Latest Firefox issues

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  • Creator: Michele Rodaro
  • Comment: Changed User Agent Switcher link: Deleted "en-US" to detect the add-on page in the right locale
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  • Reviewed by: Swarnava
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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 on certain websites

There may be some websites that cause a crash in Firefox when hardware acceleration is turned on. To work around this issue, use these steps to turn hardware acceleration off:

  1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and then select Preferences or Settings, depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button Fx89menuButton and select Settings.
  2. Select the Advanced panel
  3. Select the General tab
  4. Uncheck Use hardware acceleration where available.
  5. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit. Start Firefox normally.

For more information, see Upgrade your graphics drivers to use hardware acceleration and WebGL

Pressing Enter in the address bar doesn't work

The AVG Safe Search extension is causing an issue where pressing Enter when trying to go to a website does not work. You have to click the green go arrow instead. Until this is resolved you can work around this issue by disabling the extension:

  1. Click the menu button Fx89menuButton, click Add-ons and themes and select Extensions.
  2. Click Disable button next to the AVG Safe Search extension to disable it.
  3. Click Restart Firefox.

For more information, see Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems.

Websites say I need to update Firefox but I'm on the latest version

Some websites incorrectly see the latest version of Firefox as version 1 instead of 10. We are working with websites to get them to fix this. In the meantime you may just be able to ignore the message. If, as a result, the website doesn't work correctly, you may be able to restore it's functionality by disguising Firefox as another browser temporarily. To do that:

  1. Go to the User Agent Switcher add-on page.
  2. Click the green Add to Firefox button and install the add-on.
  3. Click Restart Now.
  4. For Windows 7 and Vista, press the Alt key to bring up the old-style menu bar at the top of the Firefox window.
  5. Go to the Tools menu, down to Default User Agent and then select Edit User Agents....
    user agent switcher
  6. In the User Agent Switcher options window, click New and select New User Agent...
  7. In the User Agent window, add a description (for example, Firefox 9), change the last number of the user agent from 10.0 to 9.0.1 and then click OK.
    user agent switcher 3
  8. Next, go back to the Tools menu, down to Default User Agent and this time select the new user agent that you just created.
    user agent switcher 4
  9. Finally, reload the page and it should work normally.

Websites say I need to update Firefox but I'm on the latest version

Some websites incorrectly see the latest version of Firefox as version 1 instead of 10. We are working with websites to get them to fix this. In the meantime you may just be able to ignore the message. If, as a result, the website doesn't work correctly, you may be able to restore it's functionality by disguising Firefox as another browser temporarily. To do that:

  1. Go to the User Agent Switcher add-on page.
  2. Click the green Add to Firefox button and install the add-on.
  3. Click Restart Now.
  4. Go to the Tools menu, down to Default User Agent and then select Edit User Agents....
  5. In the User Agent Switcher options window, click New and select New User Agent...
  6. In the User Agent window, add a description (for example, Firefox 9), change the last number of the user agent from 10.0 to 9.0.1 and then click OK.
  7. Next, go back to the Tools menu, down to Default User Agent and this time select the new user agent that you just created.
  8. Finally, reload the page and it should work normally.

The Forward button is missing

In old versions of Firefox, the Forward button was always visible. If there wasn't a page to go forward to, the button was grayed out (inactive). Now, instead of showing a Forward button that doesn't do anything when you click it, the Forward button is hidden until you have a page to travel forward to. For more info, see:

Firefox release notes

Check the known issues section of the release notes for a list of minor problems.

Firefox crashes on startup

The latest version of Firefox fixes problems that caused it to crash when you start it. Please download and reinstall Firefox to fix it:

Note: If you are still having problems with Firefox crashing after installing the latest version, see Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly) for additional help.

Icons missing in the Bookmarks menu

This issue has been fixed in the latest Firefox. Please update Firefox or download and install the latest from mozilla.org/firefox.

Icons (favicons) for bookmarks in the Bookmarks menu may be missing after updating to Firefox 9. To restore them:

  1. Type about:config in the address bar and press EnterReturn.
    A warning page may appear. Click Accept the Risk and Continue to go to the about:config page.
  2. In the filter section type, image.mem.decodeondraw
  3. Double-click the entry that results to change it's value to "False"
    Fix Favicons
  4. Close the tab

Yahoo Messenger in Yahoo Mail doesn't work

This issue has been fixed in the latest Firefox. Please update Firefox or download and install the latest from mozilla.org/firefox.

There is an issue in the latest Firefox that causes the Yahoo Messenger available in Yahoo Mail to not work. This issue will be fixed in the next Firefox release (Jan. 31, 2012). Until then you can workaround the issue like this:

  1. At the top of the Yahoo Mail window click Options and select Messenger Options.
  2. In the dropdown menu, set your Messenger conversation window to be displayed as Tab. Then click OK.
  3. Then open the Messenger options again and switch the Messenger conversation window to be displayed as a Small Window. Then click OK.

Unfortunately, if you sign out you will have to repeat these steps.

Netflix streaming doesn't work

There is an issue with certain Macs running Mac OS X 10.6 that causes Netflix streaming to not work in Firefox. You can work around the problem by running Firefox in "32-bit mode." To do that:

  1. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  2. Open your Applications folder and locate the Firefox application.
  3. Click on Firefox once to select it and then press command + i on your keyboard to open the information window.
  4. In the Firefox information window, check the box next to Open in 32-bit mode.
    32bit Mac
  5. Close the information window and restart Firefox

Using the Firebug add-on can cause Firefox to crash

This issue has been fixed in the latest Firefox. Please update Firefox or download and install the latest from mozilla.org/firefox.

Under some conditions using the Firebug add-on causes Firefox to crash. This issue will be fixed in the next Firefox release (Jan. 31, 2012). You can fix this issue before then by switching to Firefox Beta or Aurora.

Firefox 9 release notes

Check the known issues section of the release notes for a list of minor problems.

Warning: You're using an insecure version of Firefox. To keep your computer and personal information safe, please update to the latest version of Firefox.

In addition to keeping your computer and personal information safe, the latest version of Firefox contains fixes for many issues that were a problem in earlier versions. See the release notes for more info.