Proxy Toggle is a new browser extension for the Firefox web browser that adds HTTP and Socks proxy support with authentication to Firefox.

You may run the Firefox web browser with and without a proxy. Firefox supports HTTP, SSL, FTP and Socks proxies by default which you may all set using the Connection Settings which you find on aboutreferences#general.

Firefox supports automatic proxy configurations and proxy DNS when using Socks v5 on top of all that. Setting a proxy may be mandatory or optional. Several VPN providers offer proxy servers for instance that customers may use.

Proxy Toggle

Proxy Toggle's main purpose is to quickly between using a proxy to connect to the Internet and directly connecting to it.

The extension adds an icon to Firefox's address bar that you may click on with the left mouse button to toggle between both states.

You need to add a proxy, HTTP,. HTTPS, Socks4 or Socks5, in the options of the extension to start using it this way.

The fields that you need to fill out depend on the type of proxy that you select. If you select a plain HTTP proxy, all you have to fill out are the host name and port. A Socks5 proxy on the other hand accepts username and password as well, and you may enable remote DNS on top of that.

The extension skips proxies for local network addresses automatically, but uses a proxy for all other addresses.

What's particularly interesting about Proxy Toggle is that it adds Socks5 authentication support to Firefox, something that Firefox does not support out of the box (correct me if I'm wrong on this one).

Closing Words

Proxy Toggle is a simple extension for Firefox. It requires that you pick a proxy type and set up the proxy before you may use the extension. Once that is out of the way, you may toggle proxy use with a click on the extension icon.

Handy if you need to switch between the two states regularly, for instance while using Firefox at work and at home, or if you need to use functionality that Firefox does not support out of the box.