We're calling on all EU-based Mozillians with iOS or iPadOS devices to help us monitor Apple’s new browser choice screens. Join the effort to hold Big Tech to account!

Avatar for Username

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

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Firefox (79) for macOS keeps launching on its own

  • 1 reply
  • 1 has this problem
  • 8 views
  • Last reply by soundsgood

soundsgood
soundsgood
more options

I'm on a Mac, and Safari is my default browser. But for a few years, I've used Firefox several times a week as needed. When I'm not using Firefox, I typically quit it.

For the last 2-3 days, Firefox has started launching spontaneously. I'll be doing something else on my computer, and suddenly Firefox appears in my dock (but it doesn't come to the forefront). The first time I saw this, I quit it immediately, but it immediately restarted. After 3 or 4 tries, it stayed quit. But a few hours later, it launched spontaneously again, and this has now happened half a dozen times.

I've run two anti-malware scans (by two, different developers), and both came up squeaky clean. I do have Firefox set to auto-update, but I've never seen this behavior before. In the past, updates were performed in the background, then when I launched Firefox, I'd be notified that it had been updated.

This auto-launch behavior is disturbing. Does anyone have any idea what's going on?

I'm running macOS Catalina 10.15.6.

I'm on a Mac, and Safari is my default browser. But for a few years, I've used Firefox several times a week as needed. When I'm not using Firefox, I typically quit it. For the last 2-3 days, Firefox has started launching spontaneously. I'll be doing something else on my computer, and suddenly Firefox appears in my dock (but it doesn't come to the forefront). The first time I saw this, I quit it immediately, but it immediately restarted. After 3 or 4 tries, it stayed quit. But a few hours later, it launched spontaneously again, and this has now happened half a dozen times. I've run two anti-malware scans (by two, different developers), and both came up squeaky clean. I do have Firefox set to auto-update, but I've never seen this behavior before. In the past, updates were performed in the background, then when I launched Firefox, I'd be notified that it had been updated. This auto-launch behavior is disturbing. Does anyone have any idea what's going on? I'm running macOS Catalina 10.15.6.

All Replies (1)

soundsgood
soundsgood Question owner
more options

(NOTE: I attempted to enable the "Share data" option, but as I view my post, I don't see any indication that it worked. If there's a way to add that info after the fact, and if it would be helpful, let me know, and I'll be happy to add it.)