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

I am having a problem logging onto the internet when I click on the Firefox icon on my desktop computer, although I can log on successfully in this manner on my

  • 2 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 9 views
  • Last reply by FredMcD

more options

I am having a problem logging onto the internet when I click on the Firefox icon on my desktop computer, although I can log on successfully in this manner on my laptop. I can automatically update my security programs so there must be a working link to the internet. Can you please suggest a way to remedy this problem? I am using Windows 7

I am having a problem logging onto the internet when I click on the Firefox icon on my desktop computer, although I can log on successfully in this manner on my laptop. I can automatically update my security programs so there must be a working link to the internet. Can you please suggest a way to remedy this problem? I am using Windows 7

All Replies (2)

more options

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.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It is also possible that the Firefox icon itself has stopped working, in which case, open the PC's Start Menu > All Programs > Mozilla Firefox, and see if clicking on that will start Firefox. If it does, go back to the Desktop and right click > Delete on the Firefox icon. Now open All Programs again and go to Mozilla Firefox, then right click > Send to > Desktop (create shortcut). There should now be a new Firefox shortcut icon on your Desktop which hopefully will work.

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

more options

Type about:preferences#advanced<Enter> in the address bar.

Under Advanced, Select Network. Look for Configure How Firefox Connects and press the Settings button. If you are using a proxy, make sure those settings are correct. If there is no proxy, first use No Proxy. If there is a problem, then try System Proxy.


Some problems occurs when your Internet security program was set to trust the previous version of Firefox, but no longer recognizes your updated version as trusted. Now how to fix the problem: To allow Firefox to connect to the Internet again;

  • Make sure your Internet security software is up-to-date (i.e. you are running the latest version).
  • Remove Firefox from your program's list of trusted or recognized programs. For detailed instructions, see

Configure firewalls so that Firefox can access the Internet. {web link}