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Firefox won't remember websites I visited during a session and show them in the new tab page.

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After clearing the history and restarting the browser, when I browse some pages, the new tabs page won't show the top 9 most frequently visited website (""not only thumbnails are missing, it is not remembering the website in the first place""). But when I restart my browser those websites appear on the new tabs page. Why is this happening? My version is 21 and I am using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.

To make more clear, here I explain what exactly is happening-

1. I clear the history.

2. I close and reopen the browser.

3. I browse a few website. But they don't show up on my new tab page during that session. There are no websites (neither their names nor their thumbnails) on my new tab page.

4. When I close and reopen my browser, the websites appear on my new tab page.

Why isn't firefox showing the websites during the same session? Why do they appear only when I restart the browser?

Is this the normal behaviour of firefox or is it problem only in my PC?

NOTE- Not only thumbnails are missing, it is not remembering the website in the first place.

After clearing the history and restarting the browser, when I browse some pages, the new tabs page won't show the top 9 most frequently visited website (""not only thumbnails are missing, it is not remembering the website in the first place""). But when I restart my browser those websites appear on the new tabs page. Why is this happening? My version is 21 and I am using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. To make more clear, here I explain what exactly is happening- 1. I clear the history. 2. I close and reopen the browser. 3. I browse a few website. But they don't show up on my new tab page during that session. There are no websites (neither their names nor their thumbnails) on my new tab page. 4. When I close and reopen my browser, the websites appear on my new tab page. Why isn't firefox showing the websites during the same session? Why do they appear only when I restart the browser? Is this the normal behaviour of firefox or is it problem only in my PC? NOTE- Not only thumbnails are missing, it is not remembering the website in the first place.

ShuklaSannidhya modificouno o

All Replies (7)

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Well I've already read that article. My problem is different. Not only thumbnails are missing, the websites are not shown in the first place. Check out the image I've uploaded.

See, there is no website in the new tab page even after I did visit many websites.

ShuklaSannidhya modificouno o

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Well I've already read that article. My problem is different. Not only thumbnails are missing, the websites are not shown in the first place. Check out the image I've uploaded.

See, there is no website in the new tab page even after I did visit many websites.

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Can you drag links (e.g. bookmark or history items) in one of the slots?

Are you keeping history?

Make sure that you do not run Firefox in (permanent) Private Browsing mode (Never Remember History).

  • Edit > Preferences > Privacy > Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history"
  • Deselect: [ ] "Always use private browsing mode"

You can check for problems with the places.sqlite database file in the Firefox profile folder.


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

See "Creating a profile":

If the new profile works then you can transfer some files from an existing profile to the new profile, but be careful not to copy corrupted files.

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No I don't browse in Private Browsing mode. I've created new profile (as given in the link you posted). I am able to add websites to the slots by dragging bookmarks.

Firefox does remember history but it just does not update the new tab page. Check out the images I've uploaded. It remembers the history but the new tabs page is updated only when I close and reopen the browser. Why does Firefox updates the newtab page only after it is restarted?

Well, to make it more clear-

  1. I visit Website-A, the new tab page does not show Website-A (But it does remember the history).
  2. I restart the browser and now the new tab page shows Website-A.
  3. I visit Website-B, the new tab page does not show Website-B. It only shows Website-A.
  4. After restarting the browser, it shows both Website-A and Website-B...

Why does Firefox updates the newtab page only after it is restarted?

Is this a bug?

Check out these images - the first one was taken before restarting the browsers (see that history is remembered but the new tab page is not updated) and the second one is after restarting the browser.

ShuklaSannidhya modificouno o

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Does this also not happen if you reopen a new about:newtab page, either in the same window or in a new window?

This can happen if event listeners aren't working properly.

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 or otherwise make changes.
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I've tried safe mode but it didn't help.

I think it is the usual behaviour because I have the same problem on my other PCs with openSUSE and Ubuntu 12.10.

Firefox does not change the web pages in the new tabs page during a session. The newtab page is only updated when Firefox is restarted. And the new tabs page will remain empty if the history was cleared before browsing. It will be populated with websites only on restarting.

Where can I report this bug?

Thank you.

ShuklaSannidhya modificouno o