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Release DateDecember 8, 2026
Release OwnerDianna Smith
Corresponding ESR releases 153.5.0
Nightly cycle length4 weeks
Beta cycle length4 weeks
Milestones
Deadline to request manual QA

QA has been informed via a Jira ticket (Functional, Nimbus/Remote delivery or Embedded QA) about features needing manual testing — more on how to file a Jira ticket here. Test Plans and Cases also require the technical documentation, which should be attached to the ticket.

October 9
In 32 weeks
Deadline to request accessibility engineering review

Accessibility engineering review has been requested (using the a11y-review flag on Bugzilla) for new (or significantly redesigned) UI that requires assessment to determine whether it is accessible to people with disabilities.

October 9
In 32 weeks
Nightly starts

The first day of the cycle is Merge Day. After merging mozilla-central to mozilla-beta, we bump the nightly version number on mozilla-central and a new development cycle starts for Firefox. A new Firefox Nightly is shipped every 12 hours.

October 12
In 32.5 weeks
Build ready for QA

Features with a QA request are ready for testing to assess feature quality and provide a formal test report by the end of Week 2 of the nightly cycle.

October 23?
In 34 weeks
QA Test Plan approval due

The QA team appreciates an earlier sign-off from the project teams. The approval milestone will be the final deadline for any feature Test Plan sign-offs. No feedback/sign-off on QAs Feature Test Plan could result in misalignment on testing scope, incomplete test coverage and invalid bugs.

October 23
In 34 weeks
Draft beta release notes

A draft document was created and shared internally with stakeholders to prepare our final release notes for general availability. This document initially contains a copy of our public beta release notes shipping the week after and will be enriched during the beta cycle with media and final copy.

November 4
In 35.5 weeks
String Freeze starts

In order to ensure that our localizers have adequate time to translate strings, please make sure that all string changes have landed by end of day.

November 6
In 36 weeks
QA pre-merge regression testing done

QA assess build readiness for shipping to Beta by running a set of Regression test cases and shares a test report.

November 6
In 36 weeks
Merge day

This is the day in the release cycle when we merge mozilla-central into mozilla-beta. This is the end of the development cycle for Firefox 158 and the beginning of our Beta stabilization cycle.

November 9
In 36.5 weeks
Beta 1

Rolled out to 50% of our beta population. Some experimental features are still activated to watch their behavior on a wider population. These experimental features will be deactivated mid-cycle.

November 11
In 36.5 weeks
Beta 2

First automated beta of the cycle. It is rolled out to 100% of our beta population. Build starts at 13:00 UTC.
Stabilization work via uplifts.

November 13
In 37 weeks
SUMO content creation

User affecting changes were identified and provided to the support.mozilla.org team. The support content for this release can now be created and will be translated before RC week.

November 13
In 37 weeks
Beta 3

Build starts at 13:00 UTC. Stabilization work via uplifts.

November 16
In 37.5 weeks
Beta 4

Build starts at 13:00 UTC. Stabilization work via uplifts.

November 18
In 37.5 weeks
Beta 5 Last early beta

On a regular 4 weeks beta cycle, Beta 5 is the last beta with experimental features still activated. Build starts at 13:00 UTC. Stabilization work via uplifts.

November 20
In 38 weeks
Beta 6

Build starts at 13:00 UTC. Stabilization work via uplifts. Experimental features are no longer activated at compile time.

November 23
In 38.5 weeks
SUMO content localization

New content on support.mozilla.org team is finalized, uploaded to the server and provided to our localization teams internationally.

November 23
In 38.5 weeks
Beta 7

Build starts at 13:00 UTC. Stabilization work via uplifts.

November 25
In 38.5 weeks
Pre-release QA sign-off

A week before the final sign-off, QA shares preliminary test reports for each feature riding the train. This pre-release sign-off can be Green, Yellow or Red.

November 25
In 38.5 weeks
Beta 8 Security bugs uplift request deadline

Build starts at 13:00 UTC. Stabilization work via uplifts.
Last security bugs uplifts for this release (sec-approval+ on Bugzilla).

November 27
In 39 weeks
Beta 9

Build starts at 13:00 UTC. Stabilization work via uplifts.

November 30
In 39.5 weeks
Release notes submission deadline

All release notes for Firefox were added to the draft document or communicated directly with the release manager. Illustrations such as screenshots and videos were provided. Final Release release notes are created by the release manager on firefox.com.

December 1
In 39.5 weeks
Beta 10 Last beta uplifts

On a regular 4 weeks beta cycle, this is the last beta and thus the end of beta uplifts. Build starts at 13:00 UTC.

December 2
In 39.5 weeks
Release Candidate Go to build

We merge our mozilla-beta repository to mozilla-release and close mozilla-beta until the next merge day. We then build our Release Candidate from mozilla-release. This is the build we intend to ship a week later unless we need to build another Release Candidate to fix a major quality or business critical issue.

December 2
In 39.5 weeks
Release Candidate Release notes finalized

Our Release Candidate is built and available for testing.

December 2
In 39.5 weeks
Release day!

We ship Firefox 158 at 14:00 UTC (6AM PST) at 25% rollout.

December 8
In 40.5 weeks
Potential Android dot release

One week after the release, we evaluate shipping an Android dot release to address identified issues. We can also enable new features on a on a case by case basis if they are suitable for uplift. The decision on shipping or not this dot release for Android is on the release management team.

December 15
In 41.5 weeks
Planned dot release

Two weeks after the release, we ship a desktop and/or an Android dot release to address identified quality issues with safe fixes ready. We can also enable new features on a on a case by case basis if they are suitable for uplift. We may have to ship other dot releases before that date. If this is the case and post-release quality issues are already fixed and shipped, the decision on shipping or not the planned dot release is on the release management team.

December 22
In 42.5 weeks
Milestones
158.0 branch is created

The firefox-v158.0 branch is created from the main branch. version.txt is bumped to 158.1 on main. Any further code change for the 158.0 release now requires an uplift request.

November 27
158.0 release candidate is created

The 158.0 release candidate is created based on the firefox-v158.0 branch. This build might contain additional uplifts. Additionaly, the 157.3 release is tagged as shipped.

November 27
Preliminary QA sign off on 158.0

QA gives a preliminary sign off on 158.0. If it is green, we push the build to the External Beta Testers group. Otherwise, the dev team fixes the issues reported by QA, uplift them to the release branch and we build another Release Candidate.

November 30
Final QA sign off on 158.0 Release notes ready

QA gives its final sign off on 158.0. If the sign off is red, the dev team fixes the issues reported by QA, uplift them to the release branch and we build another Release Candidate.

December 1
158.0 sent to Apple Store

We submit 158.0 for review to the Apple Store. If we don`t have a working build by the end of the day, we may not ship this week.

December 1
158.1 branch is created

The firefox-v158.1 branch is created from the main branch. version.txt is bumped to 158.2 on main. Any further code change for the 158.1 release now requires an uplift request.

December 4
158.1 release candidate is created

The 158.1 release candidate is created based on the firefox-v158.0 branch. This build might contain additional uplifts. Additionaly, the 158.0 release is tagged as shipped.

December 4
158.0 is shipped

158.0 is shipped on the Apple Store at 3:00 AM UTC with a phased 7 days rollout:
Monday: 1%, Tuesday: 2%, Wednesday: 5%, Thursday: 10%, Friday: 20%, Saturday: 50%, Sunday: 100%.

December 7
Preliminary QA sign off on 158.1

QA gives a preliminary sign off on 158.1. If it is green, we push the build to the External Beta Testers group. Otherwise, the dev team fixes the issues reported by QA, uplift them to the release branch and we build another Release Candidate.

December 7
Final QA sign off on 158.1 Release notes ready

QA gives its final sign off on 158.1. If the sign off is red, the dev team fixes the issues reported by QA, uplift them to the release branch and we build another Release Candidate.

December 8
158.1 sent to Apple Store

We submit 158.1 for review to the Apple Store. If we don`t have a working build by the end of the day, we may not ship this week.

December 10
158.2 branch is created

The firefox-v158.2 branch is created from the main branch. version.txt is bumped to 158.3 on main. Any further code change for the 158.2 release now requires an uplift request.

December 11
158.2 release candidate is created

The 158.2 release candidate is created based on the firefox-v158.0 branch. This build might contain additional uplifts. Additionaly, the 158.1 release is tagged as shipped.

December 11
158.1 is shipped

158.1 is shipped on the Apple Store at 3:00 AM UTC with a phased 7 days rollout:
Monday: 1%, Tuesday: 2%, Wednesday: 5%, Thursday: 10%, Friday: 20%, Saturday: 50%, Sunday: 100%.

December 14
Preliminary QA sign off on 158.2

QA gives a preliminary sign off on 158.2. If it is green, we push the build to the External Beta Testers group. Otherwise, the dev team fixes the issues reported by QA, uplift them to the release branch and we build another Release Candidate.

December 14
Final QA sign off on 158.2 Release notes ready

QA gives its final sign off on 158.2. If the sign off is red, the dev team fixes the issues reported by QA, uplift them to the release branch and we build another Release Candidate.

December 15
158.2 sent to Apple Store

We submit 158.2 for review to the Apple Store. If we don`t have a working build by the end of the day, we may not ship this week.

December 17
158.3 branch is created

The firefox-v158.3 branch is created from the main branch. version.txt is bumped to 159.0 on main. Any further code change for the 158.3 release now requires an uplift request.

December 18
158.3 release candidate is created

The 158.3 release candidate is created based on the firefox-v158.0 branch. This build might contain additional uplifts. Additionaly, the 158.2 release is tagged as shipped.

December 18
158.2 is shipped

158.2 is shipped on the Apple Store at 3:00 AM UTC with a phased 7 days rollout:
Monday: 1%, Tuesday: 2%, Wednesday: 5%, Thursday: 10%, Friday: 20%, Saturday: 50%, Sunday: 100%.

December 21
Preliminary QA sign off on 158.3

QA gives a preliminary sign off on 158.3. If it is green, we push the build to the External Beta Testers group. Otherwise, the dev team fixes the issues reported by QA, uplift them to the release branch and we build another Release Candidate.

December 21
Final QA sign off on 158.3 Release notes ready

QA gives its final sign off on 158.3. If the sign off is red, the dev team fixes the issues reported by QA, uplift them to the release branch and we build another Release Candidate.

December 22
158.3 sent to Apple Store

We submit 158.3 for review to the Apple Store. If we don`t have a working build by the end of the day, we may not ship this week.

December 24
158.3 is shipped

158.3 is shipped on the Apple Store at 3:00 AM UTC with a phased 7 days rollout:
Monday: 1%, Tuesday: 2%, Wednesday: 5%, Thursday: 10%, Friday: 20%, Saturday: 50%, Sunday: 100%.

December 28