Websites say that Firefox is outdated or incompatible even though it's the latest version
Some websites or add-ons require that you use a specific browser or version and then make a mistake detecting your installed version of Firefox. This can cause the following problems:
- Websites will not work correctly, will report that your browser is outdated, unsupported, or incompatible, or will suggest that you upgrade your browser, even though you have the latest version of Firefox.
- You are not able to install extensions or themes from the Mozilla Add-ons website because it incorrectly detects that you are using a different browser or an older Firefox version.
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Firefox is showing the wrong User Agent
If the website or add-on is compatible with your installed version of Firefox, the cause of the problem may be in your Firefox "User Agent" string, that identifies your browser type to websites. You can remedy this problem by resetting your user agent in your Firefox preference settings.
To reset your user agent:
-
In the Location bar, type about:config and press EnterReturn.
- The about:config "This might void your warranty!" warning page may appear. Click , to continue to the about:config page.
- Search for useragent by typing it into the FilterSearch field.
- Right-clickHold down the Ctrl key while you click on each of these preferences, if they exist, and select from the context menu.
- general.useragent.extra.firefox
- general.useragent.extra.productName - where productName can be the name of some third party software (e.g. microsoftdotnet).
- general.useragent.locale
- general.useragent.override
- general.useragent.security
After resetting your user agent, you may need to clear your cookies and cache:
- At the top of the Firefox window, click on the button, go over to the menu and select .On the menu bar, click on the menu, and select .At the top of the Firefox window, click on the menu, and select .
- In the Time Range to clear: drop-down, select Everything.
- Click the arrow next to Details to display the list of items that can be cleared.
- Select both Cookies and Cache.
- Click .
- At the top of the Firefox window, click on the button, go over to the menu and select .On the menu bar, click on the menu, and select .At the top of the Firefox window, click on the menu, and select .
- In the Time Range to clear: drop-down, select Everything.
- Click the arrow next to Details to display the list of items that can be cleared.
- Select both Cookies and Cache.
- Click .
If resetting the above preferences does not work, see:
- Find what version of Firefox you are using
- Unable to install add-ons or extensions
- Websites look wrong or appear differently than they should
Websites think that Firefox is outdated when you have the latest version
Some websites incorrectly see the latest version of Firefox as version 1 (instead of version 10 or above) and will think that Firefox is outdated, incompatible, or not supported. We are working with websites to get them to fix this. In the meantime, you may just be able to ignore the message but you should report the problem website:
- At the top of the Firefox window, click the button, go over to the menu (For Windows XP: click the menu) and select .At the top of the Firefox window, click the menu and select .On the menu bar, click the menu and select . The Submit Your Feedback page will load in a new tab.
- Click on "Firefox Made Me Sad".
- On the Firefox Made Me Sad page that comes up, briefly describe the problem with the website, check the box, and enter the URL.
- Click the button.
Workaround for broken websites
You may be able to restore functionality by temporarily disguising Firefox as another browser. To do that, you can install the User Agent Switcher extension:
- Go to the User Agent Switcher add-on page.
- Click the green button and install the add-on.
- Click .
When Firefox restarts, you can disguise your Firefox user agent so that websites think you are using Firefox 9.0.1, as follows:
- For Windows 7 and Vista, press the Alt key to bring up the old-style menu bar at the top of the Firefox window.
- Go to the menu, down to and then select .
-
- In the User Agent Switcher options window, click and select
- In the User Agent window, add a description (for example, Firefox 9), change the last number of the user agent to 9.0.1 and then click .
-
- Next, go back to the menu, down to and this time select the new user agent that you just created.
-
- Finally, reload the page and it should work normally.
- Go to the menu, down to and then select .
- In the User Agent Switcher options window, click and select
- In the User Agent window, add a description (for example, Firefox 9), change the last number of the user agent to 9.0.1 and then click .
- Next, go back to the menu, down to and this time select the new user agent that you just created.
- Finally, reload the page and it should work normally.
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