• Internet Security software blocking Firefox. If you were able to load websites until you updated Firefox or until your Internet security software was updated, reconfigured or a new one was added, your Internet security software (including firewalls, antivirus programs, anti-spyware programs, and more) is likely preventing Firefox from connecting to the Internet.
• Firefox essentially won't load any pages. It doesn't even show progress in the lower-left hand corner like 'Waiting for www.reddit.com' 1. Latest update: 2019 Jul 22 ID: The Mozilla Firefox browser blocks HTTPS pages from loading if they are processed Cause By default, Mozilla Firefox doesn’t trust.

• Firefox Not Loading Anything
• Windows 10 Firefox Not Opening
• Firefox Not Loading Pages After Update
• Firefox Won't Load Websites

Firefox continues to impress reviewers and experts, who point out the browsers' efficiency, attention to detail, and impressive privacy options. That said, Firefox, just like every other browser, can experience a range of issues, from slow browsing all the way to regular crashes and everything in between.

We all use Firefox browser for daily internet surfing. But sometimes you might face the issue of “Blank Pages” in Firefox. Basically whenever you open the browser you might see a completely blank page (white screen) with either no address in the address bar or a “about:blank” written in the address bar. If you just upgraded Firefox and it can no longer open any websites but other browsers or programs can, see the Fix problems connecting to websites after updating Firefox article. If no programs can open websites, see the aptly named Firefox and other browsers can't load websites article.

Today we want to highlight the most common Firefox problems and provide you with simple fixes that anyone can use to get Firefox back to its best.

Firefox Slow & Freezes

A fox should not be slow, and fire should not freeze. So when Firefox is lagging and hanging, frustration sets in pretty quickly. Force quit is the go-to move, but that is a temporary relief that won’t solve an underlying Firefox issue.

Before we get to some specific solutions, make sure you’ve followed these basic principles:

Close unnecessary tabs and windows – Because each one, even if not being used, will take up system resources and slow your Mac down. Bookmark what you don’t need to come back to later.

Update Firefox – Updates contain bug fixes and performance improvements.

Recognize your Mac is getting old – Have you had your Mac for several years? Is everything slow, not just Firefox? Sometimes you have to acknowledge when age has caught up with it.

Now it’s time to go over some specific solutions to help Firefox problems on Mac. These will help even if your Mac is an old-timer.

Clean up Firefox (and your macOS)

If Firefox keeps freezing or is just generally sluggish, it could be the result of a browser that has too much history, cache, and other “temporary” files clinging to the ankles of your once mighty Fox. Luckily, getting rid of this extra burden is simple. Even if it doesn’t completely fix your browser speed, it will still be great for your system.

To manually clear your search history, Firefox caches and other unneeded browser files:

1. Navigate to History > Clear Recent History
2. Click on Details to reveal the full list
3. Check what you want to remove
4. Make sure “Time range” is set to Everything
5. Click Clear Now

Another way to speed up Firefox along and your macOS, in general, is to use CleanMyMac X. In a couple of quick clicks the app will find and, with your approval, remove unneeded system files from all over your macOS - including your Firefox cache and browser history.

To clean up Firefox caches, and other browser junk the easy way:

1. Download CleanMyMac X for free and run it
2. Select System Junk tab
3. Click Scan
4. Click Clean

Firefox Crashing

Foxes are elegant and agile creatures, which is to say that when there is an obstacle, they should evade it smoothly, not crash into the thing.

When Firefox doesn’t load or crashes, this makes us incredibly sad. Thankfully, we have some solutions to get Firefox back on its feet.

Identify problematic Firefox add-ons

In a terrible murder mystery, the cliché is that “the butler did it.” Well, when Firefox is crashing regularly, it’s tempting to say “the add-on did it.”

Plugins and extensions add so much to our browser experience, but they are also a common cause of problems. To start with, make sure each extension and plugin is up-to-date. Firefox even has an official plugin checker.

If everything checks out but Firefox keeps crashing, we recommend running it in Safe Mode. Update apple watch from mac. This will load Firefox without any add-ons.

To start Firefox in Safe Mode:

1. Click the Firefox menu button
2. Click Help
3. Select Restart with Add-ons Disabled

You can also launch Firefox while holding the Shift key to start in Safe Mode.

If the crashes go away in Firefox Safe Mode, then you know the butler add-on did it.

So we know that an add-on is causing the crashes, now what?

You should disable all your ad-ons and turn them back on one at a time. This way you can methodically find the guilty add-on.

To manage your Firefox add-ons follow these steps:

1. Click the Firefox menu button
2. Select Add-ons > Extensions or Appearance
3. Disable or enable as you like
4. Restart Firefox

Firefox crashes on startup

Uh-oh. Firefox won’t even start?

Don’t worry; it may seem like “the worst thing that could have ever happened to anyone” but the solution is often easier than you’d expect. Begin by holding the Shift key when launching Firefox to start in Safe Mode.

If this works then chances are you have a dodgy extension. Follow the steps from Identify problematic Firefox add-ons.

However, if Safe Mode isn’t working either, you’re going to have to uninstall and reinstall Firefox.

To manually reinstall Firefox:

1. Make sure the application is closed
2. Drag the application to your Trash
3. Empty your Trash
4. Download the latest version of Firefox for Mac
5. Install Firefox

This will repair Firefox will keeping your profile including bookmarks and settings.

An easier and safer option is to use CleanMyMac’s Uninstaller to repair Firefox with a reset:

1. Launch CleanMyMac and click on Uninstaller
2. Click on Mozilla Firefox
3. Click on a small arrow next to Firefox icon
4. Click Application Reset

Firefox not loading pages

You had one job, Firefox!

When web pages don’t open, it’s more than a little annoying, considering that’s the main task of a browser. But let’s not jump to conclusions, maybe Firefox isn’t to blame.

The first step is to open a new tab and try other sites. If they aren’t loading either, the second step would be to try another browser like Safari and see if the web pages load there.

If they do then the problem is with Firefox.

Let’s Firefix it!

Proxy problems

If you’re using a proxy server to browse the web, it could be the problem that’s stopping Firefox from loading pages. It’s easy to check, simply follow these steps:

1. Click on the Firefox menu
2. Navigate to Options > Advanced > Network
3. Click on Settings under Connection
4. Select No Proxy
5. Close options and reload web pages

Clear cookies and cache

In Clean up Firefox (and your MacOS) we covered how to clear your cache and once again it could be the solution to your Firefox problem. Also, this time we suggest also cleaning Cookies, whether using the manual methods or the easier CleanMyMac methods.

Firefox setup tips

We wanted to share a few tips to help you get even more out of your Firefox experience.

Keep your privacy intact

If you go to Preferences > Privacy > History you can use “Custom settings for history” from the dropdown. Now you can personally decide exactly what Firefox remembers.

Ask for permission

We’ve talked a lot about the problems with add-ons. A great tip is to navigate to Tools > Add-ons and from the dropdown next to each add-on, select “ask to activate”. Some people won’t like the extra step; others will love knowing exactly what their add-ons are up to.

Monitor Mozilla

If your Firefox performance is important, you could try turning on Enable Firefox Health Report by going to Option > Advanced > Data Choices. Now when you click Learn More you will see an overview of your browser’s stability and performance.

Find Text

All browsers have an option to find text on a web page but Firefox has a setting (Options > Advanced> Search for text when I start typing) that allows you to immediately type and find matching text.

Firefox Firefixed!

There you have it. Your Firefox should now be jumping, skipping, spinning…okay, I honestly have no idea what foxes do. But I do know that by using the manual solutions and quick fixes from CleanMyMac X, your Firefox browser should be stable and performing better than ever.

To keep it that way, bookmark this page for reference and be sure to follow best practices like clearing cache, closing unneeded tabs, and checking for updates.

Do all this, and your fox will remain on fire for a long time to come.

By Gina Barrow, Last updated: March 22, 2020

“I was working with Firefox browser for my research and all of a sudden, it keeps on freezing until I can no longer bear the issue and stopped for a while. Now, I’m finding ways on how to fix this annoying problem. Help!”

Mozilla Firefox has been around for a long time giving us reliable browser services. However, like most browsers, there comes a time when Firefox becomes unresponsive and keepsfreezing until the user cannot do anything but to wait or close it.

There are plenty of reasons why Firefox keeps on freezing. Maybe it has used up a lot of your computer resources, or an unresponsive script, and hanging and crashing due to other reasons.

Whatever reason you experience on your browser, one thing is for sure, this article will guide you through 5 different methods on how to resolve Firefox keepsfreezing problem. Find out which solution best fits your needs!

Part 1. 6 Methods to Fix Firefox that Keeps on Freezing Issue

We don’t know yet what happened to your Firefox browser why it’s been freezing or crashing. We are yet to find out the root causes and the possible solution you can do.

Check out these 6 different methods:

Solution 1. Restart Firefox

If you left the Firefox browser open for a long time, it may have been idled and it takes a while before it will respond. When it does not respond at all, try restarting the browser.

When your work demands that you need to open the browser for a longer time and with multiple tabs opened, then you can configure the session restore to avoid freezing in the future.

Here’s how:

1. Go to Options from the Menu button
2. Choose General and then select Restore Previous Session under Startup
3. Exit the about:preferencespage
4. All changes are saved automatically

Solution 2. Update Firefox

Another possible freezing cause is an outdated Firefox version. You must set the update automatically so you don’t have to experience any inconveniences while working with this browser.

Follow this guide on how to update your Firefox:

1. Click menu and go to Help
2. Choose About Firefox and wait for the Mozilla Firefox pop-up window to appear. It will automatically scan and check for the latest updates. If there is an update available, it will be downloaded automatically
3. Click Restart to update Firefox to apply the new version

Note: Only download the latest Mozilla Firefox update from its official website to avoid phishing and malware infections.

Solution 3. Create New Places Database

There is another scenario when Firefox freezes on random times only and not on specific actions. This could be caused by a corrupted place database.

‘Places’ actually saves information on your browsers such as bookmarks, favorite icons, input history, and browsing history.

Note: If you create a new ‘places’ database, this will remove or delete all the current browsing history and bookmarks.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the Applications Basics from your Profile folder. You can find your profile folder by clicking the menu and then Help and finally Troubleshooting Information. When a new tab opens, find Applications Basics and then click Open Folder. This will be your Profile folder
2. Next, click the menu and select Exit. Wait until the browser completely closes
3. Inside the Profile Folder, find and rename sqlite to places.sqlite.old and also rename places.sqlite-journal to places.sqlite-journal.old by right-clicking on the given file and select rename from the options.
4. Once done renaming, re-launch the Firefox browser

When you re-open the Firefox browser, it will automatically create a new ‘places’ database where the current browsing history is deleted but the browser will import the bookmarks from recent backups if there are available.

Firefox Not Loading Anything

Solution 4. Disable Hardware Acceleration

Windows 10 Firefox Not Opening

Some graphics drivers and graphics cards may cause the Firefox browser to freeze often especially when using hardware acceleration. Hardware acceleration forces some computer functions to run efficiently compared to using software on a general-purpose CPU.

By using the hardware acceleration mode, it actually decreases latencies but there are rare situations when it causes some issues like your Firefox keeps on freezing.

Firefox Not Loading Pages After Update

Follow this guide on how to disable the hardware acceleration on your computer:

1. Open Options from the Firefox menu and go to General
2. Un-mark the boxes beside Use Recommended performance settings and Use hardware acceleration when available. You can find them under Performance
3. Click Exit and wait for the browser to completely quit
4. Restart Mozilla Firefox

Observe if the freezing is still happening. Another option you can do is to update the graphics drivers to avoid freezing. You can install and update graphics drivers from the manufacturer’s website or you can use generic drivers.

Solution 5. Disable Faulty Extensions

Firefox Won't Load Websites

Mozilla Firefox usually freezes even when you are about to exit the program. You will notice that there is no more browsers opened yet you can see it on the running programs. It will cause further issues when you open Firefox browser again and will give you more error messages.

Your extensions can cause this freezing issue and become the reason why you can no longer work smoothly. You can opt to disable all the faulty extensions to ensure that Firefox won’t freeze again.

But, how do you determine a faulty extension?

1. Go to Add-ons from the Firefox menu and click Extensions
2. Find all the extensions enabled on your browser and disable all of them. You can do this by clicking on the 3-dotted icon and select Disable. These extensions will be transferred to the Disable list
3. After you have finally disabled all the extensions, exit Firefox and wait until it completely closes.
4. Restart the browser and observe if the freezing still occurs

To check which among these extensions are faulty, try to enable the extensions one by one and observe which among them is the culprit.

Solution 6: Update your Extensions

If the extension that is causing the problem is important, you can also try to update it to the latest version. Here’s how:

1. Again, go back to Extensions
2. Select the gear icon and on top of Add-ons Manager and choose Check for Updates
3. If there are available, click Install Updates
4. Close the Firefox browser and restart normally
5. Check if the problem has been resolved

Part 2. What to Do when Firefox Hangs When Playing Videos

There is another scenario that Firefox keeps on freezing when it actually plays videos, more particularly, flash videos. In this case, you can troubleshoot the flash player first and see it the issue is really caused by flash otherwise; you can precede troubleshooting Firefox with the methods we mentioned above.

Try these steps to fix the issue:

1. Stop or pause flash in other tabs if you are using multiple tabs. If needed, close the tabs as well
2. Next is to update your Flash player. You open another tab and enter about:addons on the URL bar and click Enter. Find Shockwave Flash and choose Always activate. Refresh your browser after.
3. If it is still freezing, you need to disable hardware acceleration settings in Flash. Go to Adobe Flash Player Help page. Right-click on the flash logo and select Settings. Find and click the icon on the lower left and go to the Display panel. Uncheck the box beside Enable Hardware Acceleration. Close the window and restart Firefox. Check if the issue is resolved.
4. When Firefox is still freezing, you can disable the graphics cards like how we mentioned the steps on the previous parts of this article.
5. Lastly, if the problem still occurs, you need to disable Flash protected mode. You can do this by going to Add-ons from the Firefox menu. Select Plug-ins on the left menu and click Options beside Shockwave flash. Find and tick the box next to Enable Adobe Flash protected mode in order to remove the checkmark. Exit Firefox and re-open after a few seconds to see if changes have taken effect.

By doing these steps above, you can now watch your favorite videos on Firefox without any freezing, hanging or crashing problems.

Part 3. Bonus Solution- Reinstall Mozilla Firefox

If all else fails, the last option you have is to uninstall the browser and reinstall Mozilla Firefox on your computer. This will remove all the current issues you have and reinstall a brand new Firefox.

However, you might need to customize the browser again like how you did on the previous faulty version. This means, your history and other settings will be removed. But, your freezing and crashing issues are finally fixed!

Part 4. Summary

Finally, we have resolved the Firefox keeps freezing issues using the 5 different methods. Apart from that, we also gave another solution to videos hanging and crashing when played on this browser. The next time you will experience such a problem, you know now what to do and what troubleshooting method to use.

Lastly, when you have exhausted all the troubleshooting steps above, you can choose to re-install Mozilla Firefox on your computer.

You can also send this article to your friends and colleagues who might experience the same problem!