HI, Certain Firefox problems can be solved by performing a Clean reinstall. This means you remove your Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox. This process does not remove your Firefox profile data (such as bookmarks and passwords), since that information is stored in a different location.

To do a clean reinstall of Firefox, please follow these steps: Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.

1. Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from this page) and save the setup file to your computer.
2. After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (or open the Firefox menu and click the close button ).
3. Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default:
   • Windows:
     • C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
     • C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
   • Mac: Delete Firefox from the Applications folder.
   • Linux: If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it - see Install Firefox on Linux. If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder firefox in your home directory.
4. Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:
   1. Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
   2. Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.

More information about reinstalling Firefox can be found here.

WARNING: Do not use a third party uninstaller as part of this process. Doing so could permanently delete your Firefox profile data, including but not limited to, extensions, cache, cookies, bookmarks, personal settings and saved passwords. These cannot be easily recovered unless they have been backed up to an external device! See Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.

Please report back to say if this helped you!

Thank you.

I did exactly as you said and deleted folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox. Then I installed the latest Firefox. Upon the completion of the installation, Firefox started by itself, yet the same problem persisted - unable to right click and open a link in a new tab. Any more suggestions?

Hi vistamandan, what happens when you right click a link? Is the Open Link in New Tab item missing, or when you click it, Firefox... opens the link in the same tab? or does nothing at all??

If you have a mouse with a scroll wheel, you also can try clicking the link with the wheel ("middle click") to send the link to a new tab.

When I right click the mouse and select "open in new tab" I get an attempt but nothing happens. The tab shows the page for a millisecond, then closes immediately. I tried clicking with the wheel on top of the mouse and the same thing happens. Really lost here. Chrome works fine but I prefer FireFox.

vistamandan said

When I right click the mouse and select "open in new tab" I get an attempt but nothing happens. The tab shows the page for a millisecond, then closes immediately. I tried clicking with the wheel on top of the mouse and the same thing happens.

That's pretty extreme. What about right-click > Open Link in New Window (or Shift+clicking the link). Do new windows also close immediately?

Do you use any add-ons that block pop-ups? Sometimes they could cause immediate tab or window closure.

You can view, disable, and often remove unwanted or unknown extensions on the Add-ons page. Either:

• Ctrl+Shift+a (Mac: Command+Shift+a)
• "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
• type or paste about:addons in the address bar and press Enter/Return

In the left column of the Add-ons page, click Extensions.

Then cast a critical eye over the list on the right side. Any extensions Firefox installs for built-in features are hidden from this page, so everything listed here is your choice (and your responsibility) to manage. Anything that seems related to pop-ups or tabs? Anything you just do not remember installing or why? If in doubt, disable (or remove).

Any improvement?

can right click and open in new window but not in new tab. I had to find an older version of Firefox 52.9.0 (64bit) on all of my computers running Windows 7. I don't know what else to do and I have tried everything. I have had the same add-ons and it just started when FireFox updated itself automatically. Now I don't let it do that anymore. Really bugs me. I always let FireFox update itself. Not any more unless someone can come up with a solution. Thanks for your advise.

Pkshadow said

HI, Certain Firefox problems can be solved by performing a Clean reinstall. This means you remove your Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox. This process does not remove your Firefox profile data (such as bookmarks and passwords), since that information is stored in a different location. To do a clean reinstall of Firefox, please follow these steps: Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.

1. Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from this page) and save the setup file to your computer.
2. After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (or open the Firefox menu and click the close button ).
3. Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default:
   • Windows:
     • C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
     • C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
   • Mac: Delete Firefox from the Applications folder.
   • Linux: If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it - see Install Firefox on Linux. If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder firefox in your home directory.
4. Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:
   1. Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
   2. Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.

More information about reinstalling Firefox can be found here. WARNING: Do not use a third party uninstaller as part of this process. Doing so could permanently delete your Firefox profile data, including but not limited to, extensions, cache, cookies, bookmarks, personal settings and saved passwords. These cannot be easily recovered unless they have been backed up to an external device! See Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles. Please report back to say if this helped you! Thank you.

This did NOT work and still have same problem.

I suggested you review your add-ons and you said they haven't changed. I think you need to rule out add-ons as a factor. If you prefer, you could test in Firefox's Safe Mode. In its Safe Mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.

If Firefox is not running: Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox. (On Mac, hold down the option/alt key instead of the Shift key.)

If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
• (menu bar) Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

and OK the restart.

Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).

Any improvement?

jscher2000 said

I suggested you review your add-ons and you said they haven't changed. I think you need to rule out add-ons as a factor...

Yeah, I bet it's an add-on. He said 'they haven't changed'. Probably meaning he's got the same ones, nothing added, nothing taken away. If an add-on/Extension auto-updates, that could be the problem at the time his FF updated, eh?

~Pj