Firefox's Options menu. In this menu, click the Advanced button, which can be found along the top of the Options menu window, on the far right. This will show you Firefox's advanced options. There will be four tabs in this menu, General, Network, Update, and Encryption. Click on the Network tab and then click the Settings button, to the right of the "Configure how Firefox connects to the internet" dialogue, to configure proxy settings.

You should now be viewing Firefox's Connection Settings window. Under the "Configure Proxies to Access the Internet" dialogue, select the Manual proxy configuration bubble. Enter the IP address of your HTTP proxy server in the space next to "HTTP Proxy" and the proxy's port in the space next to "Port." If you wish to use this proxy for all other protocols in addition to HTTP, click the Use this proxy server for all protocols check box. By default, "localhost" should be filled in the space provided next to "No Proxy for." If not, add the text manually.

Click OK to close the Connection Settings window and then click OK again in the Options window to close it. That's all these is to it. Any page you open in Firefox should now be going through the proxy you entered in the Connection Settings window. To undo these changes and revert back to normal browsing, simply open Firefox's Connection Settings menu again and select the No proxy bubble under "Configure Proxies to Access the Internet."