Why does Firefox fail to recover my windows and tabs 98% of the time at startup?
Nearly every time I shut down Firefox I return to my home page first. Nearly every time I start Firefox I get the on-screen message "Well this is embarrassing, Firefox cannot recover your windows and tabs" and I have to select Restore Session.
Chosen solution
Try to use "Firefox/File > Exit" (Mac: "Firefox > Quit"; Linux: "File > Quit") to close Firefox if you are currently doing that by clicking the close X on the title bar.
See "Hang at exit":
See "Firefox hangs when you quit it":
Read this answer in context 👍 1All Replies (8)
This problem began for me when I upgraded to v7. I'm now using v8 and still have the same issue.
Chosen Solution
Try to use "Firefox/File > Exit" (Mac: "Firefox > Quit"; Linux: "File > Quit") to close Firefox if you are currently doing that by clicking the close X on the title bar.
See "Hang at exit":
See "Firefox hangs when you quit it":
Have closed Firefox in this way around 6 times now and it seems to work OK, Thank you. JB
Modified by CICERO
Closing Firefox using the Firefox>Quit menu makes no difference. I also closed the "Restore Session" tab, changed my preferences to "Show my windows and tabs from last time," closed using the Firefox>Quit menu, and STILL get the Restore Session This is Embarrassing stuff when I reopen. Annoying..........
You're welcome JB.
@gingeradams
Make sure that Firefox closes properly.
See "Hang at exit":
See "Firefox hangs when you quit it":
It is possible that there is a problem with the files sessionstore.js and sessionstore.bak in the Firefox Profile Folder.
Delete the sessionstore.js [2] file and possible sessionstore-##.js [3] files with a number and sessionstore.bak in the Firefox Profile Folder.
- Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Open Containing Folder
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
Deleting sessionstore.js will cause App Tabs and Tab Groups and open and closed (undo) tabs to get lost, so you will have to create them again (make a note or bookmark them).
See also:
Thanks, cor-el. As a result of following all the links in your reply to JB, after I posted my "this didn't work" message I tried moving the two sessionstore files out of the Firefox profile folder, then restarting Firefox. Voila! All well now! I logged back on to post the success message and saw your new instructions. Thank you for the help!
You're welcome