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how do you shut down firefox to reinstall it

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my firefox crashed and I can't open it back up, I can't shut it down because there is no shut off or shut down button how do I shut it down to reinstall it?

my firefox crashed and I can't open it back up, I can't shut it down because there is no shut off or shut down button how do I shut it down to reinstall it?

All Replies (3)

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Let's get it back up again. First, you don't "shut down" Firefox. You simply close it. There may be a ghost process running in the Task Manager. Can you press Windows Key + R and run taskmgr. Once there, go to Processes and end firefox.exe


if you don't see it then try to start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode. Firefox Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that turns off some settings and disables most add-ons (extensions and themes).

(If you're using an added theme, switch to the Default theme.)

If Firefox is open, you can restart in Firefox Safe Mode from the Help menu by clicking on the Restart with Add-ons Disabled... menu item:
FirefoxSafeMode

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)

Once you get the pop-up, just 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, and you need to figure out which one. Please follow 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.

Thank you.

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You can close Firefox by choosing Exit either from the orange Firefox button or the File menu, or by right-clicking the taskbar icon and choosing either Close Window or Close All Windows.

If the Firefox window is not visible and Firefox is stuck running in the background,

  1. Right-click the taskbar and choose Start Task Manager.
  2. In the Task Manager window, click the Processes tab.
  3. Select firefox.exe and click the End Process button. Confirm the operation when prompted. Repeat this if there is more than one firefox.exe in the list.

Note that reinstalling Firefox usually doesn't solve anything. See the following article.

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