Until recently, the only way to get a browser with Mica material support was to use the default Microsoft Edge, which, let's be honest, is not universally loved. Not so long ago, Google decided to treat its customers and add Mica support to Chrome, giving the most popular browser in the world better looks on Windows 11. Now, Firefox is joining the Mica club.
Users on Reddit noticed that the recent Firefox Nightly updates introduced configs that allow turning on the Mica material (Mica alt, to be precise) on the top bar (tab strip). The implementation is in the early stages and needs some extra improvements, such as Mica support for vertical tabs. Also, there are no fancy materials in context menus and other parts of the browser.
If, despite the early implementation, you still want to try Mica in Firefox, here is how to do it:
- Download Firefox Nightly from the official website. Keep in mind that Nightly builds are unstable and can crash or throw a bug at you (you can run Nightly side-by-side with a stable release).
- Go to the about:config page (type it in the address bar) and acknowledge the risks.
- Type widget.windows.mica in the search bar and click the button with two opposite-looking arrows.
- Type browser.theme.native-theme and click the same button with arrows.
- Do the same for browser.tabs.allow_transparent_browser.
- Restart your browser.
It is also worth noting that the Mica material heavily depends on your desktop background. Mica looks better with wallpapers with vivid, rich colors. Also, if you do not see the immediate result even after changing the desktop background, go to themes and switch to the System theme—auto. You can expect Firefox to fix and improve its Mica implementation in future updates as the change makes its way down to more stable Firefox channels.
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