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I'm trying to update my MAC with Firefox 5 and I downloaded it and am now trying to drag the icon into the applications folder but it won't let me.

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I'm trying to update my MAC with Firefox 5 and I downloaded it and am now trying to drag the icon into the applications folder (like it says to do for step 2) but it won't let me. It says "an older item exists, do you want to replace it?" and I put "replace" and then it says "the operation can't be completed b/c Firefox is in use" but I don't have the old version open anywhere, so I don't know what it's talking about.

I'm trying to update my MAC with Firefox 5 and I downloaded it and am now trying to drag the icon into the applications folder (like it says to do for step 2) but it won't let me. It says "an older item exists, do you want to replace it?" and I put "replace" and then it says "the operation can't be completed b/c Firefox is in use" but I don't have the old version open anywhere, so I don't know what it's talking about.

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Which version of Mac OS X do you have?

Firefox 4 and later require at least OS X 10.5 and an Intel Mac.


If you have problems with updating or with the permissions then easiest is to download the full version and trash the currently installed version to do a clean install of the new version.

Download a new copy of the Firefox program and save the DMG file to the desktop

  • Trash the current Firefox application to do a clean (re-)install
  • Install the new version that you have downloaded

Your profile data is stored elsewhere in the Firefox Profile Folder, so you won't lose your bookmarks and other personal data.