Hi JayneJ, what happens when you try to log in to your online banking? For example:

• Form reports the username or password is wrong
• Bank site gives a different error message (what is the message)
• Form doesn't submit
• Form submits and shows a blank page
• Something else...

Does your bank require the IBM/Trusteer Rapport program? Sometimes it is not updated fast enough for new Firefox releases, so you might check for updates.

More generally: If a site is generally known to work in Firefox, these are standard suggestions to try when it stops working normally:

Double-check content blockers: Firefox's Content Blocking feature and extensions that counter ads and tracking may break websites that embed third party content (meaning, from a secondary server).

(A) Do you see a shield icon toward the left end of the address bar, near the lock icon? More info on managing the Tracking Protection feature in this article: What happened to Tracking Protection?.

(B) Extensions such as Adblock Plus, Blur, Disconnect, Ghostery, NoScript, Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin or uMatrix should provide toolbar buttons to manage blocked content in a page. There may or may not be a number on the icon indicating the number of blocked items; you may need to click the button to see what's going on and test whether you need to make an exception for this site.

Cache and Cookies: 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) Clear Firefox's Cache

See: How to clear the Firefox cache

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 (on Mac Ctrl+click) a blank area of the page and choose View Page Info > Security > "Clear Cookies and Site Data"
• (menu bar) Tools > Page Info > Security > "Clear Cookies and Site Data"
• click the padlock or "i" icon in the address bar, then the ">" button, then More Information, and finally the "Clear Cookies and Site Data" button

In the dialog that opens, you will see one or more matches to the current address so you can remove the site's cookies individually without affecting other sites.

Then try reloading the page. Does that help?

Testing in Firefox's Safe Mode: In its Safe Mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.

If Firefox is not running: Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox. (On Mac, hold down the option/alt key instead of the Shift key.)

If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
• (menu bar) Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

and OK the restart.

Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).

Any improvement?

As to what happens when I attempt to log in to my account - access bank page, there is an i, a shield, and a green lock in the address line. I am able to enter all of the required passwords but when I enter the last one a gray circle covering the password field just sits and spins and spins - have waited several minutes but won't allow login. Have been able to access my bank using IE with no issues.

If you enter a fake username and password, do you get a quick response, or does that also just sit and spin?

One possibility is that the login submission failed, and another is that the server response wasn't received. However, the progress icon doesn't give any details.

Did any of the "standard advice" help with that site?

Sorry for the delay in responding - I'm about maxed on this issue. Still can't access my bank - haven't had luck with anything???? Did try the fake username - message said they didn't recognize the name right off the bat - Still hoping for help

JayneJ said

Sorry for the delay in responding - I'm about maxed on this issue. Still can't access my bank - haven't had luck with anything???? Did try the fake username - message said they didn't recognize the name right off the bat - Still hoping for help

That would mean it's a login issue not a Browser issue. Your going to have to contact your Bank on this.

Ok, so this morning I was able to access my bank by starting in safe mode. This hadn't worked earlier. What settings do I need to make to allow this to work in regular mode rather than safe???

One of the main changes in Firefox's Safe Mode is that all your extensions are disabled. Do you use any extensions that might filter or modify websites?

Ok, so I'm not sure I know what you mean by an extension. Could you please explain??? thank you!

Hi JayneJ, an extension is a kind of add-on.

You can view, disable, and often remove unwanted or unknown extensions on the Add-ons page. Either:

• Ctrl+Shift+a (Mac: Command+Shift+a)
• "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
• type or paste about:addons in the address bar and press Enter/Return

In the left column of the Add-ons page, click Extensions.

Then cast a critical eye over the list on the right side. Any extensions Firefox installs for built-in features are hidden from this page, so everything listed here is your choice (and your responsibility) to manage. Anything that might be blocking content in pages, or filtering your access to sites, or that you just do not remember installing or why? If in doubt, disable (or remove).

Any improvement?

Wow! Thank you - was able to disable & removed some add-on & can now access my bank. Got my fingers crossed that I'll remember what to do if I have the problem again. Thank you for your help!!

JayneJ said

Wow! Thank you - was able to disable & removed some add-on & can now access my bank. Got my fingers crossed that I'll remember what to do if I have the problem again. Thank you for your help!!

For info on helping others, what were the Extensions you removed? (Was one of them DuckDuckGo PE or HTTPS Everywhere?)

~Pj