Waterfox is one of the few fully customizable browsers, allowing you to modify and extend it any way you please. This article will serve as an informative guide and give you a clear understanding of how to perform a silent installation of Waterfox from the command line using the EXE installer.
How to Install Waterfox Silently
Waterfox Current Silent Install (EXE)
- Navigate to https://www.waterfox.net/download/
- Download the Current EXE file to a folder created at (C:\Downloads)
- Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
- Navigate to the C:\Downloads folder
- Enter the following command:
- “Waterfox Current Setup.exe” /S
- Press Enter
After a few moments you should see the Waterfox Desktop Shortcut appear. You will also find entries in the Start Menu, Installation Directory, and Programs and Features in the Control Panel.
| Software Title: | Waterfox Current (x64) |
| Vendor: | Waterfox |
| Version: | 2020.08 |
| Architecture: | 64-bit |
| Installer Type: | EXE |
| Silent Install Switch: | "Waterfox Current Setup.exe" /S |
| Silent Uninstall Switch: | "%ProgramFiles%\Waterfox Current\uninstall\helper.exe" /S |
| Download Link: | https://www.waterfox.net/download/ |
Waterfox Classic Silent Install (EXE)
- Navigate to https://www.waterfox.net/download/
- Download the Classic EXE file to a folder created at (C:\Downloads)
- Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
- Navigate to the C:\Downloads folder
- Enter the following command:
- “Waterfox Classic Setup.exe” /S
- Press Enter
After a few moments you should see the Waterfox Desktop Shortcut appear. You will also find entries in the Start Menu, Installation Directory, and Programs and Features in the Control Panel.
| Software Title: | Waterfox Classic (x64) |
| Vendor: | Waterfox Ltd |
| Version: | 56.3 |
| Architecture: | 64-bit |
| Installer Type: | EXE |
| Silent Install Switch: | "Waterfox Classic Setup.exe" /S |
| Silent Uninstall Switch: | "%ProgramFiles%\Waterfox Classic\uninstall\helper.exe" /S |
| Download Link: | https://www.waterfox.net/download/ |
The information above provides a quick overview of the software title, vendor, silent install, and silent uninstall switches. The download links provided take you directly to the vendors website. Continue reading if you are interested in additional details and configurations.
Additional Configurations
Change Default Installation Directory
You can change the default installation directory by using the following command line parameters. In this example, I’m installing Waterfox to “C:\Waterfox”
Change Default Installation Directory for Waterfox Current Version
"Waterfox Current Setup.exe" /S /InstallDirectoryPath=C:\Waterfox |
Exclude Desktop Shortcut During Waterfox Install
The Waterfox Current installer creates a desktop shortcut by default. If you don’t want the desktop shortcut, then you can run the following command line switch to exclude it.
"Waterfox Current Setup.exe" /S /DesktopShortcut=false |
Exclude Taskbar Shortcut During Waterfox Install
The Waterfox Current installer creates a shortcut on the taskbar by default. If you don’t want the shortcut to appear on the taskbar, then you can run the following command line switch to exclude it.
"Waterfox Current Setup.exe" /S /TaskbarShortcut=false |
Disable Import Settings and Data Wizard
The Waterfox installer presents the user with an Import Wizard after launching the browser for the first time. It allows the user to import options, bookmarks, history, passwords and other data from other popular browsers. You can bypass the Import Wizard by performing the following steps.
- Open Notepad or your favorite text editor
- Add the following lines:
| [XRE] EnableProfileMigrator=false |
- Save the file and name it: override.ini
- Follow the “How to Install Waterfox Silently” steps mentioned earlier in the article and then copy the override.ini file to the “%ProgramFiles%\Waterfox Current\browser\” directory or “%ProgramFiles%\Waterfox Classic\browser\” directory depending on what version of Waterfox you have installed
Now when you launch Waterfox for the first time, the Import Wizard is bypassed.
Disable Waterfox Default Browser Check
When launching the Waterfox browser the user receives a popup indicating that Waterfox is not currently set as the default browser. You can disable this popup by performing the following steps.
- Open Notepad or your favorite text editor
- Add the following lines:
| //Waterfox Default Settings // Disable Default Browser Check pref(“browser.shell.checkDefaultBrowser”, false); pref(“browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone”, “ignore”); |
- Save the file and name it: waterfox.cfg
- Open Notepad or your favorite text editor again to create another file
- Add the following lines:
| pref(“general.config.obscure_value”, 0); pref(“general.config.filename”, “waterfox.cfg”); |
- Save the file and name it: autoconfig.js
- Follow the “How to Install Waterfox Silently” steps mentioned earlier in the article and then copy the waterfox.cfg file to the “%ProgramFiles%\Waterfox Current\” directory or “%ProgramFiles%\Waterfox Classic\” directory depending on what version of Waterfox you have installed
- Next copy the autoconfig.js file to the “%ProgramFiles%\Waterfox Current\defaults\pref\” directory or “%ProgramFiles%\Waterfox Classic\defaults\pref\” directory depending on what version of Waterfox you have installed
Now when you launch Waterfox, the Default Browser Check is disabled. You can confirm that the “Always Check if Waterfox is Your Default Browser” is now unchecked and disabled under Menu-> Options-> General-> (UNCHECKED) Always Check if Waterfox is Your Default Browser
How to Uninstall Waterfox Silently
- Open an Elevated Command Prompt by Right-Clicking on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator
- Enter one of the following commands:
Waterfox Current Silent Uninstall (EXE)
"%ProgramFiles%\Waterfox Current\uninstall\helper.exe" /S |
Waterfox Classic Silent Uninstall (EXE)
"%ProgramFiles%\Waterfox Classic\uninstall\helper.exe" /S |
Always make sure to test everything in a development environment prior to implementing anything into production. The information in this article is provided “As Is” without warranty of any kind.
