YouTube requires me to press "back" button twice to return to a previous page
Hi!
FF consistently and across OSes(I use several, mostly Linux distros) fails to simply go back tot he prior page when I press the browser's "back" button. It's done this for months. Completely resetting FF doesn't work, nor does clearing the cache and restarting it manually.
This is a very irritating problem, especially since I prefer FF so strongly over any other browser and don't want to have to hit back twice every time I want to return to a play list/etc. To clarify, it simply reloads the page/video I'm currently on, then finally does what I want it to after 2 clicks of the "back" button. For someone that needs YouTube for work purposes as well as for the sake of a great many tutorials, this needs resolution ASAP.
Thanks in advance for any help! I feel I've probably isolated the issue enough that it's very unlikely to be a problem with my OS or malware.
What's the most likely culprit here?
I should also mention that this happens not only across OSes, but on both a Lenovo G770 laptop and a AMD FX-8350 16GB RAM desktop PC I built very recently.
Chosen solution
If it works in Safe Mode and in normal mode with all extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) disabled then try to find which extension is causing it by enabling one extension at a time until the problem reappears.
Close and restart Firefox after each change via "Firefox > Exit" (Windows: Firefox/File > Exit; Mac: Firefox > Quit Firefox; Linux: Firefox/File > Quit)
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Please also see youtube's support. However if there is an issue with the back button for a specific site, please check the cookie settings for the site.
Modified by guigs
From whatever page, right click and select Open In New Tab. Once you are done, close that tab, and you are back where you started.
guigs2, thanks for the suggestion. I tried it and it didn't work, even after completely restarting FF. Again, this is across distros.
Thanks for the suggestion, FredMcD. It's really just a work-around at best, though. FF wasn't doing this until the past two weeks, and I've used it for YouTube for over 6 years now and this is the only time I've had this issue.
I'm kind of shocked there's no well-known solution here, but maybe that's because it's a new or even obscure problem. It's really driving me insane, because I have a job that gives me a fair amount of downtime between tasks and YouTube is a great way for me to catch up on things without it taking up any of my "true" free time. It seems strange that it would happen in the first place, especially on Windows 7 *plus* so many Linux distros this consistenly(most of which are basically clean installs, too.)
Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!
Others have reported similar issues. As to the cause . . . . . .
Many site issues can be caused by corrupt cookies or cache.
- Clear the Cache and
- Remove Cookies
Warning ! ! This will log you out of sites you're logged in to.
Type about:preferences<Enter> in the address bar.
- Cookies; Select Privacy. Under History, select Firefox will Use Custom Settings. Press the button on the right side called Show Cookies. Use the search bar to look for the site. Note; There may be more than one entry. Remove All of them.
- Cache; Select Advanced > Network. Across from Cached Web Content, Press Clear Now.
If there is still a problem, Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} While you are in safe mode;
Type about:preferences#advanced<Enter> in the address bar.
Under Advanced, Select General. Look for and turn off Use Hardware Acceleration.
Poke around safe web sites. Are there any problems?
Then restart.
Are there any proxies used or https vs http pages you notice when you hit the back button?
guigs2 said
Are there any proxies used or https vs http pages you notice when you hit the back button?
Not that I can see, but it's not possible I'm not looking for them in all the right places. Is this a simple matter of looking at the URL bar after pressing it, or is there more to it? Thanks.
What do you see in the Tab history drop-down list if you hold down the left mouse button on the Back button?
Hi,
I see in that drop down menu:
1) Current page
2) previous page to that and
3) Again, the previous page--it's likely just treating it as two pages somehow, which makes sense given it's making me back up twice to get to the *true* previous page.
Any feedback on that info? Thanks!
If you hover an entry in the tab history list then you should see the tooltip showing at the bottom of the windows just like with hovering a link on a web page. You can check if the URLs are the same. If that is the case then there might be POST data involved.
Hi cor-el,
I tried that. Looks like the URLs are not the same, even if the title I hover over is. What might it be if it's not likely to be post data?
Anyone else have any advice? I'm going nuts here trying to find out what could possibly be the problem. Reinstallation isn't helping at all, and neither has anything else I've been told to try. I can't imagine Mozilla isn't aware of this problem, as well as a quick solution to it. I've used FF for many long years and this issue seems to have sprung up out of nowhere. Thanks.
If the URLs are not the same then some redirect might have happened ("Moved permanently") causing the extra entry to be present.
Did you try Firefox Safe Mode in case an extension is causing the extra entry to appear.
cor-el, thanks for your reply!
I just tested it--in Windows, at least. The problem DOES go away when in safe mode.
Chosen Solution
If it works in Safe Mode and in normal mode with all extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) disabled then try to find which extension is causing it by enabling one extension at a time until the problem reappears.
Close and restart Firefox after each change via "Firefox > Exit" (Windows: Firefox/File > Exit; Mac: Firefox > Quit Firefox; Linux: Firefox/File > Quit)
Hi cor-el,
I just did that right before you posted and isolated the issue. Unfortunately, it was YouTube Enhancer, which I'd really like to continue using but will have to stop for the time being. Really wanted a good all-in-one addon that allows for downloading as well as auto-HD. For now, I only know I can use a different extension for the latter.
Thanks again for your reply. I'll tough out this lack of the extension I want until I find an alternative.