All drop-down menus stop working after a while in Firefox 27.0.1, - restart fixes problem, but it always returns - very annoying! Any solution?
Question: All drop-down menus stop working after a while in Firefox 27.0.1, - restart fixes problem, but it always returns - very annoying! Any solution?
I'm using Firefox 27.0.1 on Windows 8 (64 bit) on an Aspire E1-571 laptop. I've looked through other questions concerning drop-down menus - these seem to find the problem on web-sites. This also happens to me, but it's a more general problem, because it also happens when I want to bookmark a page, and try to use the drop-down menu to select a folder to save the bookmark. When I have a lot of tabs open, restarting obviously means that I lose all those pages.
As I note in the original question, up to now, restarting Firefox solves the problem temporarily. But it has happened to me several times when in the middle of ordering goods on a website; suddenly I am unable to select any options e.g. for delivery.
Have used Firefox for many years, and don't want to change. But I might have to if this problem keeps recurring.
All Replies (2)
Try Firefox Safe Mode to see if the problem goes away. Firefox Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that turns off some settings and disables most add-ons (extensions and themes).
(If you're using an added theme, switch to the Default theme.)
If Firefox is open, you can restart in Firefox Safe Mode from the Help menu by clicking on the Restart with Add-ons Disabled... menu item:
If Firefox is not running, you can start Firefox in Safe Mode as follows:
- On Windows: Hold the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
- On Mac: Hold the option key while starting Firefox.
- On Linux: Quit Firefox, go to your Terminal and run firefox -safe-mode
(you may need to specify the Firefox installation path e.g. /usr/lib/firefox)
Once you get the pop-up, just select "'Start in Safe Mode"
If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, and you need to figure out which one. Please follow the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article to find the cause.
To exit Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.
When you figure out what's causing your issues, please let us know. It might help others with the same problem.
Thank you for your reply, but it doesn't really solve my problem.
As noted above, restarting Firefox always solves the problem, whether in normal or "safe" mode. Because the problem only happens occasionally, I could conceivably run Firefox in safe mode for a whole day without it happening. This would however not prove that the problem doesn't occur in safe mode.
The main problem is that it happens when I am in the middle of a process such as ordering goods online. e.g. last week, towards the end of the ordering process, there was a drop-down menu to select "where to leave parcel if out". It wouldn't work. Examining the source-code showed that the correct HTML was there, but Firefox just wouldn't let it work as expected. Restarting the browser was not an option, since I would lose everything in the order process. (I had already input my credit card number, and couldn't start again.)
Similarly, when I had around 6 or 7 tabs open, and I wanted to bookmark some of the sites. Firefox wouldn't let me select a folder to save the bookmark using the drop-down menu. Restarting meant I lost all the sites which were open at the time, which rather defeats the object. (I had to write down the url's in order to remember them!)
I am waiting to see when the problem re-occurs, and whether the drop-down menus stop working on websites AND on Bookmarks at the same time.