How to Install Firefox Beta on Debian 13, 12 and 11

Firefox Beta is the fastest way to test upcoming Firefox changes without living on the breakage edge of Nightly. You can install Firefox Beta on Debian from Mozilla’s official APT repository to get the next stable Firefox branch, automatic updates through APT, and a cleaner workflow than managing a self-contained archive by hand.

Firefox Beta is available on Debian 13, 12, and 11 through Mozilla’s repository, while Debian’s default package sources provide Firefox ESR instead. The install commands work from a terminal or SSH session, but Firefox Beta still needs a graphical desktop session when you launch it.

Install Firefox Beta on Debian

Mozilla packages Firefox Beta separately from Debian’s Firefox ESR track, so this repository setup keeps Beta updates coming from Mozilla instead of mixing them with Debian’s browser packages.

Update Debian and install Firefox Beta prerequisites

Refresh your package lists first so APT sees the current Debian metadata before you add Mozilla’s repository:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

These commands use sudo for tasks that need root privileges. If your account does not have sudo access yet, follow the guide on how to add a user to sudoers on Debian.

Install the packages used to download and store Mozilla’s signing key. The -y flag accepts APT’s confirmation prompt so the install can finish in one step.

sudo apt install ca-certificates curl gpg -y

Add the Mozilla APT repository for Firefox Beta on Debian

Mozilla publishes Firefox Beta through packages.mozilla.org. Use gpg --dearmor here to convert the downloaded signing key into a binary keyring file that APT can read cleanly on Debian 13, 12, and 11.

curl -fsSL https://packages.mozilla.org/apt/repo-signing-key.gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor --yes -o /usr/share/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.gpg

For the broader download syntax, learn the curl command in Linux. Here, -fsSL makes curl fail on HTTP errors, stay quiet unless something breaks, and follow redirects, while --yes lets gpg replace the keyring file cleanly if you rerun the command.

Now create the DEB822 source file and the APT pin. The tee command writes both files as root because a normal > redirection would still run under your unprivileged shell.

printf '%s\n' \
'Types: deb' \
'URIs: https://packages.mozilla.org/apt' \
'Suites: mozilla' \
'Components: main' \
'Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.gpg' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mozilla.sources > /dev/null

printf '%s\n' \
'Package: firefox*' \
'Pin: origin packages.mozilla.org' \
'Pin-Priority: 1000' | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/mozilla > /dev/null

Refresh APT and confirm that firefox-beta now resolves from Mozilla’s repository before you install anything:

sudo apt update
apt-cache policy firefox-beta

Get:4 https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla InRelease

firefox-beta:
	Installed: (none)
	Candidate: 1xx.0bX~build1
	Version table:
		 1xx.0bX~build1 1000
				500 https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla/main amd64 Packages

The version and build number will change with the current Beta cycle, but Candidate should come from https://packages.mozilla.org/apt.

Install Firefox Beta on Debian

With the repository in place, install the Beta package like any other Debian package:

sudo apt install firefox-beta -y

The following NEW packages will be installed:
	firefox-beta

Verify the installed package state with APT instead of relying on a GUI version flag from an SSH shell:

apt-cache policy firefox-beta

firefox-beta:
	Installed: 1xx.0bX~build1
	Candidate: 1xx.0bX~build1
	Version table:
 *** 1xx.0bX~build1 1000
				500 https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla/main amd64 Packages
				100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

Mozilla’s repository also carries firefox, firefox-esr, firefox-nightly, and firefox-devedition. During validation on Debian 13, 12, and 11, installing firefox-beta did not remove firefox-esr.

Install Firefox Beta language packs on Debian

Mozilla ships Firefox Beta language packs as separate packages, so you can keep the browser on Beta while switching the interface to another language.

apt-cache search "^firefox-beta-l10n" | head

firefox-beta-l10n-de - Mozilla Firefox - Firefox Language Pack for German (de)
firefox-beta-l10n-fr - Mozilla Firefox - Firefox Language Pack for French (fr)
firefox-beta-l10n-ja - Mozilla Firefox - Firefox Language Pack for Japanese (ja)

Install the language pack you want by replacing the code with your own locale:

sudo apt install firefox-beta-l10n-de -y

After the package installs, open Firefox Beta and switch the interface language under Settings > General > Language. Restart the browser if the new language does not appear immediately.

Launch Firefox Beta on Debian

Once the package is installed, launch Firefox Beta from your desktop session like any other browser. The package install can happen over SSH, but the browser window still needs a local graphical session.

Launch Firefox Beta from the terminal on Debian

Run Firefox Beta from a terminal inside your desktop session when you want a quick launcher command or need to pass extra arguments. If you try this over SSH without a display, Firefox Beta returns a display error instead of opening.

firefox-beta

Add an ampersand to return your shell prompt immediately while the browser keeps running:

firefox-beta &

Launch Firefox Beta from the applications menu on Debian

Open your desktop’s applications menu, search for Firefox Beta, and start it from there. Debian also installs a desktop launcher automatically, so you do not need to create one by hand.

Manage Firefox Beta on Debian

Because Firefox Beta comes from an APT repository, updates and removal stay in the normal Debian package workflow.

Update Firefox Beta on Debian

Refresh the package lists first, then upgrade only the Beta package when you want to pull the latest build without touching unrelated packages:

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

firefox-beta is already the newest version (1xx.0bX~build1).

When a newer Beta build is available, APT replaces that message with the normal upgrade transaction and downloads the new package from Mozilla’s repository.

Remove Firefox Beta on Debian

Remove the Beta package first, then let APT clean up any no-longer-needed dependencies:

sudo apt remove firefox-beta -y
sudo apt autoremove -y

Confirm the package is gone while the Mozilla repository is still configured:

apt-cache policy firefox-beta

firefox-beta:
	Installed: (none)
	Candidate: 1xx.0bX~build1
	Version table:
		 1xx.0bX~build1 1000
				500 https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla/main amd64 Packages

Keep Mozilla’s repository if you also use firefox, firefox-esr, firefox-nightly, or firefox-devedition from the same source.

If you do not need any Firefox packages from Mozilla anymore, remove the source file, keyring, and pin, then refresh APT again:

sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mozilla.sources /usr/share/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.gpg /etc/apt/preferences.d/mozilla
sudo apt update

firefox-beta:
	Installed: (none)
	Candidate: (none)
	Version table:

Firefox stores profile data under ~/.mozilla/firefox/ and cached files under ~/.cache/mozilla/. Those paths can also contain Firefox ESR or stable data for the same Linux account, so only delete them if you are sure you do not need any local Firefox profiles, bookmarks, passwords, or cached data anymore.

These commands permanently delete local Firefox data for the current user account. Export anything you need first.

rm -rf ~/.mozilla/firefox/ ~/.cache/mozilla/

Firefox Beta on Debian FAQ

Conclusion

Firefox Beta is installed on Debian with Mozilla-managed updates, so you can track the next Firefox release without leaving APT. Report reproducible Beta issues through Mozilla Bugzilla. If you want to move back to the stable channel, install Firefox on Debian. For an open-source Chromium-based alternative, install Chromium on Debian.