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Often while filling in a form on a website, Firefox freezes and stops accepting text. Can be unfrozen by starting another unrelated application.

  • 3 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 44 views
  • Last reply by Textuser

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It just happened while filling in this details box. Firefox accepted some text then froze. I just cleared it by opening the Recycle Bin program on the desk top (it seems to work with any program I have tried). I have had this problem for a few months and is not fixed by updates. It has happened twice while typing these details. Although I can fix it, it is very annoying. I have no other problems with Firefox.

It just happened while filling in this details box. Firefox accepted some text then froze. I just cleared it by opening the Recycle Bin program on the desk top (it seems to work with any program I have tried). I have had this problem for a few months and is not fixed by updates. It has happened twice while typing these details. Although I can fix it, it is very annoying. I have no other problems with Firefox.

Chosen solution

This could be potentially due to any add ons or extensions that manage auto completing forms. I would first recommend to make sure that each of your add ons and extensions are up to date:

In order to eliminate add ons or hardware acceleration, try Firefox Safe Mode: 

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.

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All Replies (3)

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Chosen Solution

This could be potentially due to any add ons or extensions that manage auto completing forms. I would first recommend to make sure that each of your add ons and extensions are up to date:

In order to eliminate add ons or hardware acceleration, try Firefox Safe Mode: 

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.

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Note that your System Details list shows that you have a user.js file in the profile folder to initialize prefs each time Firefox starts. The user.js file is only present if you or other software has created this file and normally it wouldn't be there.

You can check its content with a plain text editor (right-click: "Open with"; do not double-click). The user.js file is read each time Firefox is started and initializes preferences to the value specified in this file, so preferences set via user.js can only be changed temporarily for the current session.

You can delete the user.js file if you didn't create this file yourself.

You can use this button to go to the currently used Firefox profile folder:


You can check for problems with the sessionstore.js file in the Firefox profile folder that store session data.

Deleting sessionstore.js will cause App Tabs and Tab Groups and open and closed (undo) tabs to get lost and you will have to recreate them (make a note or bookmark them if possible).

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Textuser said

It just happened while filling in this details box. Firefox accepted some text then froze. I just cleared it by opening the Recycle Bin program on the desk top (it seems to work with any program I have tried). I have had this problem for a few months and is not fixed by updates. It has happened twice while typing these details. Although I can fix it, it is very annoying. I have no other problems with Firefox.

guigs2 said

This could be potentially due to any add ons or extensions that manage auto completing forms. I would first recommend to make sure that each of your add ons and extensions are up to date: In order to eliminate add ons or hardware acceleration, try Firefox Safe Mode: 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.

Thanks guigs2. The problem turned out to cured by switching off the hardware acceleration. I don't need it so will leave it turned off. I haven't tried to find out which hardware it is but suspect the video card. When I upgrade the driver I might try turning it on again.