Firefox New Tab FAQ

What is Pocket and how does it relate to Firefox?

Pocket is owned by Mozilla and is part of the Firefox family of products. Pocket’s mission is to empower people to consume exceptional stories worthy of their time and attention.

Pocket is Mozilla’s content platform and is built into the Firefox browser. Together Pocket and Firefox expand reach and access to high-quality content while staying true to the values that drive us all: protecting the openness of the web and creating a content platform built around trust, privacy, and quality.

That’s why we work together to deliver some of the best stories out there—recommended by Pocket—directly into your Firefox new tab.

Why am I seeing these stories, from these publishers, in the Firefox new tab?

Pocket’s recommendations elevate stories that are worthy of your time and attention—the kind that inform, inspire, entertain, and offer new and unique perspectives. The stories are sourced from a wide and diverse assortment of publications with a track record of trustworthy and accurate coverage.

Pocket’s 30+ million global users help guide our curation by pointing us to thought-provoking essays, hidden gems, and fascinating deep-dives from across the web. Editors at Pocket then sift through the most-recommended and most-read stories and handpick the best to share with the wider Pocket and Firefox communities.

Are these stories personalized to me?

For the most part, no. Most recommendations on your new tab come from a general list of the best of stories on the web. But Pocket is actively exploring ways to deliver personalized recommendations in a way that vigorously protects users’ privacy. Importantly, neither Mozilla nor Pocket ever receives a copy of your browser history. When personalization does occur, recommendations rely on a process of story sorting and filtering that happens locally in your personal copy of Firefox.

Is information collected when I interact with these recommendations? What information is collected and what controls do I have?

By default, when recommendations from Pocket are displayed on your new tab, we collect information about how many times they appear and how many times they are clicked. However, this information is not associated with any of the technical and interaction information about you or your copy of Firefox. You can learn more about the data we collect and you can opt out of data collection.

Why do some recommendations have a “sponsored by” label?



Please note: We currently only show sponsored content to users in the United States, Canada, Germany, and United Kingdom.

Pocket occasionally partners with select publishers and brands to deliver high-quality sponsored stories to our users. These stories will always be clearly marked, and you have control over whether they’re shown on your new tab page.

If you prefer to not see a sponsored story in your new tab, you can easily dismiss it by selecting the ●●● button next to the recommendations and clicking “Dismiss.” You can also permanently opt out of viewing sponsored stories by following these instructions:

Click the gear icon at the top right corner of your new tab page. Uncheck “Sponsored Stories.”

Do sponsors receive data about me when I look at these stories in the new tab?

Your privacy is of utmost important to us. Except for an aggregated total count of impressions and clicks that a particular item receives, sponsors do not receive any additional data from Pocket or Mozilla. We do not collect personally identifying data through these interactions, nor do we share it with our sponsors.

I've noticed that some sponsored recommendations load a different URL first before going to the content. What's happening?

Some sponsored content will link to DoubleClick first before taking you to the article or landing page. This allows a sponsor to verify that the number of clicks on their story are accurately reported.

These 3rd parties see/receive no data unless a story is clicked on. Except for an aggregated total count of impressions and clicks that a particular item receives, sponsors do not receive any additional data from Pocket or Mozilla.

Some browser extensions might pause the page from loading to make you aware that this is happening. If you would still like to visit the page, you can typically click through or temporarily disable blocking this type of link.

Why do I see stories with publication dates that aren’t from today?

Many of the best stories weren’t published in the past 24 hours, and Pocket is committed to elevating the web’s greatest stories, not just the latest ones. On occasion, you may encounter an article from one of our publisher partners hosted on the Pocket site. In these cases, we’ve paid publishers to republish high-quality “Pocket Worthy” stories because we believe these articles continue to be as enjoyable and relevant as the day they were written.

By elevating these stories and giving them a second life with our audiences, we hope to better support long-lasting, high-quality journalism and content creation across the web.

I don't want to see these stories. How do I turn this off?

If you prefer to not see Pocket recommendations, you can hide them. Here’s how:

Click the gear icon at the top right corner of your new tab page Uncheck “Recommended by Pocket”

I don’t want to see a specific story. How do I remove it?

If you don’t like an article that was recommended by Pocket, you can dismiss it from the menu that appears when you select the ●●● button at the top right corner of the tile.

What if I want to opt out of data collection entirely?

Pocket and Firefox collect technical and usage data by default, but you can turn this off at any time.

Click the menu button and choose Preferences. Select the Privacy & Security panel. Scroll down to the Firefox Data Collection and Use section. Uncheck the box next to Allow Firefox to send technical and interaction data to Mozilla.

To learn more about what data Mozilla receives and how it's used, see Mozilla's Firefox Privacy Notice.

I like these recommended stories. How can I see more?

Visit Pocket’s Must Reads or Trending pages to discover more of the best stories out there. You can also browse by topic and search by keyword.

How do I use the Pocket feature that’s already included in my Firefox browser?

In addition to serving up thought-provoking stories in your new tab, Pocket also lets you save those stories—and anything else you find online, from articles to videos to links—with one click, and come back to them when you’re ready.

Activate your Pocket account and each time you come across something you want to save for later, click the Pocket icon on your toolbar. Then, when you’re ready to read, visit Pocket on any device, and your stories will be there waiting for you in a quiet, distraction-free space. Get the app on your phone or tablet to read offline, listen to your saved stories, and try out other focus-boosting tools.

If you don’t see the Pocket icon in your Firefox toolbar, here are some common troubleshooting tips to help.