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When I open a private browsing window it won't let me close the window using the big red X in top right corner. Why?

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  • Last reply by guigs

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I cannot close the window using the X in top right corner. I have to hover over the firefox icon at the bottom of my screen, find the window, and close it down there.

Also, When I first open a private browsing window and do a search it will list the websites, but when I click on one of them it sends me back to the non private browsing screen (which is blank). Then I have to click back on the private screen and then click on the link again to open it.

I cannot close the window using the X in top right corner. I have to hover over the firefox icon at the bottom of my screen, find the window, and close it down there. Also, When I first open a private browsing window and do a search it will list the websites, but when I click on one of them it sends me back to the non private browsing screen (which is blank). Then I have to click back on the private screen and then click on the link again to open it.

All Replies (1)

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Hello,

Try Firefox Safe Mode to see if the problem goes away. Firefox Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that temporarily turns off hardware acceleration, resets some settings, and disables add-ons (extensions and themes).

If Firefox is open, you can restart in Firefox Safe Mode from the Help menu:

  • Click the menu button New Fx Menu, click Help Help-29 and select Restart with Add-ons Disabled.

If Firefox is not running, you can start Firefox in Safe Mode as follows:

  • On Windows: Hold the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
  • On Mac: Hold the option key while starting Firefox.
  • On Linux: Quit Firefox, go to your Terminal and run firefox -safe-mode
    (you may need to specify the Firefox installation path e.g. /usr/lib/firefox)

When the Firefox Safe Mode window appears, select "Start in Safe Mode".

SafeMode-Fx35

If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, theme, or hardware acceleration. Please follow the steps in the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article to find the cause.

To exit Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.

When you figure out what's causing your issues, please let us know. It might help others with the same problem.