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Return key doesn't work when I try to type in a web address. I tried restarting in safe mode with no success. I also tried refreshing, no luck. Any ideas?

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  • Last reply by cor-el

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I've tried refreshing. I've tried starting in safe mode. It's still not working when I try to type in a URL.

I've tried refreshing. I've tried starting in safe mode. It's still not working when I try to type in a URL.

Chosen solution

Maybe it's this, although I don't think I've seen it reported on Mac before:

Due to a change in how Firefox 39 associates keywords with bookmarks and/or history, the address bar is newly sensitive to corruption in the database that stores your history and bookmarks (the places.sqlite file).

The developers are working on a solution, but that could take weeks to get to you.

At this point, the easiest workaround is to remove/rename the places.sqlite file, but then you lose all your history, so that's really not very attractive for people who rely on history for revisiting sites.

In case you want to try that -- in case you don't receive any better suggestions -- here's how:

Open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information

In the first table on the page, click the "Show in Finder" (Windows: "Show Folder") button. This should launch a new window listing your various settings files and folders.

Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Quit/Exit, either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "power" button
  • (menu bar) Firefox > Quit (Windows: File > Exit)

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename places.sqlite to something like oldplaces.sqlite. (I suggest not deleting this file just in case you end up needing it again.)

Firefox creates temporary files related to places.sqlite and those may need to be renamed/removed as well. Check for places.sqlite-shm and places.sqlite-wal and if you find them, rename them as well.

When you start Firefox back up again, it should start a new places.sqlite database and import your last automatic bookmark backup. Can you confirm that all your bookmarks are present? Does the address bar work normally again?

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Chosen Solution

Maybe it's this, although I don't think I've seen it reported on Mac before:

Due to a change in how Firefox 39 associates keywords with bookmarks and/or history, the address bar is newly sensitive to corruption in the database that stores your history and bookmarks (the places.sqlite file).

The developers are working on a solution, but that could take weeks to get to you.

At this point, the easiest workaround is to remove/rename the places.sqlite file, but then you lose all your history, so that's really not very attractive for people who rely on history for revisiting sites.

In case you want to try that -- in case you don't receive any better suggestions -- here's how:

Open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information

In the first table on the page, click the "Show in Finder" (Windows: "Show Folder") button. This should launch a new window listing your various settings files and folders.

Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Quit/Exit, either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "power" button
  • (menu bar) Firefox > Quit (Windows: File > Exit)

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename places.sqlite to something like oldplaces.sqlite. (I suggest not deleting this file just in case you end up needing it again.)

Firefox creates temporary files related to places.sqlite and those may need to be renamed/removed as well. Check for places.sqlite-shm and places.sqlite-wal and if you find them, rename them as well.

When you start Firefox back up again, it should start a new places.sqlite database and import your last automatic bookmark backup. Can you confirm that all your bookmarks are present? Does the address bar work normally again?

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Note that on Mac you can also check for older backup versions of files in the Time machine if you use this feature.