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Firefox not loading tabs from last session
A few days ago I set up my laptop from scratch after a long time of not using it. In the process, I set up Firefox Sync to link it to my desktop's browser. This is the only thing I have changed recently. However, after rebooting my laptop, I noticed that whenever I closed the browser and reopened it, it would not restore my previous tabs. Of course the options are set to restore my tabs from last time. Even the manual options to restore my previous session from the history menu are greyed out. And perhaps more bizarre of all, when I click the 'x' button to close the browser, I have to click it twice to close it - clicking it once does nothing. Firefox is the only application experiencing this odd issue.
I thought it was just my laptop and decided it was too much of a headache to worry about for now, since I rarely use that. I've been going about my business as usual on my desktop for the past few days with no issue...until I booted up my computer this morning and found the same situation. None of my tabs (and I had numerous tabs across multiple tab groups that I've been using with no problems for months!!), when I close and reopen the browser it still doesn't remember what was open when I closed it, and once again I have to click the close button twice for it to take. The 'restore session' options in the history menu are once again greyed out.
Everything else appears fine - all my add-ons are still there, and it's still recording my history when I open new pages and close the browser. It's just not restoring the tabs. This is extremely frustrating to me as someone who ALWAYS has several tabs open at any given time. At least on my desktop, Firefox says it's up to date, so that shouldn't be an issue (I thought maybe a browser update could fix it). Is there anything I can do to fix this, preferably recovering my previous sessions in the process? I lost quite a bit and I'm not too happy about that...but even if recovery is impossible, can I at least fix it so it retains my session history going forward? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Semua Balasan (16)
Hello,
The Reset Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information.
Note: This will cause you to lose any Extensions and some Preferences.
- Open websites will not be saved in Firefox versions lower than 25.
To Reset Firefox do the following:
- Go to Firefox > Help > Troubleshooting Information.
- Click the "Reset Firefox" button.
- Firefox will close and reset. After Firefox is done, it will show a window with the information that is imported. Click Finish.
- Firefox will open with all factory defaults applied.
Further information can be found in the Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings article.
Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!
Thank you.
Use "Firefox > Exit" (Windows: Firefox/File > Exit; Mac: Firefox > Quit Firefox; Linux: Firefox/File > Quit) to close Firefox if you are currently doing that by clicking the close X on the Firefox title bar.
You can check for problems with the sessionstore.js and sessionstore.bak files in the Firefox profile folder that store session data.
Delete the sessionstore.js file and possible sessionstore-##.js files with a number and sessionstore.bak in the Firefox profile folder.
- Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Multiple_profile_files_created
Deleting sessionstore.js will cause App Tabs and Tab Groups and open and closed (undo) tabs to get lost and you will have to recreate them (make a note or bookmark them if possible).
You can reset browser.sessionstore.* prefs that are user set (bold) to the default value via the right-click context menu on the about:config page to make sure that Session Restore is enabled and working properly.
In case you are using "Clear history when Firefox closes":
- do not clear the Browsing History
- Tools > Options > Privacy > Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history": [X] "Clear history when Firefox closes" > Settings
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Clear+Recent+History
Note that clearing "Site Preferences" clears all exceptions for cookies, images, pop-up windows, software installation, and passwords.
Diperbarui oleh cor-el pada
Nothing seemed to work so I ended up resetting firefox to the default settings. I haven't even tried reinstalling my add-ons or anything yet - the first thing I did was change my options for startup to open windows and tabs from last time, open some bookmarks up, then close and reopen the browser. Every time I launch the browser, it shows me the Mozilla start page, and NOT my windows and tabs from last time. This time, the browser closes right away when I hit the 'x' button solving that unusual issue from before, but I'm still not getting my sessions restored upon relaunching the browser despite having that option selected after resetting the browser to the defaults. I'm getting quite frustrated...it's clearly not an issue with my add-ons or anything if it's still happening after a reset to defaults. Is there any way to solve this problem?
Update: I uninstalled Firefox and removed all my user preferences from my appdata folder, both local and roaming. I did a 100% clean, fresh install, AND THE PROBLEM CONTINUES TO PERSIST. Regardless of my 'show windows and tabs from last time' option, it shows my homepage on launch. Furthermore after poking around a bit it seems I am not even given the option to create tab groups!! Something is seriously wrong that I can't even comprehend. I have not changed anything on my computer in months, and firefox is the only thing I am experiencing issues with. I don't understand why I never had any issues with it until I made the apparent mistake of setting up sync...but even now that sync is turned off, and I've CLEANED MY COMPUTER of all traces of Firefox and reinstalled it, why is this still happening?! I'm getting very upset about this now. I had already switched from Chrome back in June or so back to Firefox and had been satisfied until now. I'd like to continue using firefox, but if it continues to prove problematic I'm not going to have a choice but to switch to something else...
Bump. I'd really like to know why a fresh install has not solved my problems.
Do you see a sessionstore.js file in the Firefox profile folder?
You can use this button to go to the Firefox profile folder:
- Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)
Note that Windows hides some file extensions by default.
Among them are .html and .ini and .js and .txt, so you may only see the name without file extension.
You can see the real file type (file extension) in the Properties of the file via the right-click context menu in Windows Explorer.
You can check for problems with preferences and delete a possible user.js file and numbered prefs-##.js files and rename (or delete) the prefs.js file to reset all prefs to the default value.
Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.
See "Creating a profile":
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Profile_issues
If the new profile works then you can transfer some files from an existing profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over the problem.
I had a sessionstore.js in the folder. I tried deleting it (well, I moved it to another folder so I could restore it easily) and launching firefox but noticed it did not create a new sessionstore.js even though, in options, it was still set to 'show my windows and tabs from last time'. I also tried removing prefs, and when I launched firefox it did create a new prefs.js file.
I decided to create a new profile. I deleted the old profiles and created a brand new one. Once again I tried opening some tabs and setting the options to restore my tabs from last time, and once again, it failed. I am utterly baffled by this entire experience. I PURGED FIREFOX from my machine and reinstalled it. I used the reset firefox feature. I've deleted and recreated my user profile. And yet nothing, no matter what, is allowing me to restore my tabs from last session. Despite having worked perfectly and without issue since June. I'm getting seriously fed up with this entire situation, but I don't want to switch browsers. I had switched from Chrome back to Firefox for the first time in years because of frustrations, I tried Opera which feels like a less intuitive Chrome clone, and no way do I have any desire to touch internet explorer. Firefox is the browser I want to use, but this is making it extremely difficult to do so!! I've even tried session restore add-ons, but not even those work. I CANNOT continue my most efficient workflow without restoring my previous session when launching my browser...please, is there any way to solve this problem?! I don't understand what could possibly be happening!!
I have exactly the same issue that you describe above and have tried all the remedies you and others have described, including purging all traces of Firefox from my machine. Nothing works. In addition, I have tried to reconfigure Firefox's settings in numerous ways. Nothing, so far, solves the problem. This all started when I updated to Firefox 26. My wife uses a separate computer totally unconnected with mine and she has the same issue, again after update to Firefox 26. To make matters worse, we both have the issue of Firefox failing to show bookmarks in the bookmarks toolbar at start-up. This second problem is random and periodic, with no pattern to its occurrence that I can detect. Bookmarks (but not tabs or windows) can be restored by opening a new window, where they magically reappear, and closing the original window. As this is happening on two unconnected computers, I can only assume it is a Firefox issue, and related to version 26.0
It's reassuring to see that I'm not the only one experiencing these issues...but not so much to see there's still no solution. I've tried everything but I still cannot use Firefox the way I should be able to. Please, I'd like to return to using Firefox full-time...is there anything that can be done?
Try to create a new profile as a test to check if files in your current profile are causing this problem instead of doing a reset that might transfer in issue by importing data.
See "Creating a profile":
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Profile_issues
If the new profile works then you can transfer some files from an existing profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over the problem.
A new profile was suggested earlier in this topic, and it did not solve any of the underlying problems. I tried it again just to be sure, and I'm still having the same problems no matter what I do - firefox will not under any circumstances save my session and tabs when the browser is closed and reopened. Literally nothing I have tried has been able to solve this problem that I am still baffled as to how it began (the only thing I can think of is that I never had any issues until I tried to set up Sync, but since I have created new profiles, uninstalled and completely wiped all traces of firefox from my computer since and the problem persists, I can't fathom why). Is there some sort of surefire way at least to be 100% certain I've wiped firefox and every last temporary file associated with it from my machine? I thought deleting the appdata folders would be enough before perfoming a fresh install, but clearly it has not helped. I just want to go back to using my favorite browser without having to completely format my machine in order to do so!!
I have tried all the suggestions so far in this thread and nothing has worked. Firefox has since released version 27.0 and I notice that in this version the session and tabs are restored providing the default settings are used in the options dialogue, (Privacy, history, remember history). Use any other custom setting and the session and tabs are lost on re starting the browser. In other words, some of the options within the history dialogue box are not working. Firefox is not warning me when I attempt to close multiple tabs, even though the option is ticked. The search bar on the Firefox home page is not working. Type in search terms, hit enter, and it does nothing. Opening a new window in Firefox restores the tabs in the new window, but has no effect on the search bar, which still does not function.
Firefox can only restore tabs from a previous session if a sessionstore.js file is created.
Boot the computer in Windows Safe mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) as a test to see if that helps.
Do a malware check with some malware scanning programs on the Windows computer.
Please scan with all programs because each program detects different malware.
All these programs have free versions.
Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan.
- Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php - AdwCleaner:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Removal-Tools/AdwCleaner.shtml - SuperAntispyware:
http://www.superantispyware.com/ - Microsoft Safety Scanner:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx - Windows Defender: Home Page:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx - Spybot Search & Destroy:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html - Kasperky Free Security Scan:
http://www.kaspersky.com/security-scan
You can also do a check for a rootkit infection with TDSSKiller.
- Anti-rootkit utility TDSSKiller:
http://support.kaspersky.com/5350?el=88446
See also:
- "Spyware on Windows": http://kb.mozillazine.org/Popups_not_blocked
I had the same issues in Safe Mode, but curiously, it prompted me to update the browser, which has not been happening any time I've launched it normally. I did so, and it would appear that my tabs ARE being remembered again...oddly, whatever the last focused tab was when I close the browser, it takes me to Google when I launch it up again, but it's remembering all the other tabs at least.
I had the same issues and could only get my tabs back if i clicked "recently closed windows" in the history area. When i did that it opened 3 fire fox windows, 2 blank and 1 with my tabs. I bookmarked your question in hopes of getting a real answer.
Here is where it got weird and i don't claim it will fix other's issue. I restarted our modem because of problems with another computer on our home network and the problem with my fire fox on my computer was fixed. That is all I did. Unplug the modem, wait 2 minutes and plugged it back in.
I just wanted to share my info in case this simple action may help.
I fixed it on my computer (I'm on linux btw), here's what I had to do.
- Deleted sessionstore.js
- Copied a sessionstore.bak file that was in the same folder
- Renamed the .bak file to sessionstore.js