Firefox is a pretty good web browser. It has a simple UI, customization options, and a great library of add-ons. Best of all, Firefox uses less memory and offers better privacy than most browsers, especially Chrome.

Despite all these upsides, Firefox still lacks some useful features. So, we have listed the most demanded ones below. Wherever possible, we'll suggest suitable add-ons that offer these missing features.

firefox sidebar search addon screenshot

Although Firefox has a sidebar on the left for displaying history, you cannot use this sidebar to do a quick search while browsing. This feature comes in handy when you want to search for a particular word or thing, keep your social accounts open simultaneously, or troubleshoot a problem while watching a YouTube tutorial.

Currently, Edge and Vivaldi have this feature. And Google is also working on a side search panel, as stated in Chromium Blog's post.

Considering its major competitors already have this feature, we can hope to see it in Firefox soon. But until Firefox introduces it, you can use Sidebar for Google Search add-on for this purpose.

2. Tab Grouping

simple tab groups firefox addon

Most of us have been guilty of tab hoarding. However, you can open dozens of tabs with proper tab management without losing track of them.

Though there are multiple ways to manage tabs in Firefox, the browser doesn't have a built-in feature for tab grouping. Considering almost everyone loves using multiple tabs simultaneously, this is a major drawback.

Other than Firefox, all popular browsers have tab grouping features, including Chrome, Safari, and Edge. In fact, Vivaldi has various tab grouping options like two-level stacking.

Luckily, there's an add-on (or dozens of them) for this purpose. Simple Tab Group enables you to group and manage tabs in Firefox effectively.

3. Mouse Gestures

gesturefy add-on screenshot

Mouse gesture is a feature that's not available in most browsers. But Vivaldi, Opera, and Yandex all allow you to perform actions with simple mouse movements.

Mouse gestures speed up your browsing and navigation, letting you perform the most-repeated tasks with simple clicks and scrolls. They're far easier to use than keyboard shortcuts, especially if you prefer using a mouse over the keyboard.

If you can't wait for Mozilla to add this feature to Firefox, you can try the Gesturefy extension. This is a Firefox-recommended extension with over 80 predefined gestures.

tineye firefox addon screenshot

A reverse image search can come in handy when you want to shop for similar products, trace the source of the image, or want to see who has used your photos. Browsers like Chrome and Edge offer this handy feature.

Unfortunately, reverse image search is another missing feature in Firefox that we would love to see. However, there are several reverse image search add-ons in Firefox's add-on library.

Since Mozilla doesn't have a search engine or a reverse image search service, it makes sense why they are not as keen on offering this feature. For users, though, this feature would surely be beneficial.

5. Webpage Translation

firefox simple translate screenshot

When you open a webpage with a language other than your browser's, Google Chrome automatically translates the page into your browser's default language. On the other hand, Edge offers translation whenever it detects another language.

But Firefox doesn't have a built-in translation feature, which could be extremely useful for people who use the internet for research, like students, teachers, journalists, writers, etc. So, to get pages translated, you'll have to resort to third-party add-ons.

One of these add-ons that we—and Firefox—recommend is Simple Translate.

6. Guest Mode

firefox profile manager screenshot

Whether you're browsing on someone else's computer or they're browsing on your's, the guest mode can come in handy. Unlike Chrome and Edge, Firefox doesn't have a guest mode.

Although it does have a private browsing feature, you can't create a temporary guest profile. It is surely an issue for people who frequently browse on others' computers. And for a browser that strives for safer and private browsing, the lack of a guest mode is somewhat disappointing.

We couldn't find any add-on for this purpose, but there's a workaround. You can create a new profile from the Firefox profile manager. Then, from the settings, turn on Clear history when Firefox closes and Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed.

But still, this workaround is neither as simple as opening a guest mode with a single click nor deletes the profiles when you close the browser.

7. Vertical Tabs

sidebery firefox addon screenshot

Though Vivaldi and Microsoft Edge have introduced this as a built-in feature, vertical tabs are not as common in browsers, but given how useful this feature is, having it on Firefox would be great.

Vertical tabs help in tab management, letting you view the title of the webpage. This way, you can easily switch to the tab you want without any guesswork.

Sidebery is the add-on that solves this problem. Besides offering flat and tree-style vertical tabs, it lets you view bookmarks in the sidebar as well.

8. Support for Desktop PWAs

Progressive Web Apps work like standalone apps, and they're faster and more reliable than websites. They are easy to manage and can send notifications separately.

Google Chrome and Edge currently aim to enhance the PWA experience with several recent improvements.

While Firefox supports PWAs for mobile devices, it has dropped support for desktop PWAs. After experimentation with its PWA feature, in the form of Site Specific Browser (SSB), Firefox decided not to introduce it. This can be a dealbreaker for some users.

9. Search Option for History and Bookmarks (Android)

This is a basic but handy option missing from the Firefox Android browser. There's no option to search for history or bookmarks.

So, you'll either have to scroll through all the items to find the one you need. Or, you can search for the page in the address bar and expect it to show up among the other search suggestions.

Firefox Has Plenty of Room for Improvement

Firefox is undoubtedly a great browser, especially if you're concerned about your privacy. But there is always room for improvement. And Firefox definitely lacks some handy features.

Some of these are for specific purposes and people, while others, like side panel search, are useful for almost everyone. While we hope to see these missing features in Firefox someday, it already has several handy, hidden features you should try out.