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Changing tab - old tab still displayed temporarily

  • 5 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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Often when opening a new tab (which I have set to Classic), the new tab is opened, but the contents of the tab still looks like the previous tab. It's not interactive - it's just that the body of the tab hasn't cleared. I find that I need to swap to a different tab and back again to clear it. It sometimes also happens when switching between existing tabs, but that is rarer.

I recently reinstalled Windows and Firefox. I've tried uninstalling Firefox and reinstalling, but this keeps happening.

I'm on Win7 64 bit. Firefox 38.0.1.

Often when opening a new tab (which I have set to Classic), the new tab is opened, but the contents of the tab still looks like the previous tab. It's not interactive - it's just that the body of the tab hasn't cleared. I find that I need to swap to a different tab and back again to clear it. It sometimes also happens when switching between existing tabs, but that is rarer. I recently reinstalled Windows and Firefox. I've tried uninstalling Firefox and reinstalling, but this keeps happening. I'm on Win7 64 bit. Firefox 38.0.1.

All Replies (5)

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You can try to disable hardware acceleration in Firefox.

  • Tools > Options > Advanced > General > Browsing: "Use hardware acceleration when available"

You need to close and restart Firefox after toggling this setting.


Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

  • Switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance
  • Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window
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I'm afraid it's still happening.

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You can try to toggle browser.newtab.preload to false on the about:config page.

You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I'll be careful" to continue.

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It doesn't only happen when opening new tabs, though. It sometimes happens when switching between tabs.

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Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problem.

See "Creating a profile":

If the new profile works then you can transfer files from a previously used profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over problems.


Do a clean reinstall and delete the Firefox program folder before (re)installing a fresh copy of the current Firefox release.

If possible uninstall your current Firefox version to cleanup the Windows registry and settings in security software.

  • Do NOT remove "personal data" when you uninstall your current Firefox version, because this will remove all profile folders and you lose personal data like bookmarks and passwords including data in profiles created by other Firefox versions.

Remove the Firefox program folder before installing that newly downloaded copy of the Firefox installer.

  • (32 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\"
  • (64 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\"

Your bookmarks and other personal data are stored in the Firefox profile folder and won't be affected by an uninstall and (re)install, but make sure NOT to remove personal data when you uninstall Firefox as that will remove all Firefox profile folders and you lose your personal data.