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I am having so much trouble with gmail.Google Help isn't solving my problem. There is no one to contact with my question. I alreay looked at the Help Files.

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  • Last reply by mcraft119

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Two weeks ago I started to have intermittent problems with gmail. It would work fine for a few days and then I would have problems again. I can sign on, but can only open one mail at a time, as gmail freezes. I have to sign out and sign back in again to open another mail repeatedly. I can compose a new mail but when I click <Send> the message never gets sent, so I have to sign out. The message doesn't get saved to "Draft" either.

At times I was unable to open my contact list. I looked in the Help Files and there really doesn't seem to be anything in the indexes that apply to my problem. I looked and saw that their servers are not down, but they've had some issues with "chat" . I am at a loss and opened another email account in hotmail just so I could communicate. Please advise as it would be very tedious for me to have to update everything with a new email address. Thanks in advance.

Two weeks ago I started to have intermittent problems with gmail. It would work fine for a few days and then I would have problems again. I can sign on, but can only open one mail at a time, as gmail freezes. I have to sign out and sign back in again to open another mail repeatedly. I can compose a new mail but when I click <Send> the message never gets sent, so I have to sign out. The message doesn't get saved to "Draft" either. At times I was unable to open my contact list. I looked in the Help Files and there really doesn't seem to be anything in the indexes that apply to my problem. I looked and saw that their servers are not down, but they've had some issues with "chat" . I am at a loss and opened another email account in hotmail just so I could communicate. Please advise as it would be very tedious for me to have to update everything with a new email address. Thanks in advance.

Chosen solution

In case you haven't already tried this: When you have a problem with one particular site, a good "first thing to try" is clearing your Firefox cache and deleting your saved cookies for the site.

(1) Bypass Firefox's Cache

Use Ctrl+Shift+r to reload the page fresh from the server.

Alternately, you also can clear Firefox's cache completely using:

orange Firefox button (or Tools menu) > Options > Advanced

On the Network mini-tab > Cached Web Content : "Clear Now"

If you have a large hard drive, this might take a few minutes.

(2) Remove the site's cookies (save any pending work first). While viewing a page on the site, try either:

  • right-click and choose View Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"
  • Alt+t (open the classic Tools menu) > Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"

In the dialog that opens, you can remove the site's cookies individually.

Then try reloading the page. Does that help?


Many users have recently become more aware of privacy and either made changes to their cookie settings or installed extensions that stop some information from reaching websites. While this reduces tracking, it also can cause some site functions to break.

As a test, try using Gmail in Firefox's Safe Mode in a Private Browsing window. This will help bypass restrictive cookie settings, as well as other filtering behaviors of extensions, to see whether those are a factor.

You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using

Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

In the small dialog that should appear, click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Reset)

Then open a private browsing window using either:

  • Ctrl+Shift+p
  • File menu > New Private Window
  • orange Firefox button > New Private Window

In that window, try Gmail. Any difference?

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Chosen Solution

In case you haven't already tried this: When you have a problem with one particular site, a good "first thing to try" is clearing your Firefox cache and deleting your saved cookies for the site.

(1) Bypass Firefox's Cache

Use Ctrl+Shift+r to reload the page fresh from the server.

Alternately, you also can clear Firefox's cache completely using:

orange Firefox button (or Tools menu) > Options > Advanced

On the Network mini-tab > Cached Web Content : "Clear Now"

If you have a large hard drive, this might take a few minutes.

(2) Remove the site's cookies (save any pending work first). While viewing a page on the site, try either:

  • right-click and choose View Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"
  • Alt+t (open the classic Tools menu) > Page Info > Security > "View Cookies"

In the dialog that opens, you can remove the site's cookies individually.

Then try reloading the page. Does that help?


Many users have recently become more aware of privacy and either made changes to their cookie settings or installed extensions that stop some information from reaching websites. While this reduces tracking, it also can cause some site functions to break.

As a test, try using Gmail in Firefox's Safe Mode in a Private Browsing window. This will help bypass restrictive cookie settings, as well as other filtering behaviors of extensions, to see whether those are a factor.

You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using

Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

In the small dialog that should appear, click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Reset)

Then open a private browsing window using either:

  • Ctrl+Shift+p
  • File menu > New Private Window
  • orange Firefox button > New Private Window

In that window, try Gmail. Any difference?

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Clearing out cookies while in gmail helped me to get all functionality back. One of those sites must have messed with gmail. Thanks so much for the help.