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Why does the icon to pause blocking not appear on some websites.

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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A website won't load.The page is blank with a spinning icon at top left, so I assume it is blocked, but the icon to pause blocking has disappeared.

A website won't load.The page is blank with a spinning icon at top left, so I assume it is blocked, but the icon to pause blocking has disappeared.

All Replies (3)

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What icon are you talking about?


Make sure you are not blocking content.

Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link}

A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?


One issue that seems more common lately is Firefox's Content Blocking. When it is blocking content in a page, a shield icon will appear at the left end of the address bar next to the padlock icon. This article has more info on managing this feature:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/content-blocking

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You can try these steps in case of issues with web pages:

You can reload web page(s) and bypass the cache to refresh possibly outdated or corrupted files.

  • hold down the Shift key and left-click the Reload button
  • press "Ctrl + F5" or press "Ctrl + Shift + R" (Windows,Linux)
  • press "Command + Shift + R" (Mac)

Clear the Cache and remove the Cookies for websites that cause problems via the "3-bar" Firefox menu button (Options/Preferences).

"Remove the Cookies" for websites that cause problems:

  • Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
    Cookies and Site Data -> Manage Data

"Clear the Cache":

  • Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
    Cookies and Site Data -> Clear Data -> Cached Web Content: Clear

Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.

  • switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
  • do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Safe Mode start window
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If you do not see the shield icon on the location bar then this means that Content Blocking isn't active and that no content is blocked, so if the page isn't loading then something else is blocking.

You can check the Web Console (Tools -> Web Developer) for messages about blocked content and about the presence of mixed or unsafe content.

You can check the Network Monitor to see if content is blocked or otherwise fails to load.

If necessary use "Ctrl+F5" or "Ctrl+Shift+R" (Mac: Command+Shift+R) to reload the page and bypass the cache to generate a fresh log.

Modified by cor-el