I like Firefox, but not being able to get any help from Mozilla is very frustrating.

You've posted here 3 times in the past 2 years. The last two times you were offered support, solutions were proposed but you never responded. You have been receiving assistance. You just failed to provide an update.

1. How to get rid of this Firefox Account nonsense

If you haven't signed for a Firefox account, then you can just ignore it. It won't activate the account if you haven't clicked the confirmation link. You can check to see if you are logged in and then "disconnect" if you are. Go to about:preferences#sync and check to see if you have a Sync profile loaded.

It also took three resets of a password and retrieval of a username to get this far to be able to ask a question. In my experience uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox is no help because all of its previous settings and setup come back with any reinstall

That seems like user error to me. The first part. Uninstalling and re-installing Firefox doesn't do anything. It just un-installs the main Firefox application whilst leaving your profile data alone in case you wanted to install Firefox again.

2. Is there a way to uninstall Firefox so that ALL of it including settings, add-ons, plugins, preferences -- EVERYTHIG is eliminated?

When you are in the uninstall wizard of Firefox, check the box that says "Remove all personal information" or similar and Firefox will uninstall your profile data as well as your extensions/plug-ins/bookmarks/passwords, etc.

See:

• https://accounts.firefox.com/settings

Mr. Moses: I am sorry that you are annoyed by my problem and feel you need to be critical instead of helpful. Not all users of Firefox are familiar with its every detail -- especially if all one does with it is to browse, without frills and extra features desired. As for any prior posts I may have made I do not remember them, but if I did not respond, it was most likely because I gave up rather than try to answer -- it has taken me another half hour to find the way to finally give you an answer this time. I tried many times and your server kept rejecting the password -- which I had to change several times this morning. And no, I was NOT misspelling it. Ultimately the server accepted it and so here you are. 1. I have no idea what you mean by or how to get to the "about:preferences#sync" item and what I should do with it if I do find it. 2. Every time I start the offending copy of Firefox, there is a colored warning next to the triple line menu icon which tells me to verify my email. It will apparently not go away until I verify -- which I will not do. 3. You are correct about user error. I foolishly assumed that when I wish to uninstall something, it will go away, lock, stock and barrel. I obviously missed the item about uninstalling the leftovers. 4. Your original reply included a second section which was a hyperlink -- it has since disappeared -- but when I followed it, it did not lead me to any useful information. 5. If you are able not to react in a hostile manner, I would be very grateful for a simple set of instructions on how to undo this Firefox Account (which I do not remember setting up in the first place) and eliminate the permanent warning to verify my email. If it requires the full uninstall as you explained, please say so and I will try to follow your instructions. You are entitled to your opinion, but kindly grant me the same courtesy; the method of communicating with Mozilla seems cumbersome and complicated. There is no need for anger or condescension. I have a doctorate -- but alas, it is not in programming. A. Saunders

Rokahaszn said

1. I have no idea what you mean by or how to get to the "about:preferences#sync" item and what I should do with it if I do find it.

That is the direct internal address to the Sync section of the Options page. You can select it, copy it, paste into the address bar and press Enter to load it. Or you can use this method:

"3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Options

In the left column, click Sync.

Can you disconnect your Firefox there from the partially created Firefox Account?

If you want to start fresh, create a new Firefox profile. A new profile will have your system-installed plugins (e.g., Flash) and extensions (e.g., security suite toolbars), but no themes, other extensions, or other customizations. It also should have completely fresh settings databases and a fresh cache folder.

Exit Firefox and start up in the Profile Manager using Start > search box (or Run):

firefox.exe -P

Don't delete anything here!

Any time you want to switch profiles, exit Firefox and return to this dialog.

Click the Create Profile button, assign a name like Clean2016, and skip the option to relocate the profile folder. After creating the profile, select it and start Firefox in that profile.

This article describes some data you might want to migrate from the old profile to the new one: Recovering important data from an old profile.

jscher2000: Your post made more sense than anything else I have seen, but it still leaves much that I have yet to hear about. I am getting the impression that this "sync" thing has become a part of Firefox that cannot be gotten rid of, and they even stopped harassing me to verify my email and the "sync" tab is staring at me mockingly every time I open the menu. Apparently my only choice is never to establish any sync items or ever to sign in to sync, which is what I am going to do. The rest of your post is "inside-baseball" gobbledygook for someone like me who is not fully engaged or educated in the inner workings of Firefox, and who wants nothing more from Firefox than the ability to do a web search or read a webpage I am interested in. The rest of the "improvements" are not only of no interest to me, they are a source of confusion, obfuscation and annoyance. As far as I know I have no "important data" anywhere in Firefox -- a browser has never been something I thought of as keeping important anything in, so that will not be a problem. Thank you very much for taking the time to post a response.

For many years Mozilla has used different login databases for each of its separate sub-domains (Support, Addons, etc) and other features. IOW, everything the user wanted to do or access that is under the Mozilla domain needed a separate registration and "account" - each of them was started at different points in time and no one person thought to 'combine' them all under one login database as they were being instituted. Some of us used the same username and password for all of them as they were setup initially (that didn't combine they at all, but made it easier to remember with the same data for all), but most people didn't think of doing that every time they registered for something new to them.

I had hoped that Persona would bring them all together so that Mozilla / Firefox users would only to login once and be able to access all Mozilla sub-domains and services. But that didn't happen with Persona, which is almost defunct now with no new accounts being accepted.

Now it looks like Mozilla is going to use "Firefox Accounts" for "everything" in bits and stages. I must have missed a Mozilla blog posting about the change over to Firefox Accounts for Addons. And it looks like some of us who have been around here for a long time might be a bit confused - I know I was less then an hour ago when I went to login to the Addons website and was redirected to a Firefox Accounts login page.

Sorry for the confusion, but it appears that a Firefox Account will be necessary going forward to access the various features in Firefox and to access many parts of Mozilla services.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/access-mozilla-services-firefox-accounts

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/access-your-add-ons-firefox-accounts

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1119609

Note the accounts created on https://support.mozilla.org/ is only used on https://support.mozilla.org/ and not shared with any other Mozilla sites.

Rokahaszn said

I am getting the impression that this "sync" thing has become a part of Firefox that cannot be gotten rid of, and they even stopped harassing me to verify my email and the "sync" tab is staring at me mockingly every time I open the menu. Apparently my only choice is never to establish any sync items or ever to sign in to sync, which is what I am going to do.

You can remove that item from the menu: just right-click the unwanted button and that's one of your choices. For more layout control, use the Customize feature. See: Customize Firefox controls, buttons and toolbars.

The rest of your post is "inside-baseball" gobbledygook for someone like me who is not fully engaged or educated in the inner workings of Firefox, and who wants nothing more from Firefox than the ability to do a web search or read a webpage I am interested in.

It's a recipe for a fresh start. If you don't need a fresh start, disregard the recipe. While my writing can always use some improvement, until you actually try following it, I think it's a little unfair to call it "gobbledygook."

Well, it seems I just can’t win with these Mozilla sites. I wrote a reply to Jscher200, but before I could post it, it – poufff! – disappeared. Now I am composing in Word, so that I can copy and paste and not lose my text. To Jscher2000: I must learn to be more sensitive to the personal feelings of those who try to help me. My use of the word “gobbledygook” was by no means a criticism leveled at you, but an attempt to describe my failure to understand technical details which experts like you take for granted. It was a poor choice of words, and I have no intention of biting the hand that feeds me. Sorry. I also failed to explain the menu item mocking me. It is not a button, but a box at the bottom of the menu drop-down with the text “Sign in to Sync.” When right-clicked it only shows “Add more items,” and no option to delete. Below this is another similar box with a “+” sign followed by “Customize” then a question mark and finally the power symbol. I have not done anything with this on the principle that anything I try to improve things invariably makes things worse. Finally, just as a matter of possible interest, it took me more than a dozen tries before this site finally accepted my password (copied and pasted, no question of misspellings) so that I was able to compose this reply. And then the text disappeared before I could post it. So now I am trying again, copied and pasted, and safely saved in Word. R.

Thank you for the reply, I understand now. Also, I see now that the Sign in to Sync is not a normal button that can be removed. Someone else who hated that button created an add-on just for that:

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/hide-sync-in-menu/

I haven't tried it myself.

To James: I discovered that the top line link in your post shows me my own post. Must be a protocol on this site. As for the rest of the post, I can state that this site is the only one I ever try to get to to ask for help. I know nothing of other Mozilla accounts or sites, and shudder to think of the amount of aggravation I would encounter trying to get onto any others -- it takes many, many tries before this particular site even accepts my password so that I can see and reply to any posts. I am sure your explanation was well meant, even if it did not address the question with which I began this thread. Thanks.

To cor-el: Your post consisting of a one line hyperlink and no explanations leads to a page entitled "Firefox Accounts" on which one may apparently change various items of one's profile. I do not have any need to change any of the offered items. Furthermore, once on this page, one is apparently trapped, since there is no "next" or other means of going anywhere else except to sign out. While this page may be of use to someone, I am afraid I am not able to either use or understand what it is supposed to do for me. Sorry.

To "the edmeister" Just to let you know -- I haven't a clue what you are talking about regarding closing threads. If you mean my question about Sync, I only posted that a few days ago, so what you are talking about regarding old threads and edited threads and what-not, makes no sense whatsoever. You are apparently the all-powerful pooh-bah who can shut off discussions. Is it a popular and enjoyable cat-bird seat you sit in? Or can anyone join and play whack-a-thread? I am getting the uncomfortable feeling that after many years of using Firefox it may be unavoidable to investigate Chrome. Warm regards, R.

Regarding moderation: You started a new question about problems accessing your existing question, which is why it was locked with a link to this thread, which is normal here to avoid duplication of discussion on the same problem: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1119609

Yes, it also was a general complaint about the forum software, so that could be raised separately.

Rokahaszn said

I am getting the uncomfortable feeling that after many years of using Firefox it may be unavoidable to investigate Chrome.

If you have never tried Chrome, you may want to try it some time. If you are heavily invested in the Google product ecosystem, for example, using Gmail + Docs + Drive, you may find its integration useful. But if the conduct of moderators on the respective support forums is the main consideration, good luck with that.

To jscher 2000 It has been a sadly disappointing series of communications regarding what I began thinking would be something that a single reply would solve. The only respondent who seemed interested in assisting has been jscher2000, although since even under that user name there are references which make it hard to tell if I am communicating with a single respondent or with several people under one user name. Stating that the responses are not understood by me, and after what seemed a proliferation of irrelevant posts, I am now being personally threatened after making what I thought were some light-hearted observations in response to incomprehensible actions which WERE not, and ARE not explained. Interestingly enough the unfriendly posting by whoever "moses" is was not considered inappropriate, Failure to understand is also the case with the first segment of jscer2000's final posting "regarding moderation." It is time for me to conclude participating, since I am certainly not learning much in any case. If jscher2000 is an actual person rather than a mix of several respondents, he has my thanks. While his last observations in reference to Chrome may well be true, the main point I was making is that I no longer feel comfortable with Mozilla. I am certain that my departure from this forum will not be missed. And I guarantee that I will not miss having to try fourteen times before I can sign in to the forum. One threat is enough, and I am not prepared to waste my time to be in conflict with anyone. Thanks to those who tried to help and goodbye to all. This time I am the one closing the thread and will neither read nor respond to any further posts. R.

Closed by request of the "owner".