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Why firefox goes laggy over time

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  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by ariloum

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Hello, I've this Firefox behavior a long time with using two os : windows 7 and osx. It's the same for all firefox versions I used, for sure is is so for versions 31-40, I don't remember how it was for earlier ones. The problem is - Firefox goes laggy overtime: scrolling goes laggy, text typing goes laggy, all interface lags. So, if I just restart Firefox it working nicely. But if I leave it (minimized or whatever) for a few hours (3-5) with no usage at all, it starts lagging.

I'm suspecting Firefox CPU usage jumps from 2-3% to 10-15% even its minimized http://prntscr.com/8kswnr I've all cache turned off. I've a few some plugins installed, here is a list : http://prntscr.com/8ksyha http://prntscr.com/8ksyl2

Hello, I've this Firefox behavior a long time with using two os : windows 7 and osx. It's the same for all firefox versions I used, for sure is is so for versions 31-40, I don't remember how it was for earlier ones. The problem is - Firefox goes laggy overtime: scrolling goes laggy, text typing goes laggy, all interface lags. So, if I just restart Firefox it working nicely. But if I leave it (minimized or whatever) for a few hours (3-5) with no usage at all, it starts lagging. I'm suspecting Firefox CPU usage jumps from 2-3% to 10-15% even its minimized http://prntscr.com/8kswnr I've all cache turned off. I've a few some plugins installed, here is a list : http://prntscr.com/8ksyha http://prntscr.com/8ksyl2

All Replies (8)

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Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web Link} by holding down the <Shift>
(Mac Options)
key, and then starting Firefox. Is the problem still there?


Separate Issue; Your System Details shows;

Installed Plug-ins

Shockwave Flash 19.0 r0 Shockwave Flash 12.0 r0
Having more than one version of a program may cause issues. You must remove the older programs. Then get the current full installer.

Note: Edge on Win10 does not use ActiveX version but its own Flash.

Flash: Grab the uninstaller from here: Uninstall Flash Player | Windows Uninstall Flash Player | Mac

Then reinstall the latest version.

Flash Player Version 19.0.0.185
https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html
Note: Windows users must download the “Internet Explorer” and “Plugin-based browsers” installers.

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This sounds like a problem with an extension that stores (too much) data and slows down Firefox because of that. Try to disable Firebug to see if that helps.

Otherwise you can start with disabling content blocking extensions to check if one of those is causing this lagging.

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I just tried to start firefox in safe mode and you know what? I've discovered that lag is not random and happens by timer just about every second. I've found it while I was playing with page scrolling. It's still lagging even on fresh/safe mode run, but in this case lag takes minimal time. But I can see it clearly while scroll some really long page (not really to long - it was your link to safe mode article) with the middle mouse button scroller type (single clicked). You should play with scrolling speed to see it. Thus, over time the lag time goes longer and longer. I will try to leave minimized this my ff run till the morning and let you know about lag size changes.

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You can try to disable hardware acceleration in Firefox.

  • Tools > Options > Advanced > General > Browsing: "Use hardware acceleration when available"

You need to close and restart Firefox after toggling this setting.

You can check if there is an update for your graphics display driver and check for hardware acceleration related issues.

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I checked out lag time increase today and it highly degraded, now it's just about 0.5+ second. Let me check how it's going with no hardware acceleration. I have latest drivers both on win7 and osx - same lag.

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I tried turning off hardware acceleration and restart browser - no changes, lag is still here for both ff modes - usual and safe.

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You cant reproduce it? It's better to see the lag on fresh ff run while have MBC (mid mouse btn) scrolling with slow speed so it's very smooth and also ff window is maximized. And I can see a small delays/jumps (maybe it's less than 50-100ms drops), which is highly degrades over time.

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I tried to make a video and capturing my ff application ui form with bbflashback, but 15 fps is not enough to see that bug and higher fps setting doesnt produce better and smoother video quality. As I can see there is no any reaction on my posts, there is no interest for devs to catch one of the oldest bug that I expecting on different platforms a looong time? Or I need to post it to bug tracker?