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Browser screen goes blank occasionally and I have to close and reopen Firefox.

  • 10 cavab
  • 22 have this problem
  • 5 views
  • Last reply by hgonzale

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My Firefox screen goes solid white or solid black on all open tabs. I have to close Firefox and restart it to restore the windows. Nothing seems to trigger it. Firefox can be idle in the background while I'm working with another program and this will happen or I can be away from the computer and it will just be sitting idle and it will happen. I don't believe it has actually happened while I was on a web page on Firefox. Help!

My Firefox screen goes solid white or solid black on all open tabs. I have to close Firefox and restart it to restore the windows. Nothing seems to trigger it. Firefox can be idle in the background while I'm working with another program and this will happen or I can be away from the computer and it will just be sitting idle and it will happen. I don't believe it has actually happened while I was on a web page on Firefox. Help!

All Replies (10)

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Please Update to Flash Player Version: 26.0.0.137 released this date. https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ Direct link scans current system and browser Note: Other software is offered in the download.

Please make sure have Windows 10 Update (KB4025342)released this date (Patch Tuesday) reconfirm issues are still happening then try this if needed : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode

Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.

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I answered you before thinking the problem was solved but unfortunately it is still happening. At least four or five times the screen on all my open tabs have gone either solid white or solid black. The only way I can get my tabs back is to close Firefox and restart it. Thankfully I have not lost much information so far but if this goes on much longer I'll be forced to switch to Chrome or another browser. I'm running Firefox 54.0.1. I have the latest Windows 10 updates that have been downloaded installed. I updated the Flash Player from the link above. Help!

Thank you Jake

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A post was flagged as Solved Problem. If the problem is not solved, please remove that flag. If you don’t, others that can help may not read this post.

Go to that message, and use the Undo link to its right.

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Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} by holding down the <Shift> (Mac=Options) key, and then starting Firefox.

A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?


See if there are updates for your graphics drivers https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/upgrade-graphics-drivers-use-hardware-acceleration

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This is a very intermittent problem but seems to be getting more frequent so I won't know if starting in Safe Mode will tell us anything or not. It could be days before it happens again or it could be any minute. I haven't figured out anything that triggers it. I did Refresh Firefox before my original post hoping that would fix the problem but it didn't.

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FredMcD said

Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} by holding down the <Shift> (Mac=Options) key, and then starting Firefox. A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?

See if there are updates for your graphics drivers https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/upgrade-graphics-drivers-use-hardware-acceleration

I updated my Nvidia graphics drivers a couple of days ago and the solid black/white screen just happened again so I assume the issue isn't with the graphics drivers.

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jakebe2 said

FredMcD said
Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} by holding down the <Shift> (Mac=Options) key, and then starting Firefox. A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?

See if there are updates for your graphics drivers https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/upgrade-graphics-drivers-use-hardware-acceleration

I updated my Nvidia graphics drivers a couple of days ago and the solid black/white screen just happened again so I assume the issue isn't with the graphics drivers.

I have been alternately running Firefox in safe mode and regular mode and it appears that the issue with the white and black screens disappears when I'm in safe mode. Also another issue with videos in Facebook seems to go away when in safe mode. When in regular mode some video's will either be a solid green screen or there will be colored vertical stripes instead of the video.

Now the problem is I don't know what to do about it and how to fix the problem. I updated my graphic drivers as stated before. I don't know what else to do or check. I am not a whiz kid with computers although I did build this one and have been using personal computers since they came on the market years ago (I'm 71).

Any other suggestions?

Thanks, Jake

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It could be the work of one of your add-ons. Type about:addons<enter> in the address bar to open your Add-ons Manager. Hot key; <Control> (Mac=<Command>) <Shift> A)

In the Add-ons Manager, on the left, select Extensions. Disable a few add-ons, then Restart Firefox.

Some added toolbar and anti-virus add-ons are known to cause Firefox issues. Disable All Of them.

If the problem continues, disable some more (restarting FF). Continue until the problem is gone. After, you know what group is causing the issue. Re-enable the last group ONE AT A TIME (restarting FF) until the problem returns.

Once you think you found the problem, disable that and re-enable all the others, then restart again. Let us know who the suspect is, detective.

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jakebe2 said

My Firefox screen goes solid white or solid black on all open tabs. I have to close Firefox and restart it to restore the windows. Nothing seems to trigger it. Firefox can be idle in the background while I'm working with another program and this will happen or I can be away from the computer and it will just be sitting idle and it will happen. I don't believe it has actually happened while I was on a web page on Firefox. Help!

I am having the same issue. Linux Suse with AMD APU 7890K and LATEST video driver from AMD (driver from 2015). Firefox is getting $%@$#%$#

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New computer... Ryzen 3, ATI R7. Suse Leap. Just installed. Only 1 extension active (ad block plus), lastest driver from AMD and I got the following.

Please, look that is not the screen. Is the browser in the WEB PAGE, because the menues, and OS task bar are ok..

Is this acceptable?

Video firefox problem

Modified by hgonzale