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Restart to Keep Using Firefox

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Every once in a while, Firefox stops allowing me to navigate to any new websites, instead giving only a page that says:

"Restart to Keep Using Firefox

An update to Firefox started in the background. You’ll need to restart to finish the update.

Your windows and tabs will be quickly restored, but private ones will not."

I have automatic updates disabled in Firefox settings, and I have gone into about:config and set app.update.auto.migrated to false, and yet this issue persists. It seems like Firefox is ignoring my preferences. I don't wish to restart Firefox while I'm in the middle of a bunch of work. How can I get past this message and continue using Firefox without restarting? Do I need to delete update files or something?

This random surprise block to my work is ridiculous. We need the flexibility to update/restart Firefox only whenever we're ready to.

Every once in a while, Firefox stops allowing me to navigate to any new websites, instead giving only a page that says: "Restart to Keep Using Firefox An update to Firefox started in the background. You’ll need to restart to finish the update. Your windows and tabs will be quickly restored, but private ones will not." I have automatic updates disabled in Firefox settings, and I have gone into about:config and set app.update.auto.migrated to false, and yet this issue persists. It seems like Firefox is ignoring my preferences. I don't wish to restart Firefox while I'm in the middle of a bunch of work. How can I get past this message and continue using Firefox without restarting? Do I need to delete update files or something? This random surprise block to my work is ridiculous. We need the flexibility to update/restart Firefox only whenever we're ready to.

All Replies (1)

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In the past year, having Firefox for Windows set to ask you when to update seems a bit less reliable. I think the problems occur when I start up Firefox in a different profile. Although all profiles should follow my instructions on upgrades, it doesn't seem completely reliable.

Unfortunately, once that message appears, I'm not aware of any way to continue. I think because the upgrade was already installed and there is a mismatch between the firefox.exe processes in memory from before the upgrade and the files on disk now. It might be possible to continue work for a while in existing tabs on current sites, but nothing new.

Finally, please note that the about:config preference is a historical note from when Firefox changed from storing this setting in prefs.js and a hidden file named update-config.json under C:\ProgramData\Mozilla...

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