Firefox won't launch/open
I accidentally hit ctrl+shift+Q, which closed FireFox 58 (edit: may have been Firefox 57.x). When I tried to start it again, it upgraded to 58.0.1, but won't launch a window. I can see it in the task manager as a background process, but I can't get it to start. No error message is displayed.
Things I have already tried:
- Reviewing the KB article and other help posts
- Restarting the computer
- Uninstalling Firefox and reinstalling (both 58.0.1 and previous version 58)
- Removing/renaming the existing profile folders (eliminates risk of add-ons causing problems)
- Downloading and running Firefox Portable (won't start either)
- Starting Firefox in safe mode by holding shift or by "firefox -safe-mode" (still won't start)
- Checking Windows event viewer (no related messages)
UPDATE1: Running Windows 10 in "safe mode with networking" I'm able to load Firefox without any problems, but not in normal mode. UPDATE2: Downgrading to Firefox 57.0.4 "fixed" the problem. Firefox 58.x is broken for me. :(
Modified by kayvon
All Replies (8)
It appears that https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1202880 is suffering from the same issue.
You could be seeing this bug:
- bug 1433065 - Firefox 58 is not loading any pages (including about: pages)
(please do not comment in bug reports
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/page.cgi?id=etiquette.html)
You can try the current 59.0 beta build to see if that solves the problem for you:
See also:
- [/questions/1201882] Firefox will not load pages after latest update
Nope. The "steps to reproduce" on the bug show that they can open a Firefox window, which is more than I can do. The "see also" you've referenced is also about a navigation problem once Firefox is running.
I can't get Firefox to open a window. This is a different issue.
It is possible that the window opens, but is off screen.
Can you open the system menu via Alt+Space?
You can try to rename/remove xulstore.json and if present delete localstore.rdf in the Firefox profile folder with Firefox closed.
- C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
"AppData" (XP: Application Data; Mac: ~/Library; Linux: ~/.mozilla) is a hidden folder.
Modified by cor-el
No, the window is definitely not opening at all.
I have tried renaming/deleting the files you've mentioned, but it doesn't help. That's expected, of course, because I mentioned that this didn't work either:
- Removing/renaming the existing profile folders (eliminates risk of add-ons causing problems)
Removing the folders entirely didn't help, even starting with a completely clean slate.
Boot the computer in Windows Safe mode with network support to see if that has effect in case security software is causing problems.
cor-el said
Boot the computer in Windows Safe mode with network support to see if that has effect
I appreciate you're trying to help, but your last two solutions suggest you haven't read through my entire question. That's another item I've listed in my update posted 24 hours prior.
I have seen a few other cases of this in the office place, which matches some of the questions filed by others on this support forum. Still holding out hope for an answer beyond the troubleshooting steps attempted in the original question.