Firefox on Windows 10 locks on closing tabs, must hit Start button to unlock
Using Firefox on Windows 10. Firefox is up-to-date, version 59.0.2 (64-bit). Windows 10 is up-to-date. The issue is that after a small amount of time, closing a tab in Firefox starts to lock up Firefox. I can unlock it by hitting the Windows Start key. But then, sometimes the tab closes and sometimes the tab is moved to a new window.
It seems that multiple commands are queued while it is locked. If I hit the close button multiple times and the first hit locks (and I don't realize it), then when I hit the Start button multiple tabs are closed as my mouse hits are processed (or the first tab is moved to a new window, or multiple indeterminate things happen that are hard to characterize).
Hitting close tab does not always lock up. About 80% of the time it locks up.
This happens with the mouse or with touch. I am running on a Surface Pro 2017.
I have tried resetting and reinstalling Firefox. No affect. I have tried running in Safe Mode. No affect.
No other program on my machine exhibits this behaviour.
I am posting this from a different machine, so browser data gathered with the post is invalid.
All Replies (5)
Is there a reason you have not updated Firefox to the current?
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/update-firefox-latest-version?cache=no latest version 59.0.2
Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} by holding down the <Shift> (Mac=Options) key, and then starting Firefox.
A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?
Start your Computer in safe mode with network support. Then start Firefox. Try Safe websites. Is the problem still there?
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Linux+Safe+Mode Starting Any Computer In Safe Mode; Free Online Encyclopedia
As I said in my initial report, the browser is at 59.0.2. I am now posting from that browser.
The problem disappeared tonight. Closing tabs is still slow at times with a lag of up to a full second, but now doesn't seem to hang. This problem has been around for a couple of months, so I am going to check over the next couple of days to see if it stays gone.
If the problem stays gone, I will close it out.
Modified by Yaamon
OK, this problem is still here. It occurs when the PC is in tablet mode and the keyboard is removed. If you reboot the machine with the keyboard attached and keep the keyboard attached, the problem does not occur. However, if you remove the keyboard, closing tabs locks up almost immediately. Once you have removed the keyboard, even if you re-attach it, the problems stays around (albeit much less frequently when the keyboard is re-attached).
Not only does closing tabs lock, but any input---scrolling, etc. Closing tabs gives the most frequent lock-up and other inputs cause lock-ups less frequently,
The problem occurs when you restart Firefox in safe mode. It also occurs when I reboot Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. I don't know what "Safe" websites are, so I just used websites like google.com, amazon.com and finance.yahoo.com to test. Please note that starting Windows 10 in safe mode with networking has been incredibly time consuming (to get it back to non-safe mode again also), so I hope it will be worth it.
Hi, yes you did go to safe sites. Please try this : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-hangs-or-not-responding Always :
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/export-firefox-bookmarks-to-backup-or-transfer
Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.
Firefox is having trouble with Windows events and is locking up in the Windows event loop. Trying all that is a waste of time.
Plus, Firefox doesn't bring up the soft keyboard automatically in tablet mode and this has been a long standing issue since the new Firefox came out.
It doesn't look to me like Firefox is all that functional on Windows tablets and Mozilla is not showing much interest in fixing this. I have switched back to Edge.