How to prevent automatic update to Firefox 57.0 Quantum?

So at work, my Firefox got automatically updated to 57.0 (Quantum) since I have automatic updates enabled.

Turns out that a lot of add-ons don't work anymore with 57.0, e.g. the session manager and the tab group add-on which I use extensively. It seems that I lost all but the current tab group which I'm not very happy about...

Now, at home I use the same add-ons and I'd like to prevent losing my tab groups so I'm looking for a way to disable automatic updates (which are enabled) before I start Firefox so that I get a chance to save/export my tab groups and find a solution that will work with 57.0 before actually updating to 57.0.

How can I do that?

Answer

The solution to disable automatic updates without running Firefox is as follows (OS is Windows):

• Edit the file prefs.js, located in %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xyz.default\ which usually translates to C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xyz.default\ (Note: username and xyz will vary)


• Make sure the line user_pref("app.update.enabled", false); is present in the file; if it isn't, add it or modify it. Ignore the warning that this file should not be edited


• Save and close the file


• Start and use Firefox without having to worry about automatic updates


• Optional: Note the button "Check for updates" in the "About Firefox" dialog box. Of course, DO NOT click it until you are prepared and ready to receive the update