Firefox has been freezing on me for about 2.5 months. I have uninstalled and re-installed it several times, most recently one week ago, and have also uninstalled and reinstalled Java, because I initially thought that was the issue.

The freeze most often happens when I take my computer out of sleep mode, but for the last two weeks, it has started happening while I have been actively using my browser for several hours.

Unlike other users posting here, I cannot open a new Firefox window. Instead I must restart my system. Before I do that, I use task manager to close Firefox, but even after TM has closed it, my system still reads FF as running. Consequently, when I try to open a new window I get a message that Firefox is already running. So I have to restart, and then restore my session in Firefox.

I initially thought it was a problem with my home wifi, but I have traveled a lot this summer and used wifi all over the country with the same result. Freezing, shutdown, restore.

Since I have the most current version of FF, the update hasn't helped my system. The problem has been much worse today, after the most recent Microstoft security update. Could Microsoft security be contributing to this issue?

thanks for any feedback

Hi ayudame, since your freezes happen during active use and your post-sleep freezes have a different behavior (not just the content inaccessible), could you start a new question and include your OS version and add-on information? You can do that here:

https://support.mozilla.org/questions/new/desktop/fix-problems

Also, if you use the Ghostery extension, be aware that there is a known freeze/crash issue with some recent versions and an update available: https://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery/topics/very_high_cpu_usage_and_memory_utilization_with_ghostery_5_0_1_for_firefox

I've been having similar issues with Firefox 23. Ever since the update, anything I do freezes my brower. If I use a webbased instant messaging, the brower freezes, if i click open a new tab the browers freezes, if i go on another site, using an existing tab, the browers freezes. Now granted, at least for me the freeze is only a 5 second or less thing, but it's still no less annoying then other users.

I first I thought it may have been a virus on my computer, but after running two different virus & malware scan, I found my computer to be clean. So I can only point it to being one thing & that's an issue with the latest firefox update, because I have ZERO issues & running smoothly with the previous verison of firefox, but as soon as I updated the brower(which was less than 5 days ago), all this freezing started to happen.

AustinFan,

I think you would be better starting your own thread by using

1. /questions/new
   • please attempt to follow the prompts to include full troubleshooting information
2. if you wish post back in this thread once you have done that others may wish to follow your progress.

I am having this problem with FF 24.

Hi FF_User9182, are you having the problem that after waking Windows from sleep, your Firefox tabs are blank and although you can switch between them, nothing appears for a very long time (longer than most people are willing to wait)?

Hi jscher2000, the browser freezes/hangs when resuming from sleep/hibernate. The only way for me to fix it is by rebooting. If I close and try reopen the browser it still doesn't work.

Problem confirmed here, and it started the moment I updated Mac OS 10.8.3 to 10.8.5 . From that moment on FF (v24 or earlier) would not recover from a computer lid-closing sleep. Would not respond to mouse clicks or keyboard entries.

Using Time Machine, I just restored the MBPro to OS 10.8.3 and the sleep and freeze issue is completely gone.

All other applications, including Safari, were fine under 10.8.5, but FF hated it.

Similar results anywhere else?

Hi tuckfoot, I think all the previous posters were reporting an issue with Windows. You may have uncovered something new. Unfortunately, freezing, hanging, or extreme slowness typically do not generate the kinds of signatures created by crashes, so they are harder to investigate. Perhaps it would be a good idea to start a new question and include the OS version in the subject so that other Mac users can join in the discussion?

This link will take in you into the "new question" flow. Keep scrolling down past the suggestions to complete the 3-step process:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/new/desktop/fix-problems

Jscher 2000, posting using Mac in the heading, or searching for such threads is also not very functional. I try to seek specific threads having to do with FF25 & Mac, yet I get mainly posts (like this), dealing with Windows, so this is yet another dysfunctional aspect of dealing with FF. I get the freezing, leaps of CPU Usage, unresponsive script windows, etc, every time I take my desktop iMac out of sleep, and constantly as I use Firefox during the day, even when Activity Monitor shows little RAM or CPU Usage, which makes no sense.

I've done most of the troubleshooting & workarounds, empty the cache constantly, don't have flash going on on multiple windows, etc., yet it still acts like it just doesn't want to work right, and this has been going on for update after update after update....

It is quite exasperating, and even when the unresponsive script window opens & I hit the stop button, it still continues trying to load it, another instance of dysfunction. I'm about at the end of my rope, as with each update, I hope this thing will finally work well, but alas, it won't....

Hi StevenCee, I looked at your past questions and didn't see one with Mac in the subject line. I did find your February question, which sounded similar: Every time I go to use Firefox, I have to wait until I can do anything.

Have you tried running in Firefox's "Safe Mode" for a few hours to see whether that has any effect? That's a standard diagnostic tool to bypass interference by extensions (and some custom settings). More info: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode.

You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using

Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

In the dialog, click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Reset)

Any difference?

I didn't say my questions had Mac in the subject line, I said when searching for threads relevant to my using a Mac, it was difficult wading through all the ones concerning Windows, even though I used Mac in my search query...

I'll try the safe mode, however, my major beef with the concept of certain extensions or add-ons being at fault, is that if this were actually the case, then WHY NOT LET EVERYONE KNOW which ones are the customary culprits, and then, why even offer them if they foul up everyone's usage of Firefox? To have every individual user, no matter their level of computer expertise, have to painstakingly troubleshoot issues many people have, seems to me, quite irrational & a huge waste of time, for many less experienced users, can even do more damage messing around with all the various checks & procedures....

If certain add-ons run up RAM & CPU Usage, then warn people, or don't offer them. But we're constantly told about how much better we'll enjoy FF, by using this & that & adding this & that, etc.... Then when we have problems, it's always "disable all add-ons", etc.... it seems insane to me.

Hi StevenCee, I understand what you're saying about extensions. This is a problem with any marketplace of third party software, that sometimes extensions that test out perfectly well at the time they're posted will later turn out not to work correctly, or to cause problems, in other environments. The user reviews and reports on the web often provide better information about late-breaking problems and previously unnoticed interactions than Mozilla is able to learn in its testing.

Anyway, the goal of trying Safe Mode is to see whether that solves the problem. If it does, then we can work through extensions and the other differences between Safe Mode and regular mode. It might be just one extension, but for a problem that occurs intermittently or over several hours, this is the fastest way to learn whether we should even be paying attention to them at all.

Well, I tried it in Safe Mode, with all add ons disabled, and it actually behaved worse.... At some point FF just stop responding to everything I tried to do. It wouldn't even close, I had to force quit it via my activity monitor, so something is definitely buggy...

Plus, whether I have add ons enabled or not, when a page pops ou the non-responsive script window, even if I hit to stop the script, it just carries on as if I hit the continue button, so it matters not what I do...

Still no resolution to this. I am on FF 25.0.1 and still experiencing this problem.

Thanks for the update, FF_User9182. I'd been wondering if 10.8.5 was worth a try with FF 25.0.1, but I see it's still broken. For now I'll just stay in 10.8.3 until I see word that it's been fixed. Thanks again.