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.

Avatar for Username

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

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

firefox will not respond after restarting my computer after making changes in the cookies and history settings

  • 1 reply
  • 4 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by AliceWyman

Aomestl
Aomestl
more options

I make some changes with cookies and cleared my history for today...and then restarted my computer...now firefox will not open...will not respond...should I uninstall firefox and then reinstall it?

If I uninstall firefox will the changes I made with the cookies and my history be reversed?

If I were to uninstall and then reinstall firefox will I loose my bookmarks if I do this? or does firefox remember them...so when I reinstall the previous bookmarks are reinstalled too?

I make some changes with cookies and cleared my history for today...and then restarted my computer...now firefox will not open...will not respond...should I uninstall firefox and then reinstall it? If I uninstall firefox will the changes I made with the cookies and my history be reversed? If I were to uninstall and then reinstall firefox will I loose my bookmarks if I do this? or does firefox remember them...so when I reinstall the previous bookmarks are reinstalled too?

Chosen solution

Does Firefox starts up when you first open it after rebooting the computer but hangs the next time you try to start it? If so, then there's a bug in Firefox 29 where Firefox hangs on exit when the setting "Clear history when Firefox closes" is selected, so that you get an "already running but not responding" error the next time you ttry to start it. In that case, end the firefox.exe process in the Windows Task Manager (or reboot the computer) then reset your Firefox Privacy options and UNCHECK the option "Clear history when Firefox closes". See this article for details: Settings for privacy, browsing history and do-not-track

If that's not the problem and Firefox still not open even after rebooting the computer then try starting in Firefox Safe Mode by holding down the shift key while starting Firefox. If Firefox starts then see the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article to narrow down the cause.

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (1)

AliceWyman
AliceWyman
  • Moderator
more options

Chosen Solution

Does Firefox starts up when you first open it after rebooting the computer but hangs the next time you try to start it? If so, then there's a bug in Firefox 29 where Firefox hangs on exit when the setting "Clear history when Firefox closes" is selected, so that you get an "already running but not responding" error the next time you ttry to start it. In that case, end the firefox.exe process in the Windows Task Manager (or reboot the computer) then reset your Firefox Privacy options and UNCHECK the option "Clear history when Firefox closes". See this article for details: Settings for privacy, browsing history and do-not-track

If that's not the problem and Firefox still not open even after rebooting the computer then try starting in Firefox Safe Mode by holding down the shift key while starting Firefox. If Firefox starts then see the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article to narrow down the cause.