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.

Avatar for Username

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

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Does Firefox manage the priority of processes in Windows 10 ?

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 124 views
  • Last reply by David Brock

w.combrink
w.combrink
more options

As Firefox often responds slow to my actions on my Compaq Presario CQ5303NL I have tried solving this by raising the priority of some of the 8 to 10 firefox.exe processes from Normal to High (with 3 Firefox windows and about 20 tabs open). This is done with the Task Manager. However the last month every 10 to 20 minutes the priority settings are reversed and about four firefox.exe processes are then set to Low priority at regular time intervals. This also seems to result in slow response to mouseclicks. Are you aware of this phenomenon? Is this something Firefox does by itself, or is this intervention coming from Windows 10. I notice that when I put explorer.exe in high priority, this lasts till shutdown of the computer, as with other manageble processes.

This is not a serious problem. It's more questioning what Windows is doing with Firefox. (memory is 6GB)

As Firefox often responds slow to my actions on my Compaq Presario CQ5303NL I have tried solving this by raising the priority of some of the 8 to 10 firefox.exe processes from Normal to High (with 3 Firefox windows and about 20 tabs open). This is done with the Task Manager. However the last month every 10 to 20 minutes the priority settings are reversed and about four firefox.exe processes are then set to Low priority at regular time intervals. This also seems to result in slow response to mouseclicks. Are you aware of this phenomenon? Is this something Firefox does by itself, or is this intervention coming from Windows 10. I notice that when I put explorer.exe in high priority, this lasts till shutdown of the computer, as with other manageble processes. This is not a serious problem. It's more questioning what Windows is doing with Firefox. (memory is 6GB)

Chosen solution

It has been the cause of my computer, an hp mini tower with 4Gb of RAM, to freeze up or hang. And once I change the Set Priority to high it picks up almost immediately. So my question is why make it jump to the lowest setting? Why not leave it at NORMAL?

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (2)

user633449
user633449
more options

Firefox will manage the priority of processes in some instances, however, testing has found it to have very little actual perceivable impact. I'd just let it do whatever it is doing.

David Brock
David Brock
more options

Chosen Solution

It has been the cause of my computer, an hp mini tower with 4Gb of RAM, to freeze up or hang. And once I change the Set Priority to high it picks up almost immediately. So my question is why make it jump to the lowest setting? Why not leave it at NORMAL?