Fix login issues on websites that require a username and password
Revision Information
- Revision id: 15746
- Created:
- Creator: AliceWyman
- Comment: "CA Personal Firewall" subsection renamed "CA Internet Security" and fixed bad link.
- Reviewed: Yes
- Reviewed:
- Reviewed by: scoobidiver
- Is approved? Yes
- Is current revision? No
- Ready for localization: No
Revision Source
Revision Content
If you find that you cannot log in to a website that requires a username and password, follow the steps described in this article.
- If you can log in to a website manually, but cannot save or use saved usernames and passwords, see Usernames and passwords are not saved.
Table of Contents
Enable cookies for the website
Make sure that cookies are enabled for the site in question:
- In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click and then select or , depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button and select .
-
Select the
panel and go to the History section. - In the drop-down menu next to Firefox will, choose .
- Make sure Accept cookies from sites is selected.
- Make sure Accept third party cookies is selected.
- Third-party cookies and Firefox tracking protection can cause problems with some websites. Enable this setting to rule it out as a cause for your problem.
- Click .
- Make sure the site you're trying to access isn't listed.
- If it is listed, click on its entry, then click .
If you changed any settings, try logging in to the site again.
Clear history for that site
The cookies and temporary data already stored on your computer may be causing the problem. Delete them, then test for your problem:
- Click the menu button to open the menu panel. Click and then click the bar at the bottom to open the Library window.
- At the top right corner, type the name of the website you wish to forget in the Search History field, and press EnterReturn.
- In the resulting list, right-clickhold down the Ctrl key while you click on the site you wish to forget, and select .
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- Close the Library window.
Clear all cookies and the cache
If deleting cookies for the site with the problem did not fix the error, clear all the cookies stored on your computer and clear the Firefox cache:
- Click the menu button to open the menu panel.
- Click and select
- In the Time Range to clear: drop-down, select Everything.
- Below the drop-down menu, select both Cookies and Cache. Make sure other items you want to keep are not selected.
- Click .
Check Extensions and Plugins
Some extensions can cause problems with logging in to websites, especially extensions associated with certain websites. For example:
- If you cannot log in to Yahoo! and you use a Yahoo! Toolbar extension, try disabling it using the instructions in the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article, restarting Firefox and then following the steps above to clear cookies and cache again.
- If you cannot log in to Gmail and you use a Google extension, try disabling it and then following the above steps to clear cookies and cache before trying to log in again.
- Other extensions may also cause login problems. To determine if they are the cause, see: Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems.
Some plugins can also cause problems logging in to websites. See the Troubleshoot issues with plugins like Flash or Java to fix common Firefox problems article for instructions on how to determine whether a plugin is causing your problem.
Security application is blocking cookies
Some Internet security and privacy applications have features that block cookies.
ZoneAlarm
The ZoneAlarm user guide contains information on allowing cookies.
CA Internet Security
CA's Cookie Control article contains information on allowing cookies.
Remove corrupt cookies file
If you cannot log in to websites after removing the cookies associated with it, clearing your Firefox cache, and trying with your extensions and plugins disabled, and have checked security software, you may have a corrupt cookies file in your Firefox profile folder.
Open your profile folder:
- Click the menu button , click and select .From the The Troubleshooting Information tab will open. menu, select .
- Under the Application Basics section next to Profile FolderDirectory, click . A window will open that contains your profile folder.Your profile folder will open.
Note: If you are unable to open or use Firefox, follow the instructions in Finding your profile without opening Firefox.- Click the Firefox menu and select .Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select .Click the Firefox menu and select .
- Delete the cookies.sqlite file and any cookies.sqlite-journal files.
- Restart Firefox.
Includes information from Websites report cookies are disabled (mozillaZine KB)