Latest Firefox issues

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  • Revision id: 18550
  • Created:
  • Creator: Michael Verdi
  • Comment: Let people know their personal data won't be removed if they delete and reinstall firefox
  • Reviewed: Yes
  • Reviewed:
  • Reviewed by: Verdi
  • Is approved? Yes
  • Is current revision? No
  • Ready for localization: Yes
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  • Readied for localization by: Verdi
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This article lists the latest issues and their solutions for people who have just updated to the latest version of Firefox.

Firefox crashes when I close a tab or hit the back button

Apple released Java SE 6 Update 29 on November 9th. This installs the Java Applet plugin 14.0.3. Closing or navigating back from a page that uses Java will cause Firefox to crash. Until we find a solution, disabling this plugin will prevent Firefox from crashing:

  1. Click the menu button Fx89menuButton, click Add-ons and themes and select Plugins.
  2. Find the Java Applet plugin 14.0.3 plugin in the list and then click its Disable button. You do not need to restart Firefox for the changes to take effect.

Firefox crashes when I start it

This could be due to the Trusteer Rapport software, often used by banks or other financial institutions. Stopping the program from running will make Firefox stop crashing. Here's how:

  • Quit Firefox completely (including any Crash Reporter windows).
  • Click on the Windows Start menu, go to All Programs, Trusteer Rapport and select Stop Rapport

For more see the Trusteer support site.

If you don't have Trusteer Rapport installed, you may instead have a problem in your Firefox install. Try deleting the Firefox program folder and then reinstall Firefox (your bookmarks, history, saved passwords and preferences will NOT be removed):

  1. Delete the Firefox installation folder which is located here by default: C:\Program files\Mozilla Firefox. For 64-bit versions of Windows, it may instead be located at: C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox.
  2. Use Internet Explorer to download and install a new copy of Firefox from mozilla.org/firefox - see How to install Firefox on Windows for more help.
Note: If neither of these solutions work, see Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly) for additional help.

Firefox crashes when I start it

This could be due to the Trusteer Rapport software often used by banks or other financial institutions. Stopping the program from running will make Firefox stop crashing. Here's how:

  1. Quit Firefox completely (including any Crash Reporter windows).
  2. Click on the Apple Menu and select System Preferences...
  3. In the System Preferences window, click on Rapport and then select Stop Rapport

For more see the Trusteer support site.

If you don't have Trusteer Rapport installed, you may instead have a problem in your Firefox install. Try deleting and reinstalling Firefox (your bookmarks, history, saved passwords and preferences will NOT be removed):

  1. Uninstall Firefox by opening the Applications folder in the Finder and dragging the Firefox application to the Trash.
  2. Use Safari to download and install a new copy of Firefox from mozilla.org/firefox - see How to download and install Firefox on Mac for more help.
Note: If neither of these solutions work, see Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly) for additional help.

Firefox crashes when I start it

If Firefox began crashing on startup after you updated, try uninstalling and reinstalling it (your bookmarks, history, saved passwords and preferences will NOT be removed):

  1. Uninstall Firefox - If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it - see Install Firefox on Linux for details. If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the download page, simply remove the folder firefox in your home directory to uninstall Firefox.
  2. Use another browser to download and install a new copy of Firefox from mozilla.org/firefox - see Install Firefox on Linux for more help.
Note: If this solution doesn't work, see Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly) for additional help.

My bookmark or page icons are gone

Firefox has a default icon that it displays for websites that haven't set their own. Previously, this default icon looked like a blank document. It has been changed to look like an empty dotted square. This may give the impression that the icon is "missing."
Windows Favicons

If you use (or have previously used) popular favicon picker add-ons, you may have other related problems with having favicons show up. You can disable the relevant add-ons and restart Firefox to see if that restores favicon behavior.

My add-ons are disabled

When Firefox updates, it turns off add-ons that are not compatible with the new version. In addition, with the latest update, we made an attempt to disable add-ons that had been installed automatically by other programs (third party add-ons). Re-enable add-ons that were disabled when updating Firefox explains how to get your add-ons working again.