Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings
Revision Information
- Revision id: 25284
- Created:
- Creator: Michael Verdi
- Comment: updated "apply to version" template
- Reviewed: Yes
- Reviewed:
- Reviewed by: Verdi
- Is approved? Yes
- Is current revision? No
- Ready for localization: Yes
- Readied for localization:
- Readied for localization by: Verdi
Revision Source
Revision Content
Over time Firefox can develop problems like slowness, crashing, unwanted toolbars and more. Troubleshooting and fixing these issues can be difficult and time consuming. The Reset Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information.
Note: This applies to the latest Firefox release version which can be downloaded from mozilla.org/firefox.
What does the reset feature do?
All of your Firefox settings and personal information is stored in your profile folder. The reset feature works by creating a new profile folder for you while saving your:
- Bookmarks
- Browsing history
- Passwords
- Cookies
- Web form auto-fill information
In the process the following things are either not saved or set to their defaults:
- Extensions and themes: Although they can be incredibly helpful, some extensions and themes can cause problems. If you need to reinstall important extensions, see Find and install add-ons to add features to Firefox for help.
- Open tabs, windows and tab groups: The reset process will close all open websites. Since your bookmarks and browsing history are saved you should still be able to easily return to your favorite sites. See Where can I find my bookmarks? and Address bar autocomplete suggestions in Firefox for more info. Also, since your cookies are saved, you shouldn't be logged out of any websites you were logged into before the reset.
- Site-specific preferences, search engines, personal dictionary, download history, DOM storage, security certificate settings, security device settings, download actions, plugin MIME types, toolbar customizations and user styles are also not saved. See the Profiles - Where Firefox stores your bookmarks, passwords and other user data article for more information about these.
How do I reset Firefox to its default state?
- At the top of the Firefox window, click the
(on Windows XP, click the menu at the top of the Firefox window) and select . button, go over to the sub-menu - Click the
- To continue, click in the confirmation window that opens.
- Firefox will close and be reset. When it's done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click and Firefox will open. That's it – you're done!
- On the menu bar, click the
menu and select . - Click the
- To continue, click in the confirmation sheet that slides down.
- Firefox will close and be reset. When it's done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click and Firefox will open. That's it – you're done!
- At the top of the Firefox window, click the
- Click the
- To continue, click in the confirmation window that opens.
- Firefox will close and be reset. When it's done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click and Firefox will open. That's it – you're done!