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Newly updated Firefox 78.0.2 doesn't render pages well under MacOS 10.15.6

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  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by jcm

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I just updated to Firefox 78.0.2 on my MacBook Air running MacOS 10.5.6. Firefox starts and opens all my windows as normal, but the page rendering is completely wrong. All pages are affected- yahoo.com, duckduckgo.com, I get plaintext HTML instead of any graphics working. Anyone else have this issue?

I just updated to Firefox 78.0.2 on my MacBook Air running MacOS 10.5.6. Firefox starts and opens all my windows as normal, but the page rendering is completely wrong. All pages are affected- yahoo.com, duckduckgo.com, I get plaintext HTML instead of any graphics working. Anyone else have this issue?

Chosen solution

If you use extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) that can block content (Adblock Plus, NoScript, Disconnect, Ghostery, Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin) always make sure such extensions do not block content.

Firefox shows a purple instead of a gray shield icon at the left end of the location/address bar in case Tracking Protection is blocking content. You can click shield icon for more detail and possibly disable the protection. You can check the Web Console for messages about blocked content.


You can try these steps in case of issues with web pages:

You can reload web page(s) and bypass the cache to refresh possibly outdated or corrupted files.

  • hold down the Shift key and left-click the Reload button
  • press "Ctrl + F5" or press "Ctrl + Shift + R" (Windows,Linux)
  • press "Command + Shift + R" (Mac)

Clear the Cache and remove the Cookies for websites that cause problems via the "3-bar" Firefox menu button (Options/Preferences).

"Remove the Cookies" for websites that cause problems:

  • Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
    Cookies and Site Data: "Manage Data"

"Clear the Cache":

  • Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
    Cookies and Site Data -> Clear Data -> Cached Web Content: Clear

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

  • switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
  • do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Safe Mode start window
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Load the web page. Then, to reload the page bypassing the cache and force a fresh retrieval;
Ctrl+Shift+R (Mac=Command+Shift+R)

Try this several times.

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Everything still renders only in plain html. Command-Shift-R does toggle between plain html and properly rendered text, but with no graphics appearing. Using www.yahoo.com to test, the page does render briefly properly, but then all graphics and dynamic windows go away, leaving only plain text html.

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Chosen Solution

If you use extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) that can block content (Adblock Plus, NoScript, Disconnect, Ghostery, Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin) always make sure such extensions do not block content.

Firefox shows a purple instead of a gray shield icon at the left end of the location/address bar in case Tracking Protection is blocking content. You can click shield icon for more detail and possibly disable the protection. You can check the Web Console for messages about blocked content.


You can try these steps in case of issues with web pages:

You can reload web page(s) and bypass the cache to refresh possibly outdated or corrupted files.

  • hold down the Shift key and left-click the Reload button
  • press "Ctrl + F5" or press "Ctrl + Shift + R" (Windows,Linux)
  • press "Command + Shift + R" (Mac)

Clear the Cache and remove the Cookies for websites that cause problems via the "3-bar" Firefox menu button (Options/Preferences).

"Remove the Cookies" for websites that cause problems:

  • Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
    Cookies and Site Data: "Manage Data"

"Clear the Cache":

  • Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
    Cookies and Site Data -> Clear Data -> Cached Web Content: Clear

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

  • switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
  • do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Safe Mode start window
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That was it! I hadn't noticed that my extension icons weren't showing either. I disabled all my extensions- Adblock Plus, Ublock Origin, DuckDuckGo, and everything now renders correctly. I'll update all my extensions and try them one by one. A thousand thanks! I've updated many times, but have never had this type of problem before.