With Firefox Sync you can be seamlessly connected with all your Firefox bookmarks and settings whether they are in different computers or in a mobile device. Sync gives you the ability to save all your Bookmarks, Passwords, Preferences, History, and open Tabs to stay completely in sync using Firefox’s servers or any other custom server you prefer — no add-on required! –. Now it becomes really simple to fill up a form in your mobile device with the information saved from your computer, and all in a snap.
The same web browsing experience always follows you, for example, when working in Firefox with many open tabs and you need to leave, later on the road you can pick up the work right from where you left off by using your mobile device, because all the open tabs plus everything else will be synced seamlessly.
You now know what it does, now let’s look at how to set up Firefox Sync:
1. To use Firefox Sync, first click the new orange button and select Options.
2. Navigate to the Sync tab and click on the Set Up Firefox Sync button.
3. We are starting from scratch, so click the Create a New Account button. If this is an additional computer click the Connect button and follow the steps.
4. In the next step complete the information requested, choose the Firefox Sync Server (if you are not planning on using a custom server) and agree the terms of service.
From this step you can also set the Sync Options, which they allow you to select what to sync like Bookmarks, Passwords, Preferences, History, and Tabs. Don’t forget to also choose a descriptive name for the computer you are about to sync, then click the Done button.
5. Confirm that you are not a robot by typing the words in the box and click the Next button.
6. This step is very important: All the data sent and saved in the Firefox Sync servers are encrypted to provide better security and at this time Firefox is going to generate your own personal Sync Key, which is not recoverable so it is important that you print it out and save Sync Key file in a safe place, because you are going to need it later when you need to access Firefox Sync from another computer.
Now just click the Finish button to complete the Firefox Sync setup.
At any time you can change or view your settings by going back to Firefox Sync options (step 1 & 2); there you can change what information gets sync to the server and computer name. In manage Account you can view quota (or the space that you are currently using), change your Firefox Sync password, view your Sync Key and also from this option you can generate a new decryption key, but make sure you understand that after you generate a new Key all the data store in the Sync server will be erased; the last option in Manage Account is Reset Sync. Finally Firefox Sync gives you the options to Add a Device, if you need help syncing Firefox with your Android or iPhone we got you covered check out this Add a Device article.
This is a really useful feature in Firefox 4 that is worth to take a look. Enjoy!
Do you sync your Firefox bookmarks and settings? If yes, do you use Firefox Sync or add-on?
May 30, 2011 Update
If you would like to set up you own custom server for Firefox Sync you will find really valuable information in this MozillaWiki page and in the Firefox Sync APIs page.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].