Cannot set Firefox as the default browser in Windows 10
I have recently upgraded my Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10 and basically everything seems to be working fine. Except for the fact that Win10 won't get Firefox as the default browser in the system... It started when I noticed that nothing happens when I click on links in email messages on Outlook. After I checked a few things, I also got to change the defualt browser to Chrome and the links worked. That's when I realized that there is something wrong with Firefox on Win10 in this matter.
I have tried everything that has to do with setting Firefox as the default browser in the system, including going through the Settings of Windows, going through the Settings of Firefox, setting default files and protocols in the system, but nothing helps except for re-installing Firefox. If doing that once would have solved the issue once and for all, I would have settled for that of course, but that's the "solution" after EVERY reboot of the OS!
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Hi TheCuBeMan. I have also upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 so I know what you are going through. The good news is Mozilla released Firefox 40 today. This version was desingned and optimized for Windows 10 when V. 39 and below were not. So that is where I would like to start in trying to fix the problems that you are having.
You can click on the three horizontal lines in the top right, then click on the question mark at the bottom of that menu, then click on "About Firefox". After that Firefox will download the update. After that is done click on restart Firefox. Then you will have Firefox 40 and you should no longer have problems with links in Outlook.
If you would like to see the article on updating Firefox click here.
Because it can be hard to change the default browser in Windows 10 click here for a step by step guide
I hope this fixes everything for you. If you need any more information or if this does not fix the problem for you please feel fee to contact me.
It's funny, I keep following Firefox updates for new versions (unrelated to the specific problem here, but in general), and the one time that I missed a new version they released was now... :)
Anyway, it's starting to look like upgrading to version 40 did the trick and it does refer to issues with Windows 10, but I'll give a day or two to be sure.
Thanks!
Unfortunatelly, even upgrading to verion 40, which is supposed to be supported better on Windows 10, didn't help eventually and I still have the issue with setting Firefox as the default browser. Today, I even upgraded to 40.0.2 and I still have the problem. What more can I do about this??
Hi TheCuBeMan, I'm sorry to hear that updating Firefox did not fix the problem. As a sanity check there are a few more things that we should try before we start going really in-depth under the hood. If you have taken these steps please let me know.
First you should completely remove Firefox and reinstall it. Windows 10 has a weird thing about its directory and how many programs it can take from the previous version and work completely with other programs. Follow these steps to completely remove and reinstall Firefox.
Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.
1) Download the latest official version of Firefox from mozilla.org. 2) Exit Firefox:
Click the menu button then click Exit (it is the "power button") .
3) Uninstall Firefox from your computer.
4) Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default:
(32-bit Windows) C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
(64-bit Windows) C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
5) Reinstall Firefox - see How to download and install Firefox on Windows for instructions.
Now start Firefox and check to see if your problem has been fixed.If it hasn't, continue with the next troubleshooting method.
If that didn't work then the next step is to scan your system for viruses and spyware.
Periodically, you should scan your system for viruses, spyware, or other malware. These free malware removal tools are often useful:
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Free
for more information Mozilla has an article dedicated to fixing Firefox problems caused by malware. You can find it here.
Statistically your problem should be fixed by now. If it is not fixed let me know. We will get it fixed and we will start looking under the hood to get Firefox working properly for you.
I may have found another lead for resolving this situation... As I said, the links from Outlook didn't work when I set Firefox as the default browser in the system and so on... Suddenly, it hit me to test this kind of links also on other email programs and I happen to have also Windows Live Mail 2012 installed. Everything was fine with the links in messages received in this program, which led me to the thoery that maybe something is wrong with Outlook and not Firefox. Right now, I am already two days after re-installing Office ("repair") and so far so good (knock on wood). I'll give it a few more days and update here accordingly. Thanks!!