Mozilla will shut down Pocket’s services on July 8, 2025. At that time users will no longer be able to access the Pocket website, apps and API. You can export your saved items and API data until October 8, 2025 before they are permanently removed. For more information, see this article.

Avatar for Username

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

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Firefox using a lot of CPU (90%+ at times)

  • 9 replies
  • 20 have this problem
  • 60 views
  • Last reply by kobe

user1027364
user1027364

I am running firefox version 26.0 on a Macbook Pro OS X version 10.6.8 and I am running these extensions http://i.imgur.com/Co4NlGQ.png and http://i.imgur.com/Co4NlGQ.png . I am also using these plugins http://i.imgur.com/ZO55Lmq and http://i.imgur.com/IapcvJY and I have disabled all of the plugins, and that did not help as the CPU usage still fluctuated from about 10% usage all the way up to 100%.

I have checked to see if the plugins are up to date, and I updated one of them, but the newest Java Applet Plugin update only works with Maverick, which I do not have. Quicktime says that it's not up to date, but when I checked the software update on my Mac, it says that there are no updates available.

Image of the plugins that I checked to see if they were up to date http://i.imgur.com/fPuV8vD and http://i.imgur.com/7Uwp5vX and http://i.imgur.com/N0Cz9Tp aaand http://i.imgur.com/6FIwVTv .

Here is an image of my activity monitor (I had all plugins disabled here) http://i.imgur.com/j6xUudo . As you can see, the CPU usage is 99.6%, which is staggering considering I only opened a webpage (reddit) and was not running videos and the like. And here's an image of my activity monitor with more information http://imgur.com/zuY5iMu . The Real Mem can go all the way up the 2 GBs, which is a bit worrisome.

I have tried resetting Firefox, which didn't help, I have tried starting FF in safe mode, which didn't help, and I have even tried reinstalling FF, which didn't help. I also tried disabling "using hardware acceleration," restarted my computer, and the issue was not fixed. I used CCleaner to clear temporary files and the like, but it didn't do any good.

I really want to be able to use Firefox, because I'm starting to distrust Chrome, but if FF is using that much memory and CPU, I'm not sure I can continue using that browser.

I feel like I've hit dead ends on everything that I've tried, so I'm starting to give up hope. Does anyone help any idea or suggestion as to what I should try/ do?

I am running firefox version 26.0 on a Macbook Pro OS X version 10.6.8 and I am running these extensions http://i.imgur.com/Co4NlGQ.png and http://i.imgur.com/Co4NlGQ.png . I am also using these plugins http://i.imgur.com/ZO55Lmq and http://i.imgur.com/IapcvJY and I have disabled all of the plugins, and that did not help as the CPU usage still fluctuated from about 10% usage all the way up to 100%. I have checked to see if the plugins are up to date, and I updated one of them, but the newest Java Applet Plugin update only works with Maverick, which I do not have. Quicktime says that it's not up to date, but when I checked the software update on my Mac, it says that there are no updates available. Image of the plugins that I checked to see if they were up to date http://i.imgur.com/fPuV8vD and http://i.imgur.com/7Uwp5vX and http://i.imgur.com/N0Cz9Tp aaand http://i.imgur.com/6FIwVTv . Here is an image of my activity monitor (I had all plugins disabled here) http://i.imgur.com/j6xUudo . As you can see, the CPU usage is 99.6%, which is staggering considering I only opened a webpage (reddit) and was not running videos and the like. And here's an image of my activity monitor with more information http://imgur.com/zuY5iMu . The Real Mem can go all the way up the 2 GBs, which is a bit worrisome. I have tried resetting Firefox, which didn't help, I have tried starting FF in safe mode, which didn't help, and I have even tried reinstalling FF, which didn't help. I also tried disabling "using hardware acceleration," restarted my computer, and the issue was not fixed. I used CCleaner to clear temporary files and the like, but it didn't do any good. I really want to be able to use Firefox, because I'm starting to distrust Chrome, but if FF is using that much memory and CPU, I'm not sure I can continue using that browser. I feel like I've hit dead ends on everything that I've tried, so I'm starting to give up hope. Does anyone help any idea or suggestion as to what I should try/ do?

Modified by user1027364

Chosen solution

I have never seen that, maybe just doing a reset will fix all the problems.

NOTE THAT A RESET WILL NOT:

  • Delete Bookmarks, History, Saved Passwords, Form Data, Open Tabs (if you are running Firefox 25 and above).

A RESET WILL:

  • Delete Addons, Custom Prefs, Toolbar Configurations, Search Engine settings

More on the reset feature (and how to peform it) is located here.

If you want to be extra safe, you can backup your profile (its likely this won't be needed)

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (9)

kobe
kobe

In order to be able to find the correct solution to your problem, we require some more non-personal information from you. Please do the following:

  • Click the Firefox button at the top left, then click the Help menu and select Troubleshooting Information from the submenu. If you don't have a Firefox button, click the Help menu at the top and select Troubleshooting Information from the menu.

Now, a new tab containing your troubleshooting information should open.

  • At the top of the page, you should see a button that says "Copy text to clipboard". Click it.
  • Now, go back to your forum post and click inside the reply box. Press Ctrl+V to paste all the information you copied into the forum post.

If you need further information about the Troubleshooting information page, please read the article Use the Troubleshooting Information page to help fix Firefox issues.

Thanks in advance for your help!

user1027364
user1027364 Question owner

I opened up the Troubleshooting page, but this is what I found http://imgur.com/14TBMDj I'm not sure why there is not information there. Does that happen often?

kobe
kobe

Chosen Solution

I have never seen that, maybe just doing a reset will fix all the problems.

NOTE THAT A RESET WILL NOT:

  • Delete Bookmarks, History, Saved Passwords, Form Data, Open Tabs (if you are running Firefox 25 and above).

A RESET WILL:

  • Delete Addons, Custom Prefs, Toolbar Configurations, Search Engine settings

More on the reset feature (and how to peform it) is located here.

If you want to be extra safe, you can backup your profile (its likely this won't be needed)

kobe
kobe

Example of troubleshooting details in clean profile

Application Basics

Name: Firefox Version: 26.0 User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux i686; rv:26.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/26.0

Extensions

Important Modified Preferences

browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400 browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 358400 browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion: 4 browser.sessionstore.upgradeBackup.latestBuildID: 20131206152524 browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID: 20131206152524 browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone: 26.0 extensions.lastAppVersion: 26.0 network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 50969 plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types: application/pdf privacy.sanitize.migrateFx3Prefs: true

Graphics

Adapter Description: Tungsten Graphics, Inc -- Mesa DRI Mobile Intel® GM45 Express Chipset x86/MMX/SSE2 Device ID: Mesa DRI Mobile Intel® GM45 Express Chipset x86/MMX/SSE2 Driver Version: 2.1 Mesa 8.0.4 GPU Accelerated Windows: 0/1 Basic Vendor ID: Tungsten Graphics, Inc WebGL Renderer: Tungsten Graphics, Inc -- Mesa DRI Mobile Intel® GM45 Express Chipset x86/MMX/SSE2 windowLayerManagerRemote: false AzureCanvasBackend: cairo AzureContentBackend: none AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: none AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0

JavaScript

Incremental GC: true

Accessibility

Activated: false Prevent Accessibility: 0

Library Versions

NSPR Expected minimum version: 4.10.2 Version in use: 4.10.2

NSS Expected minimum version: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC

NSSSMIME Expected minimum version: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC

NSSSSL Expected minimum version: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC

NSSUTIL Expected minimum version: 3.15.3.1 Version in use: 3.15.3.1

user1027364
user1027364 Question owner

Okay, I'll do a reset and hopefully that'll fix the problem. I'll let you know if it was successful or not.

user1027364
user1027364 Question owner

Okay, the reset worked! Here is the information I copied from the Troubleshooting Information :

Application Basics

Name: Firefox Version: 26.0 User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:26.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/26.0

Extensions

Name: null Version: 8.0.6 Enabled: false ID: urladvisor@kaspersky.com

Important Modified Preferences

browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400 browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 358400 browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion: 4 browser.sessionstore.upgradeBackup.latestBuildID: 20131205075310 browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID: 20131205075310 browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone: 26.0 extensions.lastAppVersion: 26.0 gfx.blacklist.webgl.msaa: 4 network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 100664 plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types: application/pdf privacy.sanitize.migrateFx3Prefs: true

Graphics

Device ID: 0x 8a0 GPU Accelerated Windows: 1/1 OpenGL Vendor ID: 0x10de WebGL Renderer: NVIDIA Corporation -- NVIDIA GeForce 320M OpenGL Engine windowLayerManagerRemote: false AzureCanvasBackend: quartz AzureContentBackend: quartz AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: none AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0

JavaScript

Incremental GC: true

Accessibility

Activated: false Prevent Accessibility: 0

Library Versions

NSPR Expected minimum version: 4.10.2 Version in use: 4.10.2

NSS Expected minimum version: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC

NSSSMIME Expected minimum version: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC

NSSSSL Expected minimum version: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC

NSSUTIL Expected minimum version: 3.15.3.1 Version in use: 3.15.3.1

user1027364
user1027364 Question owner

I just realized that I just gave the information for the browser without the extensions that I had installed. Here's the accurate Troubleshooting Information with the extensions:

Hopefully that is of some help.

Application Basics

Name: Firefox Version: 26.0 User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:26.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/26.0

Extensions

Name: Adblock Plus Version: 2.4 Enabled: true ID: {d10d0bf8-f5b5-c8b4-a8b2-2b9879e08c5d}

Name: BetterPrivacy Version: 1.68 Enabled: true ID: {d40f5e7b-d2cf-4856-b441-cc613eeffbe3}

Name: Dictionary Extension Version: 3.0.12.1 Enabled: true ID: jid0-raWjElI57dRa4jx9CCiYm5qZUQU@jetpack

Name: Ghostery Version: 5.0.6 Enabled: true ID: firefox@ghostery.com

Name: Gmail Checker Version: 2.6.3 Enabled: true ID: {6BFD307A-C040-11DA-9749-FB1C850B47DF}

Name: HTTPS-Everywhere Version: 3.4.3 Enabled: true ID: https-everywhere@eff.org

Name: LastPass Version: 3.0.12 Enabled: true ID: support@lastpass.com

Name: Reddit Enhancement Suite Version: 4.3.1.2 Enabled: true ID: jid1-xUfzOsOFlzSOXg@jetpack

Name: Search by Image for Google Version: 1.2.0 Enabled: true ID: {ab4b5718-3998-4a2c-91ae-18a7c2db513e}

Name: Socialite Version: 1.5.1 Enabled: true ID: socialite@chromakode

Name: Thumbnail Zoom Plus Version: 2.6 Enabled: true ID: thumbnailZoom@dadler.github.com

Name: Tube Enhancer Plus Version: 2.7.2 Enabled: true ID: firefoxaddon@youtubeenhancer.com

Name: WOT Version: 20131030 Enabled: true ID: {a0d7ccb3-214d-498b-b4aa-0e8fda9a7bf7}

Name: null Version: 8.0.6 Enabled: false ID: urladvisor@kaspersky.com

Important Modified Preferences

accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar: 0 browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400 browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 358400 browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false browser.places.smartBookmarksVersion: 4 browser.sessionstore.upgradeBackup.latestBuildID: 20131205075310 browser.startup.homepage_override.buildID: 20131205075310 browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone: 26.0 dom.mozApps.used: true extensions.lastAppVersion: 26.0 gfx.blacklist.webgl.msaa: 4 network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true places.database.lastMaintenance: 1388458622 places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 100664 plugin.disable_full_page_plugin_for_types: application/pdf plugin.importedState: true privacy.sanitize.migrateFx3Prefs: true storage.vacuum.last.index: 0 storage.vacuum.last.places.sqlite: 1388458622

Graphics

Device ID: 0x 8a0 GPU Accelerated Windows: 1/1 OpenGL Vendor ID: 0x10de WebGL Renderer: NVIDIA Corporation -- NVIDIA GeForce 320M OpenGL Engine windowLayerManagerRemote: false AzureCanvasBackend: quartz AzureContentBackend: quartz AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: none AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0

JavaScript

Incremental GC: true

Accessibility

Activated: false Prevent Accessibility: 0

Library Versions

NSPR Expected minimum version: 4.10.2 Version in use: 4.10.2

NSS Expected minimum version: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC

NSSSMIME Expected minimum version: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC

NSSSSL Expected minimum version: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC Version in use: 3.15.3.1 Basic ECC

NSSUTIL Expected minimum version: 3.15.3.1 Version in use: 3.15.3.1

kobe
kobe

It was likely those addons you had (maybe Socialite)?

Nothing else screamed out at me.

kobe
kobe

Also if you have not already, please mark this thread as solved by marking the solution.
This will help other users experiencing similar problems find help faster and more efficiently.

I hope you continue using our products and thank you for contacting Mozilla Support.