Join the AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the Firefox leadership team to celebrate Firefox 20th anniversary and discuss Firefox’s future on Mozilla Connect. Mark your calendar on Thursday, November 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC!

This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Firefox 17.0.1 Scroll bar thumb doesn't move when scrolling after pressing the back button?

  • 2 cavab
  • 7 have this problem
  • 18 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

more options

After I press the back button to go to the previous page, the scroll bar thumb no longer moves when I scroll on that page. Firefox still remembers the position of the webpage as I left it and I am still able to scroll with the keyboard/mouse/scroll bar buttons, and can even drag the thumb itself - the only problem is that the scroll bar thumb doesn't move anymore to indicate a changed position on that page, not even in response to dragging. This applies to any page accessed using the back button. The scroll bar thumb only works correctly when I am on the latest page (the most recently accessed page).

Basically, if I access a webpage and then click a link to go on to a different page, and then press the back button to go back to the previous page, the scroll bar thumb is just frozen on the scroll bar when I scroll on said previous page. I've tested this on multiple websites and have gotten the same problem for all of them. Refreshing on the page fixes the problem, but I really don't want to have to refresh every time I uses the back button.

This only happened after I updated to the latest version of Firefox. I have tried reinstalling Firefox and running Firefox in safe mode, but the problem persisted. But it doesn't seem to be a bug since my sister runs the same version and doesn't have this problem... is there anything I can do to fix this?

After I press the back button to go to the previous page, the scroll bar thumb no longer moves when I scroll on that page. Firefox still remembers the position of the webpage as I left it and I am still able to scroll with the keyboard/mouse/scroll bar buttons, and can even drag the thumb itself - the only problem is that the scroll bar thumb doesn't move anymore to indicate a changed position on that page, not even in response to dragging. This applies to any page accessed using the back button. The scroll bar thumb only works correctly when I am on the latest page (the most recently accessed page). Basically, if I access a webpage and then click a link to go on to a different page, and then press the back button to go back to the previous page, the scroll bar thumb is just frozen on the scroll bar when I scroll on said previous page. I've tested this on multiple websites and have gotten the same problem for all of them. Refreshing on the page fixes the problem, but I really don't want to have to refresh every time I uses the back button. This only happened after I updated to the latest version of Firefox. I have tried reinstalling Firefox and running Firefox in safe mode, but the problem persisted. But it doesn't seem to be a bug since my sister runs the same version and doesn't have this problem... is there anything I can do to fix this?

All Replies (2)

more options

The Reset Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information. Note: This will cause you to lose any Extensions, Open websites, and some Preferences.

To Reset Firefox do the following:

  1. Go to Firefox > Help > Troubleshooting Information.
  2. Click the "Reset Firefox" button.
  3. Firefox will close and reset. After Firefox is done, it will show a window with the information that is imported. Click Finish.
  4. Firefox will open with all factory defaults applied.


Further information can be found in the Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings article.

Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

more options

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance).

  • Do not click the Reset button on the Safe mode start window or otherwise make changes.