I had this problem as well.

Turns out that the first installation was the US 32-bit version and I manually downloaded and installed the GB 64-bit version. All links in the Start and Taskbar menus pointed to the US version.

I manually changed the Target options in the shortcuts and removed the US version via Control Panel.

I now have the 64-bit version and the dates are showing in dd/mm/yyyy format. Both were using the same profile, so doing this kept all my add-ins and customisations etc.

Ok, that looks very hopeful, and if you don't mind a bit of hand holding I might be successful too. (I'm a pensioner so don't understand all the techy words). - when you say 'installation', is this the same as 'updates'? In which case I understand that I would need to change the last update to a GB update. Is this correct? - where did you find the GB 64 bit version, so I can download it? and is it a simple case of installing it (ie open as Admin etc), without deleting/uninstalling anything? - then it becomes more complicated, in that I have a Mac, so no Start button. But I also have a Windows laptop so perhaps I could do the business on that then copy/sync the bookmarks to Mac, hopefully with the right date format (I'm talking gibberish here, even to myself). - as for Target options in the shorcuts, I have no idea what that could mean. I do apologise for being such an ignoramus. I've come on leaps and bounds but am far from being as good as I wish I was. Ideally, what I'd be looking for is a bullet list of steps to follow, but I realise it is a tall order for busy people. But huge thanks for telling me there is actually a solution around somewhere! If you have a bit of time to hep I will be extremely grateful. With best wishes.

I think that that is a bug in Firefox 52. Try to update to the current Firefox release (53.0) to see if that works better.

gfinley said

Ok, that looks very hopeful, and if you don't mind a bit of hand holding I might be successful too. (I'm a pensioner so don't understand all the techy words). - when you say 'installation', is this the same as 'updates'? In which case I understand that I would need to change the last update to a GB update. Is this correct? - where did you find the GB 64 bit version, so I can download it? and is it a simple case of installing it (ie open as Admin etc), without deleting/uninstalling anything? - then it becomes more complicated, in that I have a Mac, so no Start button. But I also have a Windows laptop so perhaps I could do the business on that then copy/sync the bookmarks to Mac, hopefully with the right date format (I'm talking gibberish here, even to myself). - as for Target options in the shorcuts, I have no idea what that could mean. I do apologise for being such an ignoramus. I've come on leaps and bounds but am far from being as good as I wish I was. Ideally, what I'd be looking for is a bullet list of steps to follow, but I realise it is a tall order for busy people. But huge thanks for telling me there is actually a solution around somewhere! If you have a bit of time to hep I will be extremely grateful. With best wishes.

Hi

These are the steps that I took (hopefully, I've remembered them all!)

1 - Go to: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/ (this gives you a list of all available versions of Firefox) 2 - Scroll down to "English (British)" 3 - Click on either the 1st or 2nd download button. The 1st one is for 32-bit machines and the 2nd one is for 64-bit (it shows "64" on the icon). If you're not sure which one you want, click on your Start button and click on the Settings option. Then click on "System" and then the "About" option and check the "System Type" setting - this will say either "32-bit" or "64-bit" so choose the Firefox version to match that. 4 - Let that download. 5 - When that is completed, run the installation app 6 - When that is complete, open "File Explorer" from your Taskbar or Start menu. Go to: "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox" and run "Firefox.exe". That should run your new installation (you can check this from the Help, About menu option). 7 - Close Firefox 8 - Open the Control Panel - Start Menu, Windows System, Control Panel 9 - Select "Programs and Features" 10 - Find "Mozilla Firefox". Your new installation should be "Mozilla Firefox 53.0 (x64 en-GB)" (53.0 being the version as of today, 30 April 2017). If you have another instance (which will probably show "x86" in the name), right-click on it and select "Uninstall". 11 - When that is complete, you need to update your Task Bar link. 12 - Right-click on the Firefox Task Bar link 13 - Right-click on "Mozilla Firefox" and select "Properties" 14 - Change the Target setting to: "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" (make sure you include the quotes) 15 - Change the Start In setting to: "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox" (again, make sure you include the quotes) 16 - Click "Apply" and then "OK" to save the changes. 17 - Now open Firefox from the updated Task bar link 18 - The Bookmarks and History "Most Recent Visit" columns should now show UK versions of dates.

At least, that is what I did and it worked for me. Note that I did not lose any add-ons, plugins or customisations doing it this way - ie, both versions used the same profile.

Regards

Dan

Hi

ps - when I run an installation app, I always run them as an administrator. To do that, click on Firefox's download icon (the down-arrow) and click the folder icon on the right to go to the file in the folder the download went to. Then right-click on the file and select "Run as Administrator".

Dan

pps - I use a Windows 10 machine. I've never had a Mac, so do not know how that operates. Presumably, though, the principles would be the same - it's just a case of changing the Windows 10 instructions above into Mac instructions (eg, change the bit for "click Start" or "Open the Control Panel" into their Mac equivalents).

Otherwise, uninstalling your Mac version of Firefox and installing "English (British)/macOS" version from the above link, should load the correct version but you would most likely lose your add-ons/extensions and I don't think that Sync would recover those.

Dan

cor-el said

I think that that is a bug in Firefox 52. Try to update to the current Firefox release (53.0) to see if that works better.

Thank you so much for taking the time to post a possible solution. Unfortunately I already am on Firefox 53.0... That was a good idea though! With best wishes.

gfinley said

Thank you so much for taking the time to post a possible solution. Unfortunately I already am on Firefox 53.0... That was a good idea though! With best wishes.

You are most likely using the US version of Firefox 53.0 then. Go to Control Panel, Programs and Features and check what it says for Mozilla Firefox. Mine shows: Mozilla Firefox 53.0 (x64 en-GB)

Yours may show "en-US" instead of "en-GB". If that is the case, I'm sure that just downloading the "English (British)" version from the link I provided earlier and installing that over your existing version you should just end up with a UK version and, therefore, the correct date formats.

Dan

Hi Dan, thank you for this. 1. Mine just says Mozilla Firefox 53.0, see attachment. Also see: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/53.0/releasenotes/

which is the web site you get to when clicking What's new.

I'll have to look more into this. 2. I wrote this yesterday but it was returned (you obviously can't reply by email): 'Dan you're a star, I'm not sure you will receive this as I just pressed Reply to the email, but I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciated the time and effort yo spent on this. I will look at it tomorrow as that's it for today for me. With best wishes.' Dan, this needs a bit more time than I have now, I will follow all your suggestions as soon as I can and let you know how I get on. With best wishes

np,

That screenshot shows the Help/About screen from within Firefox itself - mine shows exactly the same as yours, so neither show the en-US/en-GB versioning (Mozilla may want to add that bit in?).

If I go to my Control Panel (on my version of Windows 10, that's in Start, Windows System) and look at "Programs and Features", the attached screenshot shows what I see for Firefox.

Either way, though, if you go to https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/ and select the "English (British)" download and install that, it should overwrite whatever version you have.

Dan

YES! You marvellous person, it's sorted. I thought I was going to be cheeky and ignore yesterday's email which I found daunting. I would have done it, but I thought, hey, let's try his last tip, and keep my fingers crossed. I close FF, downloaded and installed the FF 53.0 (64-bit), English/British version - it asked me if I was sure as it would replace a newer version. Still keeping my fingers tightly crossed, I said Yes. Reopened FF and my bookmarks are now in a way I can undersand without having do do mental calisthenics!. Thank you so much, I will copy and paste this conversation in case it happens again. You're a star. Now where is that Like button, and the Sorted one...?

You're welcome!

You should also ensure that you have bookmarked https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/ in case you need to get back to a en-GB version again.

If Mozilla read these posts, they should note that it is confusing NOT to be able to easily see which language version of Firefox has been installed - I would suggest that, at the very least, Help/About and any download page on their website should show the language.

And/or they may want to re-think their default date format. MDY formats are only really used in the USA - see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_format_by_country - most people use either DMY or YMD (either of which I would be able to read ok).

Yes I've bookmarked it, and copied the whole conversation which I will tidy up before saving as a document, as it might happen again. And I agree with you re your comments about the version and the dates. I also must say that I couldn't find a like, or star system to mark you, only 'Was this useful' - I would have loved to give you a gold star! If you know where it is, let me know! With my very best wishes.