Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

I can't open firefox in safe mode -- firefox is frozen, I can't open the firefox menu, and I can't quit to reopen in safe mode

  • 3 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 4 views
  • Last reply by FredMcD

more options

-I am on a Mac. -Firefox was behaving strangely, so I quit it. -Upon attempting to reopen firefox, the situation occurred. -Firefox is frozen. -I can not get into the firefox menu. If I click on the firefox icon it still shows me the finder menu (no window appeared either. There are no outward signs firefox is open.) -I can not open it in safe mode because I can not force quit it either. -In the force quit menu it says firefox open, but nothing happens when I attempt to force quit it. -I got no error message. -In other words, Firefox is totally unresponsive. I can neither interact with it or force quit it.

To the solution... -Upon research I believe its a problem with my theme, but I repeat I can not open firefox in safe mode. -As I said, it says firefox is open but I can not interact with it. -I can not restart my computer because it says firefox is open. -I can not delete firefox because it says firefox is open.

I am posting this from Safari.

Please help, and thank you in advance.

-I am on a Mac. -Firefox was behaving strangely, so I quit it. -Upon attempting to reopen firefox, the situation occurred. -Firefox is frozen. -I can not get into the firefox menu. If I click on the firefox icon it still shows me the finder menu (no window appeared either. There are no outward signs firefox is open.) -I can not open it in safe mode because I can not force quit it either. -In the force quit menu it says firefox open, but nothing happens when I attempt to force quit it. -I got no error message. -In other words, Firefox is totally unresponsive. I can neither interact with it or force quit it. To the solution... -Upon research I believe its a problem with my theme, but I repeat I can not open firefox in safe mode. -As I said, it says firefox is open but I can not interact with it. -I can not restart my computer because it says firefox is open. -I can not delete firefox because it says firefox is open. I am posting this from Safari. Please help, and thank you in advance.

All Replies (3)

more options

With a Finder window open, are you able to force quit Firefox by selecting the Apple menu > Force Quit > Firefox?

There are another couple of way you can start Firefox in Safe Mode: one is to hold down the "Option" key when you click Firefox in the dock. The other is to run the following command in a Terminal window:

/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox-bin -safe-mode

Terminal.app can be found in Applications > Utilities. Just paste in the line above and hit the enter key.

more options

Scott said

With a Finder window open, are you able to force quit Firefox by selecting the Apple menu > Force Quit > Firefox? There are another couple of way you can start Firefox in Safe Mode: one is to hold down the "Option" key when you click Firefox in the dock. The other is to run the following command in a Terminal window:
/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox-bin -safe-mode

Terminal.app can be found in Applications > Utilities. Just paste in the line above and hit the enter key.

The Terminal command worked like a charm, thanks.

more options

While in Safe Mode, change to the default theme. Is the problem gone?