Change Firefox update channel from ESR to release?

Question

So I have Firefox ESR installed, and I want to change it to the "release" channel. Is there a way to do that or I have to reinstall?

I've tried changing app.update.channel in about:config to 'release', and that didn't seem to do it.

Solution 1

The release channel is hardcoded in (Mozilla Program Directory/default/pref/) channel-prefs.js. You'll have to edit it manually.

Find

pref("app.update.channel", "esr");

and change it to

pref("app.update.channel", "release");

Solution 2

The answer by DragoonHP is not entirelly correct. Not every ESR version can be simply converted to a release version. As of Firefox ESR 24.5.0, just changing the release channel does not bring new updates. It seems also that Firefox ESR is a completely different compilation and the release version might have trouble with your ESR profile (See this thread Can I convert an existing Firefox installation to ESR without a re-install?)

I recommended to copy the main profile files and re-install Firefox.

Comments

[Wk_of_Angmar]

Have you tried going to Firefox button -> Help -> About Firefox? This will check for updates. In any case, reinstalling will not delete your profile (which contains all your settings, preferences, extensions, history, bookmarks, etc.) so that should not really be an issue.

[Alex]

I have. There doesnt seem to be a way to change the update channel... Maybe I'll just reinstall...

[CalvT]

Firefox tries to update after this, but errors with The Update could not be installed (patch apply failed)

[DragoonHP]

Thanks for the update. My answers predates ESR 24.5 by almost 1.5 years. I will check it and update my answer with the best method. Thanks!

[Biswapriyo]

This can also be configured from about:config page in Firefox by changing the string value of app.update.channel.

[pepgma]

No probl. Just trying to help ;)