Watch DRM-controlled content in Waterfox

Digital Rights Management (DRM) lets streaming services enforce how their content is used. Most services now use HTML5 video with a Content Decryption Module (CDM), a closed-source component that decrypts protected streams.

Waterfox supports Google’s Widevine CDM so that services such as streaming video work out of the box. The CDM is downloaded on demand rather than shipped in the build, and it runs inside a sandbox.

Caution

The Widevine CDM is proprietary software from Google, downloaded from Google’s servers. If you turn DRM playback off, Waterfox never contacts Google for it. See the Privacy Policy for the hosts involved.

Turn DRM playback off

Opting out deletes any downloaded CDMs, stops future downloads and disables DRM playback. It affects only DRM-controlled HTML5 audio and video.

Click the menu button, then select Settings.
Select Tabs and browsing.
Scroll to the Media section.
Clear Play DRM-controlled content.

Sites that rely on DRM will stop playing. Check the box again to re-enable playback; the Widevine CDM downloads automatically the next time it is needed.

Disable Widevine without opting out

You can leave DRM playback enabled but stop the Widevine CDM from running:

Click the menu button, select Add-ons and themes, then select Plugins.
Select the ⋯ button next to Widevine Content Decryption Module provided by Google Inc. and choose Never Activate.

Choose Always Activate from the same menu to turn it back on.

Supported platforms

Windows
macOS 10.11 and later
Linux, 64-bit only — Google ended 32-bit Linux support on 31 May 2021

Troubleshooting

If DRM content will not play, first confirm that Play DRM-controlled content is checked under Tabs and browsing → Media, and that Widevine is set to Always Activate in the Plugins panel.

Toggle DRM off and on again

Clear Play DRM-controlled content, then check it again. This makes Waterfox re-download and reload the DRM components, which resolves most cases of a corrupted or partial CDM.

Check for interfering software

Some privacy and anti-tracking applications block the CDM or the licence request it makes. Avast AntiTrack is a known example. Temporarily disabling such software will tell you whether it is the cause.

Reset the user agent

If you have changed your user agent, some services will refuse to serve DRM streams. Reset general.useragent.override in about:config by right-clicking it and selecting Reset.

Adapted for Waterfox from the original Firefox article Watch DRM content on Firefox. Original content by Mozilla Contributors. Licensed under the CC BY-SA 3.0.