Firefox 160 Released with New Floating Mini Window Mode

Mozilla released Firefox 160 on 10 November 2026. The headline feature is Mini Window, a new floating mode that pops a tab, or just part of a page, out into a small window that stays on top of everything else. The release also adds a playback speed control to Picture-in-Picture and on-device speech recognition for web apps.

Firefox 160 at a Glance

What Is Mini Window?

Mini Window moves a whole tab, or a selected section of a page, into a compact floating window that stays on top of your other windows. Think of it as Picture-in-Picture for anything: instead of only video, you can keep a chat, documentation, a dashboard, an image or a block of text in view while you work in another app.

It’s handy for everyday multitasking, such as keeping a terminal reference or API docs visible while you type commands, watching a build or monitoring page, or following a live stream while you work.

Mozilla describes Mini Window as an early beta and is asking for feedback on it.

How to Use Mini Window

• Move a whole tab: right-click the tab, open the Move Tab menu and choose the Mini Window option. The tab leaves the main Firefox window and opens in its own floating window.
• Move part of a page: right-click on the page and choose Move Section to Mini Window.

The Mini Window has its own small set of controls: you can close it, mute or unmute its audio, or send it back to the window it came from.

Current Limitations

Because the feature is still in beta, a few rough edges remain. Early testers noticed that closing the main Firefox window also closes any open Mini Windows, and some asked for a way to turn off the always-on-top behaviour. Mozilla is collecting feedback on its community site and has said an “Open in Mini Window” option is on its radar.

Other Changes in Firefox 160

Picture-in-Picture Playback Speed

Picture-in-Picture now has a playback speed control, so you can watch a video anywhere from 0.25x to 2x speed without returning to the original tab.

On-Device Speech Recognition

The Web Speech API’s speech recognition now supports real-time transcription in 40 languages, processed on your device rather than sent to a cloud service. Web apps that use voice input get faster, more private transcription.

Security Fixes

As with every Firefox release, version 160 includes security fixes, so it’s worth updating even if you don’t plan to use the new features.

How to Update to Firefox 160 on Linux

First, check which version you have:

firefox --version

Then update using the command that matches how Firefox is installed on your system.

Snap (the default on Ubuntu 26.04 and 24.04). Snaps update automatically, but you can install the update right away:

sudo snap refresh firefox

Flatpak (Flathub):

flatpak update org.mozilla.firefox

Mozilla’s APT repository (packages.mozilla.org) on Debian and Ubuntu:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --only-upgrade firefox

Fedora:

sudo dnf upgrade --refresh firefox

Distribution repositories can take a few days to publish a new Firefox release, so the update may not appear immediately everywhere.

Windows and macOS

Open the menu, go to Help → About Firefox, and Firefox will download the update and ask you to restart.

Conclusion

Firefox 160 makes multitasking easier with Mini Window, a floating, always-on-top view for any tab or part of a page, along with faster Picture-in-Picture controls and private, on-device speech recognition. Mini Window is still in beta, so expect it to improve over the next few releases. Update now to try it and to pick up the latest security fixes.