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

Why do randomn ads keep popping out, and why does firefox keep glitching?!?!

more options

Whenever I try to go to a website, random ads pop out instead of the website. Also, when I am just surfing the web, the browser automatically closes. I am a busy student and I do not want to deal with this nonsense.

Whenever I try to go to a website, random ads pop out instead of the website. Also, when I am just surfing the web, the browser automatically closes. I am a busy student and I do not want to deal with this nonsense.

All Replies (1)

more options

You have a lot of suspicious looking extensions. Here's my suggested procedure for tracking down and removing bad add-ons. I know it seems long, but it's not that bad.

(1) Open the Windows Control Panel, Uninstall a Program. After the list loads, click the "Installed on" column heading to group the infections, I mean, additions, by date. This can help in smoking out undisclosed bundle items that snuck in with some software you agreed to install. Don't be fooled by seemingly innocent or important names if you do not remember choosing to install them. Take out as much trash as possible here.

(2) Open Firefox's Add-ons page using either:

  • Ctrl+Shift+a
  • "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
  • in the Windows "Run" dialog, type or paste
    firefox.exe "about:addons"

In the left column, click Plugins. Set nonessential and unrecognized plugins to "Never Activate".

In the left column, click Extensions. Then, if in doubt, disable (or Remove, if possible) unrecognized and unwanted extensions. (Note: you might not be able to manually Disable extensions in Safe Mode because they are disabled automatically.)

Often a link will appear above at least one disabled extension to restart Firefox. You can complete your work on the tab and click one of the links as the last step.

Any improvement?

(3) You can search for remaining issues with the scanning/cleaning tools listed in our support article: Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware -- there may be some you haven't tried yet. These on-demand scanners are free and take considerable time to run. If they finish quickly and especially if they require payment, you may have a serious infection. I suggest the specialized forums listed in the article in that case.

Success?