Join the AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the Firefox leadership team to celebrate Firefox 20th anniversary and discuss Firefox’s future on Mozilla Connect. Mark your calendar on Thursday, November 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC!

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Firefox periodically quits loading pages, but it isn't a crash or a hang

  • 5 respostas
  • 4 have this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by FredMcD

more options

Firefox periodically (once every couple days, sometimes more) stops loading new pages. If I check on other tabs that had already loaded, they are now blank, and replaced with a spinning progress wheel in the center of the page (see attached image). There is no crash submission message, and no new pages will load. Other browsers work while this is happening. New tabs can be opened, and the help menu can be accessed, but pages linked from that menu fail to load like all other pages. Firefox can be closed without difficulty, and no use of the task manager is required. Closing and restarting Firefox solves the problem, but it keeps coming back.

Firefox periodically (once every couple days, sometimes more) stops loading new pages. If I check on other tabs that had already loaded, they are now blank, and replaced with a spinning progress wheel in the center of the page (see attached image). There is no crash submission message, and no new pages will load. Other browsers work while this is happening. New tabs can be opened, and the help menu can be accessed, but pages linked from that menu fail to load like all other pages. Firefox can be closed without difficulty, and no use of the task manager is required. Closing and restarting Firefox solves the problem, but it keeps coming back.

All Replies (5)

more options

Let’s do a full clean re-install; Download Firefox For All languages And Systems {web link}

Save the file. Then Close Firefox.

Using your file browser, open the Programs Folder on your computer.

Windows: C:\Program Files C:\Program Files (x86)

Mac: Open the "Applications" folder. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-download-and-install-firefox-mac

Linux: Check your user manual. If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it. See Install Firefox on Linux; https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/install-firefox-linux

If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder Firefox in your home directory. http://www.mozilla.org/firefox#desktop

===============

Do Not remove the profiles folder.

Look for, and rename any Mozilla or Firefox program folders by adding .old to them. Do not rename the Mozilla Thunderbird folder if there is one.

After rebooting the computer, run a registry scanner if you have one. Then run the installer. If all goes well, remove the OLD folders when you are done. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If there is a problem, start your Computer in safe mode and try again.

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Linux+Safe+Mode This shows how to Start all Computers in Safe Mode; Free Online Encyclopedia

more options

I've already uninstalled and re-installed, is there something to this method that doing that wouldn't catch?

more options

Using the method above would remove any contaminated files if there are any. Please do so.

more options

FredMcD said

Let’s do a full clean re-install; Download Firefox For All languages And Systems {web link} Save the file. Then Close Firefox. Using your file browser, open the Programs Folder on your computer. Windows: C:\Program Files C:\Program Files (x86) Mac: Open the "Applications" folder. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-download-and-install-firefox-mac Linux: Check your user manual. If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it. See Install Firefox on Linux; https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/install-firefox-linux If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder Firefox in your home directory. http://www.mozilla.org/firefox#desktop
===============

Do Not remove the profiles folder.

Look for, and rename any Mozilla or Firefox program folders by adding .old to them. Do not rename the Mozilla Thunderbird folder if there is one.

After rebooting the computer, run a registry scanner if you have one. Then run the installer. If all goes well, remove the OLD folders when you are done. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If there is a problem, start your Computer in safe mode and try again.

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Linux+Safe+Mode This shows how to Start all Computers in Safe Mode; Free Online Encyclopedia

Hello Fred, I have done a complete uninstall (Windows 7 user), deleted the firefox program folders, ran ccleaner for files + registry, also tried 'refresh firefox' but still no luck. After a short period of time firefox will stop loading any webpage (shows spinning blue wheel). A restart temporarily fixes the issue for only about 10 minutes or so (IE loads pages without issue when firefox stops working). Thanks for any help on this issue.

more options