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Firefox stutters every now and then

  • 1 reply
  • 2 have this problem
  • 8 views
  • Last reply by Andrew

RockyTV
RockyTV
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I've switched to Firefox about a month ago, and some issues are really annoying me and not allowing me to enjoy Firefox.

Basically, every few seconds, the browser stutters. It freezes, then it goes back. I only have 3 addons installed: SteamDB, uBlock and Gmail Notifier Plus.

Memory usage, as of writing this article, is at 789.5MB.

I tried closing Firefox and opening it again. Doing so revealed that the browser was using 37% of my CPU with no tabs open. After I've opened a tab, CPU usage dropped.

I've switched to Firefox about a month ago, and some issues are really annoying me and not allowing me to enjoy Firefox. Basically, every few seconds, the browser stutters. It freezes, then it goes back. I only have 3 addons installed: SteamDB, uBlock and Gmail Notifier Plus. Memory usage, as of writing this article, is at 789.5MB. I tried closing Firefox and opening it again. Doing so revealed that the browser was using 37% of my CPU with no tabs open. After I've opened a tab, CPU usage dropped.

All Replies (1)

Andrew
Andrew
  • Moderator
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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.

Also please see this article to fix issues with memory.

Modified by Andrew