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

Lolu chungechunge lwabekwa kunqolobane. Uyacelwa ubuze umbuzo omusha uma udinga usizo.

Can't open links from external applications - windows 10

  • 6 uphendule
  • 1 inale nkinga
  • 5 views
  • Igcine ukuphendulwa ngu cor-el

more options

Clicking links in external apps ends with message: "Firefox is already running, but is not responding. The old Firefox process must be closed to open a new window.".

I do not want to start new firefox instance, I want to open links in new tabs. How can I make it work that way?

Clicking links in external apps ends with message: "Firefox is already running, but is not responding. The old Firefox process must be closed to open a new window.". I do not want to start new firefox instance, I want to open links in new tabs. How can I make it work that way?

All Replies (6)

more options

Can you explain what you mean by "clicking links in external apps'"' and what are these apps ?

Presumably if for instanced you click on a html document on your desktop, or a link within a WordProcessor document it does opens ok in the running Firefox.

more options

Check the target field in the Firefox desktop shortcut and make sure you do not start Firefox with the -no-remote switch or have set the environment variable MOZ_NO_REMOTE=1 (Control Panel > System > Advanced > Environment variables).

more options

By external programs I meant eg. Thunderbird.

It turns out I had environment MOZ_NO_REMOTE set to 1 (wonder how it got there), but changing it back (and restarting computer) did not help.

The shortcut to firefox has target "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" so I am guessing I do not have "-no-remote" enabled.

Do you have an idea what else might be causing the problem?

more options

Did you remove the MOZ_NO_REMOTE environment variable and confirmed that it didn't return after a reboot?

This variable shouldn't be there as it will cause issues like you experienced.

more options

Previously I had changed MOZ_NO_REMOTE value from 1 to 0. It did not help. But removing it completely fixed the issue. Thank you for your help!

more options

You're welcome.

It is about the mere presence of the variable and Firefox doesn't check the value.