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How do I stop firefox from refreshing pages constantly? I have to click "back" dozens of times if I'm on a page for more than 15 seconds.

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every page on every open tab refreshes every 30 seconds and each time it is saved in my cache. If I want to go back to a previous page, I have to click back once for every 30 seconds I was on the current page. Very annoying!! It just started doing this recently and I don't know why. I did reset the about:config to "0", but that didn't help.

every page on every open tab refreshes every 30 seconds and each time it is saved in my cache. If I want to go back to a previous page, I have to click back once for every 30 seconds I was on the current page. Very annoying!! It just started doing this recently and I don't know why. I did reset the about:config to "0", but that didn't help.

Chosen solution

Reload Every doesn't appear in the More System Details attached to your initial posting here, you have something else going on there.

Try the Firefox SafeMode to see how it works there.
A troubleshooting mode, which disables most Add-ons.
Troubleshoot Firefox issues using Firefox SafeMode

When in Safe Mode...

  • The status of plug-ins is not affected.
  • Custom preferences are not affected.
  • All extensions are disabled.
  • The default theme is used, without a persona.
  • userChrome.css and userContent.css are ignored.
  • The default toolbar layout is used.
  • The JIT Javascript compiler is disabled.
  • Hardware acceleration is disabled.


  • You can open the Firefox 15.0+ SafeMode by holding the Shft key when you use the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
  • Or use the Help menu item, click on Restart with Add-ons Disabled... while Firefox is running.


To exit the Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before using the Firefox shortcut (without the Shft key) to open it again.


If it is good in the Firefox SafeMode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, and you need to figure out which one.
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes
Or it might be caused by Hardware Acceleration.

When you figure out what is causing that, please let us know. It might help other user's who have that problem.

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (6)

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Firefox doesn't automatically refresh webpages, but it does honor page coding to do refreshes. Maybe the pages you have that happen with have changed something recently?

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It happens on every tab that I have open, no matter the site, every 30 seconds.

I have just installed the ad-on that added the "reload every..." to the right-click menu and I chose disable all. That didn't help at all, still does it.
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Chosen Solution

Reload Every doesn't appear in the More System Details attached to your initial posting here, you have something else going on there.

Try the Firefox SafeMode to see how it works there.
A troubleshooting mode, which disables most Add-ons.
Troubleshoot Firefox issues using Firefox SafeMode

When in Safe Mode...

  • The status of plug-ins is not affected.
  • Custom preferences are not affected.
  • All extensions are disabled.
  • The default theme is used, without a persona.
  • userChrome.css and userContent.css are ignored.
  • The default toolbar layout is used.
  • The JIT Javascript compiler is disabled.
  • Hardware acceleration is disabled.


  • You can open the Firefox 15.0+ SafeMode by holding the Shft key when you use the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
  • Or use the Help menu item, click on Restart with Add-ons Disabled... while Firefox is running.


To exit the Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before using the Firefox shortcut (without the Shft key) to open it again.


If it is good in the Firefox SafeMode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, and you need to figure out which one.
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes
Or it might be caused by Hardware Acceleration.

When you figure out what is causing that, please let us know. It might help other user's who have that problem.

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Yes! It stopped doing it in Safe Mode. Now I need to figure out if the problem is in an ad-on or hardware acceleration? I will follow the link that you posted to see what it says about ad-on problems.

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Ok, I think that solved my problem. It was the MagniPic ad-on.

the-edmeister - You are wonderful, thank you!!
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You're welcome!