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.

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

firefox will not open from desktop icons

  • 5 respostas
  • 2 have this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by FredMcD

more options

Hi peeps: have been solving an adware problem by resetting firefox on and off for 12 months. Now I canonly open it in task manager...shortcut icons/ start bar won't work. Any tips much appreciated

Hi peeps: have been solving an adware problem by resetting firefox on and off for 12 months. Now I canonly open it in task manager...shortcut icons/ start bar won't work. Any tips much appreciated

Chosen solution

Hello,

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:

  • In Firefox 29.0 and above, click the menu button New Fx Menu, click Help Help-29 and select Restart with Add-ons Disabled.
  • In previous Firefox versions, click on the Firefox button at the top left of the Firefox window and click on Help (or click on Help in the Menu bar, if you don't have a Firefox button) then click on 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".

Safe Mode Fx 15 - Win

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.

Ler a resposta no contexto 👍 0

All Replies (5)

more options

Chosen Solution

Hello,

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:

  • In Firefox 29.0 and above, click the menu button New Fx Menu, click Help Help-29 and select Restart with Add-ons Disabled.
  • In previous Firefox versions, click on the Firefox button at the top left of the Firefox window and click on Help (or click on Help in the Menu bar, if you don't have a Firefox button) then click on 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".

Safe Mode Fx 15 - Win

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.

more options

Some added toolbar and anti-virus add-ons are known to cause Firefox issues. Disable All of them.


Separate Issue; Your System Details shows;

Installed Plug-ins

Shockwave Flash 15.0 r0 Shockwave Flash 11.8 r800

Having more than one version of a program may cause issues.

Grab the uninstaller from here: Uninstall Flash Player | Windows Uninstall Flash Player | Mac Then reinstall the latest version.

Flash Player v16.0.0.235 http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ Shockwave Director v12.1.5.155 http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/

more options

Unfortunately Safe mode was not the answer, but i think it was maybe an issue with the windows desktop. I also removed a Trojan called BroseFox FQX whicch I guess maybe was the problem. Thanks,

more options

BrowseFox FQF sorry

more options

Was your problem solved? A post was flagged as Solved Problem. Please remove that flag. It may have been turned on by accident. If you don’t, others that can help may not read this post.


Download Firefox Full Installer For All languages And Systems {web link} Save the file. Then;

Using your file browser, open the Programs folder on your computer.

Windows: C:\Program Files C:\Program Files (x86) Mac: Open the "Applications" folder. Linux: Check your user manual.

Look for, and rename any Mozilla and Firefox folders by adding .old to them.

Now run the full installer.