Firefox opens empty windows at startup
For several months now (can't remember when it started but now it's started to get annoying) Firefox opens several (2-4) windows with just an empty tab (labeled New Tab).
I usually have a lot of windows open (usually with several tabs in them) and close Firefox with the Ctrl + Shift + Q shortcut. I'm running Windows 10 with Firefox 61.0.2 (64-bit).
Is this a known issue with a known fix around?
Alle Antworten (6)
You can check for problems with the sessionstore.jsonlz4 file in the Firefox profile folder that stores session data.
- delete sessionstore.jsonlz4 and sessionstore.js
When sessionstore.jsonlz4 is deleted you lose pinned tabs and open tabs and you will have to recreate them, so if necessary make a note or bookmark them.
You can use the button on the "Help -> Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page.
- Help -> Troubleshooting Information -> Profile Directory:
Windows: Show Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder - http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
You can check the target line in the Firefox desktop shortcut (right-click: Properties) to make sure nothing is appended after the path to the Firefox program.
I can't find any file with sessionstore as name (I checked both in AppData and Roaming folder). I did find a sessionstore-backups folder though, should I delete that?
I don't use any desktop icon to open Firefox, I always use the keyboard hotkey for it (not sure what command it actually uses to open the executable though, some standard I presume).
As a side note, I closed one of the empty windows and another window. Then used the Exit option from the window menu (File -> Exit). Opened Firefox again and not only was the empty window open again, the other window had re-opened.
The sessionstore.jsonlz4 file in the main profile folder is only present when Firefox is closed. If you can't find sessionstore.jsonlz4 then you can try to rename the sessionstore-backups folder to sessionstore-backups.OLD with Firefox closed.
You can use the button on the "Help -> Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page.
- Help -> Troubleshooting Information -> Profile Directory:
Windows: Show Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder - http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
Make sure to close Firefox once you are in the profile folder.
Ah ok, now I found it. I deleted the file after closing Firefox and opened Firefox again however all windows and tabs were restored. So I renamed the sessionstore-backups (as well as deleted the file) and it did reset my windows and tabs to just open the home screen.
However, after opening 5 windows and restarting the application the problem re-appeared.
What security software do you have?
Boot the computer in Windows Safe Mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen or hold down the Shift key) to see if that allows to remove the sessionstore files and floders permanently.