Send plugin crash reports to help Mozilla improve Firefox

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  • Creator: scoobidiver
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  • Reviewed by: scoobidiver
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This error means that a plugin (like Adobe Flash) has crashed. Simply reloading the page will restart the plugin, and your video (or other content) will be shown again. Before reloading the page you can send a crash report to Mozilla by clicking on Send crash report. These crash reports help us make improvements to Firefox.

Plugin crash notification

You will not see this error in Firefox on Mac because it does not yet include the plugin crash protection feature. This new feature will be available for Mac in Firefox 4.


What is a plugin?

A plugin is a piece of software that displays internet content that Firefox is not designed to display. These usually include video, audio, online games and presentations that are made in patented formats. Plugins are created and distributed by the companies that make those patented formats. Some common plugins are Adobe Flash, Apple QuickTime, and Microsoft Silverlight.


What is a crash?

A crash happens when a piece of software abruptly stops working. Plugins sometimes crash for various reasons, and cause Firefox to crash along with it. For more information about Firefox crashes, see Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly). Starting in Firefox 3.6.4 on Windows and Linux, and starting in Firefox 4 on Mac, some plugins load separately from Firefox, allowing Firefox to stay open if the plugin crashes.


What information is sent in a crash report?

Crash reports only include technical information to help Firefox developers determine what went wrong, and how to fix it. These reports do not include personal information. The information sent in a report includes:

  • what webpage you were on
  • version of Firefox you were using
  • your operating system
  • installed plugins
  • installed extensions
  • and more technical info.

This information is subject to the Mozilla Privacy Policy.

How to turn off crash reporting

The crash reports that you send help us make improvements to Firefox.
  1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and then select Preferences or Settings, depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button Fx89menuButton and select Settings.
  2. Select the Advanced panel.
  3. Select the General tab.
  4. Uncheck Submit crash reports.

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    Plugin crash reports - WinPlugin crash reports - MacPlugin crash reports - Linux
  5. The template "closeoptionspreferences" does not exist or has no approved revision.


How do I keep plugins from crashing?

Many problems with plugins can be solved by updating to the latest version of the plugin. The name of the plugin that crashed can be found in the error message.

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Where can I get more info about Adobe Flash crashes?

See Adobe Flash plugin has crashed - Prevent it from happening again.

Developing for Flash with Flex?

Breakpoints can trigger Firefox's hang protection. You can disable hang protection by setting dom.ipc.plugins.timeoutSecs to -1. See the Mozilla Developer Network documentation for details.