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

FF refuses to open at homepage (google) but opens last session, turned off history - lost all logins and passwpasswords - Not Happy

  • 6 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 15 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

more options

I am trying to get firefox to simply open at my home page (google.com.au) It used to always do this then suddenly, with out me touching any settings, it has suddenly decided that every time I open FireFox, it was going to restore previous sessions.

I have been into the Windows Control Panel options, It i has home page set as google.

I have been into Firefox options, same thing, google is set as home page.

I went online to the Mozilla Help section, read all the FAQ's, went to the forums and read all the questions about it and the answers. Mozilla said 'delete the 'user.js' file, Even logged in as an administrator, with show all system and hidden files selected, and using the Windows TaskBar 'Find Files and Folders' option, even to the point of manually looking in every sub-folder in the Mozilla directory, there is NO user.js file I can find anywhere.

So, I returned to the Mozilla help section, it says 'turn off browser history'. I did not want to loose the history (ctrl H) but I am fed up with the restore sessions so much, I decided, I could live with cutting and pasting the sites I visited from the address bar to a text file, even if it was a nuisance. It gave no warnings about any loss of information in the system that would result, So I trusted Mozilla's advice would be safe to do so and turned it off.

Now all my many and various log in's and passwords are gone, nothing has been remembered and apart from the huge amount of trouble that is going to create for me, attempting to contact dozens and dozens of websites and recovering new passwords, then changing them back to my passwords, we are talking possibly weeks lost, not to mention the time and effort to do so.

AND, guess what? Firefox STILL opens at last session so all Mozilla has managed to do is create a vastly huge work load for me and blown my frustration and stress levels to an all-time high.

I am trying to stay pleasant and remain calm, but seriously.... I AM NOT HAPPY>

Surely the developers can put a simple 'On/OFF' 'open previous sessions' button in the options menu or at least a warning what will result if you do.

I am trying to get firefox to simply open at my home page (google.com.au) It used to always do this then suddenly, with out me touching any settings, it has suddenly decided that every time I open FireFox, it was going to restore previous sessions. I have been into the Windows Control Panel options, It i has home page set as google. I have been into Firefox options, same thing, google is set as home page. I went online to the Mozilla Help section, read all the FAQ's, went to the forums and read all the questions about it and the answers. Mozilla said 'delete the 'user.js' file, Even logged in as an administrator, with show all system and hidden files selected, and using the Windows TaskBar 'Find Files and Folders' option, even to the point of manually looking in every sub-folder in the Mozilla directory, there is NO user.js file I can find anywhere. So, I returned to the Mozilla help section, it says 'turn off browser history'. I did not want to loose the history (ctrl H) but I am fed up with the restore sessions so much, I decided, I could live with cutting and pasting the sites I visited from the address bar to a text file, even if it was a nuisance. It gave no warnings about any loss of information in the system that would result, So I trusted Mozilla's advice would be safe to do so and turned it off. Now all my many and various log in's and passwords are gone, nothing has been remembered and apart from the huge amount of trouble that is going to create for me, attempting to contact dozens and dozens of websites and recovering new passwords, then changing them back to my passwords, we are talking possibly weeks lost, not to mention the time and effort to do so. AND, guess what? Firefox STILL opens at last session so all Mozilla has managed to do is create a vastly huge work load for me and blown my frustration and stress levels to an all-time high. I am trying to stay pleasant and remain calm, but seriously.... I AM NOT HAPPY> Surely the developers can put a simple 'On/OFF' 'open previous sessions' button in the options menu or at least a warning what will result if you do.

All Replies (6)

more options

"Mozilla said 'delete the 'user.js' file." That is an optional file - it doesn't exist until it is created by the user, by an add-on, or by malware. It locks prefs so that any "user" changes via about:config or thru Options get reset the next time Firefox is launched.

Passwords shouldn't get deleted by merely turning off browsing history being saved, but the "autofill" for passwords won't work without that history. Plus the "autofill" for "Remember me" won't work after Cookies are cleared, until the cookies are saved again.


As far as your original problem where Firefox restores the previous session rather than opening your homepage - make sure that Options > General -> "When Firefox starts" is set to Show my home page.

more options

With so many sites I use regularly, I have relied on the auto-fill to avoid having to keep long lists of log-ins and passwords. Firefox IS set to 'show my home page. It was the 1st thing I checked. Its set the same in Windows Control panel/Internet options as well.

So, what is the solution? Providing a list of things that 'don't work or don't exist' is no help. What I need is a simple 1 line answer telling how to stop it. I simply want Firefox to open at my home page when I open the browser like it always used to.

Why is this such a difficult issue to address? If some how Firefox has decided that 'open previous sessions' is the default now, why is it so difficult to change it back? Am I going to have to delete Firefox and re-install, simply to change a very basic option?

Then there is the issue, if Firefox can change the default settings with me not ever touching the options, what is to prevent it doing it again a day after I re-install it?

Seriously, MS Internet explorer, in spite of all its bugs, lack of security, hopeless abilities and weak performance is starting to look terribly attractive again. Changing a default in IE doesn't require a day of frustration, loss of data, endless e-mails, posts to forums, the assistance of IT technicians and a help section that gives no satisfaction.

more options

PS: The 'delete User.js file' advice came from Mozilla's 'Help' page. Why would they suggest a file that doesn't exist?

more options

Did you check the startup setting?

  • Tools > Options > General > Startup: "When Firefox starts":
    "Show my windows and tabs from last time"
    "Show my home page"
    "Show a blank page"

Use one of these to close Firefox if you are currently doing that by clicking the close X on the Firefox title bar.

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

The user.js file will only be present if you or other software has created this file and normally won't be present.

You can check its content with a plain text editor (right-click: "Open with"; do not double-click). The user.js file is read each time Firefox is started and initializes preferences to the value specified in this file, so preferences set via user.js can only be changed temporarily for the current session.

You can delete the user.js file if you didn't create this file yourself.

You can use this button to go to the current Firefox profile folder:

"AppData" (XP: Application Data; Mac: ~/Library; Linux: ~/.mozilla) is a hidden folder.

Windows hides some file extensions by default. Among them .html and .ini and .js and .txt and you may only see a file name without file extension. You can check the file extension (type) in the properties of the file in Windows Explorer via the right-click context menu.

more options

cor-el said

Did you check the startup setting?
  • Tools > Options > General > Startup: "When Firefox starts":
    "Show my windows and tabs from last time"
    "Show my home page"
    "Show a blank page"

Did you actually read what I wrote? I did clearly state, I had done all that. Posting up some 'generic' hope-this-solves-the-issue line that I have read on all your FAQ's, on firefox forums, been told by your 'Help' staff about 20 times already is hardly 'Helpful' . Try actually reading people's questions and what they have attempted to do to solve the issue before pasting some mindless generic reply. Never mind, I am sick of Firefox. I have retrograded to MS Internet Explorer.

more options

There is no need to use Windows search to find a possible user.js file. If you use the button on the Help > Troubleshooting Information page then you go directly to the profile folder. If the file isn't there then something else is wrong.