Firefox can restore your open tabs and windows from your last session—even after a crash or restart. You can choose whether Firefox restores your session automatically when it starts or only when you request it.
If your session doesn’t restore as expected, this article includes troubleshooting tips for pinned tabs, private windows, and update-related changes.
Table of Contents
When Firefox restores your session
When you manually select "Restore previous session"
You can manually restore your previous session from the Firefox menu if it does not restore automatically.
- Click the menu button
on the right side of your toolbar.
- Click .
- Select .
After a Firefox update
When Firefox updates, it often needs to restart. Tabs and windows should restore automatically after the update.
If they don’t:
- Click the menu
button, click and go to to recover them.
- Check if Session Restore is enabled (see Configure session restore).
After restarting Firefox in Troubleshoot Mode
When you restart in Troubleshoot Mode to diagnose Firefox problems, your tabs and windows will be reopened.
If they don’t:
Click the menu button, click and go to to restore them manually.
After a crash or unexpected shutdown
If Firefox crashed or if your device shut down unexpectedly, it will usually attempt to restore your last session the next time you open it. You may see the Restore Session page:
- Select the windows or tabs you want to restore.
- Click .
If Firefox crashes again during restore:
- Click instead.
- Click the menu
button, click and go to to recover your session manually.
When you've set Firefox to restore the previous session at startup
You can set Firefox to always show your windows and tabs from your previous session each time you start Firefox. To change your Firefox startup settings, see Configure session restore below.
Configure session restore
To set Firefox to restore your tabs and windows on startup:
- In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click and select (select on older macOS versions).Click the menu button
and select .
- Select the panel.
- Below Startup, select
.
- Close the page. Any changes you've made will automatically be saved.
Session Restore limitations and privacy
Session Restore works for regular tabs and windows. However, some exceptions apply:
Feature | Will it be restored? |
---|---|
Pinned tabs | Yes |
Private windows | No — by design |
Login sessions | May keep you signed in |
Disable session restore after crashes (Advanced)
If you don’t want Firefox to restore your session after crashes:
Only proceed if you are comfortable with advanced settings and understand the potential impacts.
- Type about:config in the address bar and press EnterReturn.
A warning page may appear. Click to go to the about:config page. - In the Search preference name box at the top type browser.sessionstore.resume_from_crash.
- Click the Toggle
button next to browser.sessionstore.resume_from_crash to set it to false.
Troubleshooting
Session didn’t restore correctly
Ensure Firefox was closed properly
To properly close Firefox: Click the Firefox menu and select .Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select .Click the Firefox menu
and select .
- If you close individual windows manually, only the last closed window's tabs will be restored.
Check history settings
- In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click and select (select on older macOS versions).Click the menu button
and select .
- Select the panel.
- In the History section make sure that the Firefox will drop-down menu is set to either
- If Firefox will is set to , then make sure that Always use Private Browsing mode is not checked.
- If Firefox will is set to and Clear history when Firefox closes is checked, then click the button and make sure that Browsing & download history is not checked.
or .
- Close the page. Any changes you've made will automatically be saved.
Recently closed tabs/windows are missing
If Firefox didn’t offer to restore your session:
- Go to > .
Use Ctrl + Shift + T (or Cmd + Shift + T on macOS) to reopen the last closed tab.
Tabs open to blank or home page
This could be caused by:
- A conflicting extension
- A change during an update
- Corrupt session data
Try:
- Disabling add-ons in Troubleshoot Mode
- Resetting Firefox settings (see this guide)