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

why is there a circle in the center of the browser window?

  • 5 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 94 views
  • Last reply by dryo

Hi,

Sometimes when browsing the web, Firefox displays a crosshair-like circle in the middle of the screen. This just started a few weeks ago. I have not been able to find any information about this. It appears to happen when I type into form fields like this one. But then it persists even after I go to another page or site. Could it be a problem with an Add-On? I have AdBlock Plus and Ghostery installed.

Does anyone know why this is happening, and how to make it stop?

Thank you.

Hi, Sometimes when browsing the web, Firefox displays a crosshair-like circle in the middle of the screen. This just started a few weeks ago. I have not been able to find any information about this. It appears to happen when I type into form fields like this one. But then it persists even after I go to another page or site. Could it be a problem with an Add-On? I have AdBlock Plus and Ghostery installed. Does anyone know why this is happening, and how to make it stop? Thank you.

Chosen solution

Is it the mouse pointer that changes and doesn't change back? In that case I would suspect an add-on, maybe one related to form filling??

Or is it like a display glitch which is superimposed over whatever's behind it? If it's the latter, could you try disabling graphics hardware acceleration? Since this feature was added to Firefox, it has gradually improved, but there still are a few glitches.

You usually need to restart Firefox in order for this to take effect, so save all work first (e.g., mail you are composing, online documents you're editing, etc.).

orange Firefox button or classic Tools menu > Options > Advanced

On the "General" mini-tab, uncheck the box for "Use hardware acceleration when available"

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (5)

Example screen capture attached.

Chosen Solution

Is it the mouse pointer that changes and doesn't change back? In that case I would suspect an add-on, maybe one related to form filling??

Or is it like a display glitch which is superimposed over whatever's behind it? If it's the latter, could you try disabling graphics hardware acceleration? Since this feature was added to Firefox, it has gradually improved, but there still are a few glitches.

You usually need to restart Firefox in order for this to take effect, so save all work first (e.g., mail you are composing, online documents you're editing, etc.).

orange Firefox button or classic Tools menu > Options > Advanced

On the "General" mini-tab, uncheck the box for "Use hardware acceleration when available"

OK, I've disabled hardware acceleration and will report back on my findings.

Thanks

Is that a static or a spinning circle?

Clear the cache and the cookies from sites that cause problems.

"Clear the Cache":

  • Tools > Options > Advanced > Network > Offline Storage (Cache): "Clear Now"

"Remove Cookies" from sites causing problems:

  • Tools > Options > Privacy > Cookies: "Show Cookies"

Start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance/Themes).

Disabling hardware acceleration seems to have fixed the problem of the static circle