Slow Firefox

A Windows 11 upgrade can sometimes leave Firefox using a lot more CPU or memory than normal, especially if graphics drivers, extensions, or hardware acceleration are acting up.

I’d start with Help → Troubleshoot Mode in Firefox. If Firefox runs normally there, the problem is probably an extension, theme, or hardware acceleration.

Next, try turning off hardware acceleration:

Settings → General → Performance Uncheck Use recommended performance settings, then uncheck Use hardware acceleration when available. Restart Firefox after that.

Also make sure your graphics drivers are fully updated from Intel/NVIDIA/AMD, not just through Windows Update.

If it’s still bad, check Firefox’s built-in task manager by typing about:processes in the address bar. That can show whether one tab, extension, or process is eating CPU or memory.

If none of that helps, a Firefox Refresh may be worth trying, but I’d test Troubleshoot Mode first.

I had already done these steps, hardware acceleration is off, I have no extensions installed, I did a clean reinstall of my 3080 drivers. I think my next step to get off Firefox, it doesn’t seem stable.

Steve Kinnaird

Oh, and I did a reset, maybe a slight improvement.