2037853 - browser.translations.enable=false no longer disables Firefox Translations

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(Firefox :: Translations, defect)

Description

[aoia7rz7l]

Tested on Nightly 152.0a1(2026-05-06) BuildID 20260506210744.

Prerequisite:

browser.translations.enable is set to false.

STR:

Open about:preferences#general > Language and Appearance > Translations.

Expected Behavior:

All translation-related controls are disabled when browser.translations.enable is set to false.

Actual Behavior:

The Translations section in about:preferences#general remained available. When I navigate to about:preferences#ai, the Translations option under the On-device AI section is Blocked.

Last good revision: b22cdedecc102f117eb51d64b96054717efe472d
First bad revision: 70fdc2cedd50963efe5c787bee42fcf76aa75699
Pushlog: https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/pushloghtml?fromchange=b22cdedecc102f117eb51d64b96054717efe472d&tochange=70fdc2cedd50963efe5c787bee42fcf76aa75699

Comment 1

[BugBot [:suhaib / :marco/ :calixte]]

The Bugbug bot thinks this bug should belong to the 'Firefox::Translations' component, and is moving the bug to that component. Please correct in case you think the bot is wrong.

Comment 3

[Erik Nordin [:nordzilla]]

Attachment: attempt-to-reproduce.mp4

Hi aoia7rz7l, thanks for filing this.

I am unable to reproduce.

I've attached a video showing that Full-Page Translations (both the URL-bar button and the Application Menu item), about:translations, and about:settings#ai all appropriately react to browser.translations.enable being set from true to false, and then back to true.

---

Would you be able to record a video showing in which ways it's not working for you?

Comment 4

[Erik Nordin [:nordzilla]]

Attachment: explanation.mp4

Actually, I think I've misunderstood this bug as well as Bug 2037850, which I'm submitting a fix for.

However, for this one, assuming I understand it correctly now, I'm not inclined to fix it.

The about:preferences#general Translations section does not disappear when you toggle only the pref from about:config, but it does correctly disappear if you use the AI Controls user interface.

This is expected behavior. Direct pref flips in about:config are not directly supported. That is why we have a large "Proceed with Caution" warning before allowing users to enter about:config.

I've attached a video showing this behavior.

Comment 5

[Erik Nordin [:nordzilla]]

For now I am going to close this as INVALID since the behavior works as expected through the official UI, and only fails when modifying the pref directly from about:config.

Please feel free to comment further if I misunderstood anything.