# Firefox Lost Almost 50 Million Users In 3 Years **URL:** \ **Category:** News & Articles\ **Tags:** technology, pc-optimization\ **Created:** [August 5, 2021, 11:59am UTC](https://onehack.st/t/firefox-lost-almost-50-million-users-in-3-years/196476 "2021-08-05T11:59:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PlayBoy83](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/playboy83/32/164314_2.png) [@PlayBoy83](https://onehack.st/u/PlayBoy83)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 11:59am UTC](https://onehack.st/t/firefox-lost-almost-50-million-users-in-3-years/196476/1 "2021-08-05T11:59:54Z")
[https://i0.wp.com/news.itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/firefox-decline.jpg](https://i0.wp.com/news.itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/firefox-decline.jpg) An anonymous reader quotes a report from It’s FOSS, written by Ankush Das: _Mozilla’s Firefox is the only popular alternative to Chromium-based browsers. It has been the default choice for Linux users and privacy-conscious users across every platform. However, even with all benefits as one of the best web browsers around, it is losing its grip for the past few years. I came across a Reddit thread by [u/nixcraft](https://www.reddit.com/user/nixcraft/), which highlighted more details on the decline in the userbase of Firefox since 2018. And surprisingly, the original source for this information is [Firefox’s Public Data Report](https://data.firefox.com/dashboard/user-activity)._ _As per the official stats, the reported number of active (monthly) users was about 244 million at the end of 2018. And, it seems to have declined to 198 million at the end of Q2 2021. So, that [makes it a whopping ~46 million decline in the userbase](https://news.itsfoss.com/firefox-decline/). Considering 2021 is the year when privacy-focused tools saw a big boost in their userbase, Mozilla’s Firefox is looking at a constant decline. Especially when Firefox manages to introduce some industry-first privacy practices. Quite the irony, eh?_ Just for fun, here’s a timeline of our stories reporting on Firefox’s download milestones from the mid-2000s: September 19, 2004: [1 Million Firefoxes in 4 Days](https://tech.slashdot.org/story/04/09/19/137224/1-million-firefoxes-in-4-days) December 12, 2004: [Firefox Reaches 10 Million Downloads](https://tech.slashdot.org/story/04/12/12/0117204/firefox-reaches-10-million-downloads) February 17, 2005: [Firefox Breaks 25 Million Downloads](https://tech.slashdot.org/story/05/02/17/139253/firefox-breaks-25-million-downloads) April 26, 2005: [Firefox nears 50 Million Downloads](https://slashdot.org/story/05/04/26/203211/firefox-nears-50-million-downloads) July 29, 2005: [Firefox Downloads Reach 75 Million](https://slashdot.org/story/05/07/29/0618205/firefox-downloads-reach-75-million) October 19, 2005: [Firefox Tops 100 Million Downloads](https://slashdot.org/story/05/10/19/1723248/firefox-tops-100-million-downloads) September 11, 2007: [Firefox Hits 400 Million Downloads](https://slashdot.org/story/07/09/11/1222256/firefox-hits-400-million-downloads) July 3, 2008: [Firefox Breaks 8 Million, Gets Into Guinness](https://slashdot.org/story/08/07/03/1251206/firefox-breaks-8-million-gets-into-guinness) ---
**Author:** ![Aarkay\_Pathak](https://onehack.st/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@Aarkay\_Pathak](https://onehack.st/u/Aarkay_Pathak)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/firefox-lost-almost-50-million-users-in-3-years/196476/2 "2021-08-05T20:53:10Z")
Not any irony when other browsers, especially Edge has better features and privacy. I would use firefox only if the browser can save more battery like Edge as I only use laptop. ---
**Author:** ![Joravar\_Seth](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/joravar_seth/32/75967_2.png) [@Joravar\_Seth](https://onehack.st/u/Joravar_Seth)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 9:46pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/firefox-lost-almost-50-million-users-in-3-years/196476/3 "2021-08-05T21:46:13Z")
Microsoft Edge is definitely the worst browser one can imagine. It was literally pushed down everyone’s throat with every Windows Update, and this shows just how pathetic it is. Firefox is known for privacy. And if you club Ublock Origin addonn, it literally acts like a lifesaver. Yes, firefox does consume resources, but so does Chrome. Don’t believe me? Just fire up your Task manager or a tool like Process Explorer and you will see just how many process threads Chrome uses. Do you believe Chrome is light? That’s because it ‘runs processes in the background’ and literally uses your GPU for itself. You have to go into the settings and disable its usage of your resources. I have never had a single problem with Firefox in the years I have used it. Chrome, I use only so I can access google services (and there too I use Ublock Origin). Edge, I uninstall it completely including from registry. I dont need bloatware. ---
**Author:** ![Jared](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/jared/32/38087_2.png) [@Jared](https://onehack.st/u/Jared)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 9:48pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/firefox-lost-almost-50-million-users-in-3-years/196476/4 "2021-08-05T21:48:46Z")
I use Edge (I find Edge much better than Chrome) for YouTube and Google Workspace as these have (obviously) been optimized for Chromium, but everything else is Firefox. ---
**Author:** ![Joravar\_Seth](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/joravar_seth/32/75967_2.png) [@Joravar\_Seth](https://onehack.st/u/Joravar_Seth)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/firefox-lost-almost-50-million-users-in-3-years/196476/5 "2021-08-05T21:50:20Z")
so how do you block those pesky ads in Edge? ---
**Author:** ![Lul\_Gate](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/lul_gate/32/50278_2.png) [@Lul\_Gate](https://onehack.st/u/Lul_Gate)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/firefox-lost-almost-50-million-users-in-3-years/196476/6 "2021-08-05T21:50:52Z")
The only reason I don’t use firefox is because of built-in Page translation being not available which is a must for me. For now, I am satisfied with Edge which is a great browser. ---
**Author:** ![Jared](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/jared/32/38087_2.png) [@Jared](https://onehack.st/u/Jared)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 10:43pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/firefox-lost-almost-50-million-users-in-3-years/196476/7 "2021-08-05T22:43:31Z")
uBlock Origin, same as Firefox. ---
**Author:** ![surya77](https://onehack.st/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@surya77](https://onehack.st/u/surya77)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 1:47am UTC](https://onehack.st/t/firefox-lost-almost-50-million-users-in-3-years/196476/8 "2021-08-06T01:47:47Z")
I suppose most of the common users who make a noise about privacy do so because it’s become fashionable nowadays they but don’t really understand it or care much for it. They don’t really care what browser they use, whether it be Chrome, Edge or Firefox. In the departments of the organization where I work, no one cares or is even aware of privacy issues or performance etc. They just use the organization website’s recommendation and it’s almost something like “Use Chrome version … to use this system”. They couldn’t be bothered with trying out Firefox, they just don’t think it necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Achyutha\_Munimakula2](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/achyutha_munimakula2/32/76877_2.png) [@Achyutha\_Munimakula2](https://onehack.st/u/Achyutha_Munimakula2)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 7:45am UTC](https://onehack.st/t/firefox-lost-almost-50-million-users-in-3-years/196476/9 "2021-08-06T07:45:01Z")
I find edge a lot more responsive than chrome. I do have all of my Google passwords on Chrome so that prevents me from switching fully, but whenever I want to watch a video or a live stream, I always opt for edge instead. Haven’t given Firefox a shot recently, maybe I’ll try that instead of edge. Does anyone feel the faster response on Firefox, as I do on edge? ---
**Author:** ![Jared](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/jared/32/38087_2.png) [@Jared](https://onehack.st/u/Jared)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 1:08pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/firefox-lost-almost-50-million-users-in-3-years/196476/10 "2021-08-06T13:08:23Z")
Google tends to implement protocols on its websites (especially YouTube) that can throttle Firefox. Most other sites should be just as fast as when using Edge though. ---
**Author:** ![pi\_orange](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/pi_orange/32/100538_2.png) [@pi\_orange](https://onehack.st/u/pi_orange)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 3:04pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/firefox-lost-almost-50-million-users-in-3-years/196476/11 "2021-08-07T15:04:53Z")
I’m a very private conscious person who was “all-in” with Firefox. It was used on my PC’s, Linux boxes, and mobile devices. After seeing how they treat their employees I immediately pulled it from all devices. A company who doesn’t care for their employees livelihood doesn’t deserve my support or loyalty. Source: [https://fosspost.org/mozilla-go-unfck-yourself/](https://fosspost.org/mozilla-go-unfck-yourself/) I am now on Microsoft Edge and it works flawlessly. As for privacy, there are many extensions and methods to increase it.