Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems
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- Creator: Tonnes
- Comment: Fix grammar in line 2, an outdated link, and use ‘panel’ in all cases
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Some problems with Firefox are caused by extensions or themes. This article will help you determine whether an extension or theme is causing your problem and, if it is, describe how to make Firefox run normally again.
Table of Contents
Start Firefox in Safe Mode
When you start in Firefox's Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode, all extensions are temporarily disabled and the default theme is used. This will help determine whether an extension or theme is causing your problem.
Click the menu button , click
, select and click in the Restart Firefox in Troubleshoot Mode? dialog.firefox -safe-mode
You may need to specify the Firefox installation path (e.g. /usr/lib/firefox).
- When the Firefox Safe Mode window appears, press the button .
After Firefox starts in Safe Mode, test for your problem.
The problem still occurs in Safe Mode
If your problem persists in Safe Mode, it is not being caused by an extension or theme. Other possible causes could be plugins or changes made to Firefox preference settings, which are not disabled in Safe Mode.
- For additional troubleshooting suggestions, see Troubleshoot and diagnose Firefox problems, Troubleshoot issues with plugins like Flash or Java to fix common Firefox problems, and Reset Firefox preferences to troubleshoot and fix problems.
The problem does not occur in Safe Mode
If your problem did not occur in Safe Mode, it is most likely because of an extension or theme. Continue following the steps in this article to determine whether an extension or theme is causing your problem.
Switch to the default theme
If you are using a theme other than the default Firefox theme:
- Click on the menu, and select . The Add-ons window appears.
- In the Add-ons window, click the panel.
- Select the default theme, then click the button, to make Firefox switch to that theme.
- Click .
After you restart Firefox, test for your problem. If it no longer occurs, the theme you were using was causing it. If it still occurs, continue following the steps in this article.
Disable all extensions
To determine whether a faulty extension is causing your problem, you can disable all of your installed extensions:
- Click the menu and then select . The Add-ons window appears.
- In the Add-ons window, click the panel. The list of installed extensions appears.
- Click the name of an extension the list to select it.
- Click to disable the selected extension.
- Repeat for each of the other extensions in the list.
- Click .
After you restart Firefox, all extensions will be disabled. Test for your problem.
- If the problem still occurs with all extensions disabled, it is most likely that the localstore.rdf file in your Firefox profile is corrupt. You can Reset toolbars and controls to resolve the problem.
If the problem no longer occurs with all extensions disabled, one of your extensions was causing it. To find the extension that was causing your problem, continue as follows:
Test for faulty extensions
To determine which of your disabled extensions was causing your problem, you can re-enable each extension one at a time.
- Click the menu and then select . The Add-ons window appears.
- In the Add-ons window, click the panel. The list of installed extensions appears.
- Click the name of an extension the list to select it.
- Click to enable the selected extension.
- Click .
After you restart Firefox, test for your problem. If the problem comes back, the extension you just enabled was causing it.
After you find the extension that was causing your problem, disable or uninstall the faulty extension and re-enable the other extensions in the Add-ons window.
Updating themes
If an installed theme was causing your problem, it may have an update available that will fix it:
- Click on the menu and then choose . The Add-ons window appears.
- In the Add-ons window, click the panel.
- To check for updates for installed themes, click .
- If updates are found, install them by clicking .
- When the installation is complete, click .
After Firefox restarts, your themes will be updated. If the theme that was causing your problem had an update, re-enable it and test for your problem again.
Updating extensions
If an extension was causing your problem, it may have an update available that will fix it:
- Click the menu and then choose . The Add-ons window appears.
- In the Add-ons window, click the panel.
- Click .
- If updates are found, install them by clicking .
- When the installation is complete, click .
After Firefox restarts, your extensions will be updated. If the extension that was causing your problem had an update, re-enable it and test for your problem again.