Windows 10 reached EOS (end of support) on October 14, 2025. If you are on Windows 10, see this article.

Avatar for Username

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
Open

Unable to restore session after closing firefox with red X on Mac

Firefox Tabs
jbr replied 1 day ago
zielinski.kasper
zielinski.kasper

I've run into an issue on macOS where Firefox does not restore my previous session if I close the browser using the red "X" window button. I have the "Open previous windows and tabs" checked in settings.

• Scenario A: If I click the red "X" button to close the Firefox window and then reopen Firefox, my previous tabs are gone (except for pinned tabs) and a new session is started.

• Scenario B: If I use Cmd + Q (or Firefox > Quit) to close the application, my session restores perfectly upon the next launch.

It seems that closing the window updates the session state to an empty window, wiping out the saved session even though the application process is still running in the macOS dock.

Is there a way to configure Firefox on macOS so that closing the last window via the red "X" preserves the session tabs just like Quitting does?

I've run into an issue on macOS where Firefox does not restore my previous session if I close the browser using the red "X" window button. I have the "Open previous windows and tabs" checked in settings. • Scenario A: If I click the red "X" button to close the Firefox window and then reopen Firefox, my previous tabs are gone (except for pinned tabs) and a new session is started. • Scenario B: If I use Cmd + Q (or Firefox > Quit) to close the application, my session restores perfectly upon the next launch. It seems that closing the window updates the session state to an empty window, wiping out the saved session even though the application process is still running in the macOS dock. Is there a way to configure Firefox on macOS so that closing the last window via the red "X" preserves the session tabs just like Quitting does?

All Replies (1)

jbr
jbr
  • Top 10 Contributor

This is the behavior of macOS apps: support.mozilla.org/questions/1597050#answer-1837966 — running with empty windows when eventually closing the app down then later restores that blank session on next start — you should still however have the ability to open it back via History › Recently closed window even after restarting (the same way as before shutting down too potentially).

Ask a question

You must log in to your account to reply to posts. Please start a new question, if you do not have an account yet.