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Firefox runs plugins, like Adobe Flash, in a "plugin-container" to prevent Firefox from crashing. Learn more about how this works.

Plugins are loaded separately from Firefox, allowing the main Firefox process to stay open if a plugin crashes. This article explains what plugin-container is for. __TOC__ = 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 proprietary formats. Plugins are created and distributed by the companies that make those proprietary formats. Some common plugins are Adobe Flash, Java and Silverlight. For more information on plugins, see [[Use plugins to play audio, video, games and more]] . = What is plugin-container{for win}.exe{/for}? = Each plugin are loaded separately from Firefox in a {filepath plugin-container{for win}.exe{/for}} process, allowing the main Firefox process {for win}({filepath firefox.exe}){/for} to stay open if a plugin crashes. There are as many {filepath plugin-container{for win}.exe{/for}} processes as plugins launched since the Firefox session startup. For more information on plugin crashes, see [[Send plugin crash reports to help Mozilla improve Firefox]]. = Having problems? = If some {filepath plugin-container{for win}.exe{/for}} processes use a lot of computer resources, see [[Firefox uses too many CPU resources - How to fix]] and and [[Firefox uses too much memory (RAM) - How to fix]].