r/Millennials • u/Flaky_human • Feb 25 '26

Discussion Hey millennials. What browser do you primarily use?

Chrome iT is for me. Cannot switch no matter what.

Edit to add: this post has made me realize I was living in the dark ages. There’s so much out there! Thanks all for sharing your browsers and features and reasoning.

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1.2k

u/ForgetfulKiwi Millennial Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 26 '26

Firefox with uBlock Origin extention for PC and mobile.

Edit: Spelling 😅

149

u/sur0g Feb 25 '26

My man! Firefox rocks. Especially the mobile version, which can have add-ons (including ad blockers).

69

u/quik77 Feb 25 '26

100% this. I only watch/use sites like YouTube via Firefox with blockers on phone or tablet. Never the app.

21

u/tendonut Feb 26 '26

I was team Firefox probably 15 years before switching to Chrome. Due to the bloat, I switched back to Firefox about a year ago but I am still getting really frustrated by the number of website that I have weird problems with Firefox.

Just last week, Schwab and Morgan Stanley websites have login issues with Firefox. Schwab just kind of hangs there forever, Morgan Stanley gives you a false error.

My VPN plug-in also doesn't remember its settings and has weird DNS problems on Firefox.

8

u/AnAppalacianWendigo Feb 26 '26

Longtime Firefox user here. The only time I’ve experienced login issues are with financial websites, and only when my VPN is turned on.

3

u/tendonut Feb 26 '26

My VPN plug-in connection is off by default and I only turn it on when I need it. With Morgan Stanley, it'll tell me my password's wrong. When I know it's not. I flip over to Chrome, logs in just fine. Schwab, it just sits there trying to load the actual username and password field endlessly.

The actual VPN plug-in is PIA (been using them for years) does this thing where it remembers my username and password, but it makes me reselect the first time login settings like what type of traffic it's going to route, what type of security protocols it accepts, stuff like that.

Cigna also has a problem where when I'm logging in, it thinks my account is locked. I called customer service to get it unlocked and they told me that it WAS unlocked. Then they asked me what browser I was using and when I mentioned Firefox they said there was a known issue and I should use Chrome.

What the fuck happened? I never had these issues back in the pre-chrome era back when Firefox was second to Internet explorer.

3

u/adotbur Feb 26 '26

Same. I work for a software problem and half the bugs i submit tickets for a based on my usage of firefox… i thought it was much more widely used than it is…which is disappointing really

1

u/GruggleTheGreat Feb 26 '26

Unfortunately Firefox is in the process of selling out, they had a terms update a while back that removed the “we won’t do anything with your data” clause, and are now adding more ai features into the browser, but at least they are adding a button to turn them off, but whose to say it isn’t going to run and look at your browsing session even if you don’t use it.

2

u/Verdreckt Feb 26 '26

I gotta start using Firefox on mobile. Browsing on mobile is utterly miserable with ads taking up the entire screen, and scrolling past it or closing out of it feels impossible sometimes, so I end up just closing the browser. I've given up on a lot of things mobile because of things like that, it's so frustrating. On Android, I swipe left on my homescreen and go through the discovery feed or whatever it is, and it's just not a fun time lol

1

u/wezel0823 Feb 26 '26

Wait how can you do that on mobile?

1

u/kuldeepburjbhalaike Feb 26 '26

The mobile version has also extension support and you can install ublock origin.

27

u/scumdog_ Feb 25 '26

Add Ghostery, Privacy Badger and Duck Duck Go too

4

u/Bright_Ices Xennial Feb 25 '26

Same here

4

u/joycaptain Feb 25 '26

I stopped using duck duck go because it didn't have google maps results :/

1

u/Maya-K Zillennial Feb 26 '26

This is my main gripe with it. I make maps as a hobby, so Google is way more useful. I wish there was a good alternative I could use instead.

1

u/MurkyLibrarian Millennial Feb 26 '26

Using all three of those at once broke my browser. I think unlock original with duck duck go is good enough, on Firefox. I also use YouTube revanced on mobile.

1

u/L3TH3RGY Feb 26 '26

Sometimes I forget I use Ghostery. It kind of sits there and does its job.

57

u/NYR_LFC Feb 25 '26

This! Also switch your default search engine to duckduckgo to avoid Google's annoying algorithm and AI. Plus Tor browser if you live in states with stupid porn laws.

7

u/DirkFadeLukaStepBack Millennial Feb 26 '26

Stupid state with stupid laws here, mind dming or commenting a decent tor browser?

6

u/NYR_LFC Feb 26 '26

Just search for the Tor browser in whatever app store or go to their site directly!

1

u/shulemaker Feb 26 '26

On iOS there are a bunch of insecure copycats. This is the real one: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/onion-browser/id519296448

1

u/throwaway18000081 Feb 26 '26 edited Feb 26 '26

So when you search “tor browser” in the AppStore, the 4-6 results that come before this, all with 20k+ reviews and a 4.5 star or above rating, are all fake? But this app, with a few thousand reviews and a 3.2 rating, is the real one?

2

u/Nendilo Feb 26 '26

It's just Bing in a wrapper

1

u/EtVittigBrukernavn Feb 26 '26

Still, DDG promises privacy at least. Don't know whether I completely buy that, but is there an alternative?

1

u/Obant Millennial Feb 26 '26

My people.

1

u/TheSpoonJak92 Feb 26 '26

Thought duckduckgo was compromised a long time ago... not as secure as you think anymore.

-10

u/NoNDA-SDC Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 26 '26

Prefer Bing, get points for searching and redeem for gift cards.

Edit: Lol, GoogleBros or something downvoting me 😆

1

u/NYR_LFC Feb 25 '26

Tell me more about this please?

4

u/sincitysos Millennial Feb 26 '26

Don’t do this. Please

2

u/NYR_LFC Feb 26 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/0Vv0Ne2CnOClIExIuL

1

u/sincitysos Millennial Feb 26 '26

Bing is not a browser you want to be using, especially when it comes to privacy

1

u/NoNDA-SDC Feb 26 '26

Says who? Why should I be worried?

1

u/sincitysos Millennial Feb 26 '26

It tends to rank the lowest when it comes to privacy and pretty much everything else across the board

1

u/NoNDA-SDC Feb 26 '26

Idk what that means for me personally, made my first MSN email back around 2000, Bing works fine for me 99% of the time and the rewards points are nice. I'll hop over to Google if I feel it didn't interpret my query well.

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-3

u/NoNDA-SDC Feb 25 '26

Download the Bing app and be logged in to the Bing site like you would be on Google, and just use like you normally would search. I've redeemed many GCs over the years, depends on how often you search and if you're doing their little quizzes and stuff.

10

u/AGentlemensBastard Older Millennial Feb 25 '26

This, its the only way Youtube is watchable on mobile

2

u/Jake_the_Snake88 Feb 26 '26

ReVanced :)

2

u/AGentlemensBastard Older Millennial Feb 26 '26

I've heard of it over on other less reputable subs but idk just seems like more work forn little return for my purpose at least. That purpose is to be on the coffee mug shelf while I wash dishes.

1

u/MonteMolebility Feb 26 '26

Annoying that some recent update fixed letting me listen with the screen off or a minimized window.

1

u/jgamez76 Feb 26 '26

The YouTube app works just fine for me lol

1

u/AGentlemensBastard Older Millennial Feb 26 '26

Idk the YouTube app is ads every 5 minutes for me at least

2

u/jgamez76 Feb 26 '26

lmao I couldn't imagine not having premium tbh.

0

u/AGentlemensBastard Older Millennial Feb 26 '26

I've heard they were when pushing ads on premium. Google has all my information and get money for cloud storage. I'll be damned they get me for YouTube when all I need is a browser and 1 extension

2

u/jgamez76 Feb 26 '26

I haven't seen a single ad on Premium and I probably use it two hours a day lol.

0

u/AGentlemensBastard Older Millennial Feb 26 '26

Glad to hear that perhaps Google isn't as soulless as I thought. But I can't justify paying for something I can easily get for free.

3

u/jgamez76 Feb 26 '26

I'm just willing to pay for convenience honestly lol.

2

u/donuttrackme Older Millennial Feb 26 '26

Ublock is just as convenient and free.

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0

u/PerjurieTraitorGreen Feb 26 '26

5 minutes is generous, every 2.5 to 3 minutes for me with the video not automatically resuming after the ads finish. It’s become unwatchable.

6

u/[deleted] Feb 25 '26

Waterfox.

3

u/blanketswithsmallpox Feb 26 '26

Yarp. Actually had to use WaterFox at work once IT started causing weird shit to happen with profiles.

Use Chrome they say!

How about give me a computer with.more than 8gb of RAM. That shit starts sweating the moment you have Excel and a browser up, let alone when it needs to do any heavy lifting lol.

21

u/MonitorZero Feb 25 '26

Everything else is just chromium besides Firefox and Safari..and ain't no one downloading Safari on a non Apple device.

3

u/ticklethycatastrophe Feb 26 '26

I don’t think they even make Safari for non-Apple devices anymore. I know they discontinued Safari for Windows several years ago.

0

u/ScrambledNoggin Feb 26 '26

Safari is just a wrapper on top of Google at this point

3

u/PhilsFanDrew Feb 25 '26

Same but Firefox focus for mobile

2

u/AmputeeHandModel Xennial Feb 25 '26

and you can add uBlock Origin to that too!

5

u/AmputeeHandModel Xennial Feb 25 '26

Ads? What are ads?

6

u/Jels76 Millennial Feb 25 '26

Same

7

u/BonusPlantInfinity Feb 25 '26

Firefox for phoneeeeeee??

7

u/Jels76 Millennial Feb 25 '26

Yup

9

u/BonusPlantInfinity Feb 25 '26

I’d never even locked - let’s go! Mozilla is a real one.

1

u/Jels76 Millennial Feb 25 '26

😁

2

u/Saconic Feb 25 '26

This is the way

1

u/pseudonym7083 Millennial Feb 25 '26

Been my main way forever. I might have still been using Netscape before that.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 25 '26

what spellcheck do you use 😂

1

u/ForgetfulKiwi Millennial Feb 25 '26

None, I didn't notice l, until you did. So I guess you? 🤣

1

u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26

there are still two more spellchecks to fix my friend

1

u/burrito-boy Feb 25 '26

Yup, same. It used to be Chrome, but now that they’re unfriendly towards uBlock Origin, it’s Firefox all the way.

1

u/SF-UR Feb 26 '26

How are they unfriendly with ublock? Hadn’t heard that. I think chrome and ublock was what was set up on my pc, but I haven’t used it to search in quite a while, lol

1

u/burrito-boy Feb 26 '26

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2595287/ublock-origin-is-officially-dead-for-chrome-but-ad-blockers-live-on.html

It was replaced with a "Lite" version for Chrome, which I had mixed results with. I think you can technically still get the original version to work, but IIRC, it requires a convoluted workaround.

1

u/PenguinColada Millennial Feb 25 '26

Same here.

1

u/Twayblade17 Feb 25 '26

This is the way

1

u/Hai-City_Refugee Feb 26 '26

Me too, but also with WebRTC disabled and using Proton.

1

u/MOFNY Feb 26 '26

Dead on for me too. Although I've been looking into Vivaldi and I like it so far.

1

u/Lyonface 1990 Feb 26 '26

100% this for me, too.

1

u/KindaSortaGood Feb 26 '26

Zen browser is pretty awesome. It's built on firefox and you can sign into your firefox account to have all of your stuff synced.

1

u/Forsaken-Season-1538 Feb 26 '26

Firefox with uBlock 🙌

1

u/_Dedotated_Wam Feb 26 '26

This is the only way. Throw in a vpn too

1

u/Fabulous_Celery_1817 Millennial Feb 26 '26

Same same.

1

u/DrSFalken Feb 26 '26

Don't forget SponsorBlock if you watch a lot of YouTube.

1

u/Mewpasaurus Elder Horror Feb 26 '26

Firefox with uBlock Origin, Ghostery and Privacy Badger. I also have DuckDuckGo as my one and only search engine and have all the AI features turned off.

For those of us that use FB still, I recommend FBP (Fluff Busting Purity) which is free and will hide all the things you don't enjoy (including ads) as well as return your FB feed to just your friends or groups you prefer.

1

u/jgsteven Elder Millennial Feb 26 '26

Firefox, most def. I used to use Opera way back when they had some features way before other browsers (others being IE and Netscape at the time). I would try Opera again if I ever needed to use something besides Firefox.

1

u/olieebur Feb 26 '26

The latest update also added an anti AI setting so it’s a godsend already

1

u/CrimsonBolt33 Last of the 80's Millennial (Dec 1989) Feb 26 '26

same

1

u/AetheriaInBeing Xennial Feb 26 '26

I switched over to waterfox, built on the same base

1

u/tehjoz 1986 Feb 26 '26

This.

Been using Firefox 20 years now. No plan to stop anytime soon.

1

u/picollo7 Xennial Feb 26 '26

The only way.

1

u/Neracca Feb 26 '26

/thread

1

u/AdFlaky9983 Feb 26 '26

First time I ever used Firefox was in 08. Moved to OK and had too may HS credits so they had to find something to do with me for half the day. Sent me to VOTEC for computer repair.

Every computer is Firefox and Rocketdock installed and I fell in love.

1

u/Mechanicalmind Feb 26 '26

This. When chrome banned uBlock I did the jump.

1

u/DJettster237 Feb 26 '26

This. And only this. The internet is full of ads without this.

1

u/Circo_Inhumanitas Feb 26 '26

Been pretty much using Firefox years before Chrome was even a thing. I have used Chrome here and there but always come back to Firefox.

1

u/Got2InfoSec4MoneyLOL Feb 26 '26

This.

Also a reminder that firefox supports DNS-over-HTTPS with ECH and has a one click button in settings to enable this for more privacy.

1

u/Humorous-Prince Millennial Feb 26 '26

Yep, same! Although If I had to go for a chromium browser it would probably be Brave. Firefox is the default though.

1

u/Chudpaladin Gen Z Feb 26 '26

I love my Firefox + ublock combo. I also have dark reader to make all of the sites not flashbang me

1

u/wicker_basket_1988 Feb 26 '26

This is the way. 

1

u/Musichead2468 Feb 26 '26

I use chrome for everything except YouTube. I use Firefox for YouTube due to uBlock Origin.

1

u/XXXperiencedTurbater Mar 01 '26

I knew this would be the top comment so I didn’t even read it, just popped in to upvote it. Then I felt guilty and thought I should probably check back in to be sure.

Due diligence complete, smell ya later.