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Why is firefox taking up 175GB on my hard drive?

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Tytoros
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I was cleaning up my hard drive and while I was on my control panel it said that Firefox was taking up 124 GB of space on my D: Drive. I uninstalled it and then reinstalled it. I checked it again and it was higher! This time it was at 175 GB! I couldn't find anything about this on a google search. So I deleted Firefox again. I'm using Firefox for school purposes only. Any help would be great. Thanks.

Also, I submitted this from Chrome as I wasn't sure if there was a serious problem.

I was cleaning up my hard drive and while I was on my control panel it said that Firefox was taking up 124 GB of space on my D: Drive. I uninstalled it and then reinstalled it. I checked it again and it was higher! This time it was at 175 GB! I couldn't find anything about this on a google search. So I deleted Firefox again. I'm using Firefox for school purposes only. Any help would be great. Thanks. Also, I submitted this from Chrome as I wasn't sure if there was a serious problem.

All Replies (3)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
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Could you reality check that as follows:

Open C:\Program Files (x86)\ in Windows Explorer

Right-click the Mozilla Firefox folder > Properties

That should show a size similar to 86.5 MB

If you see a gigantic measurement, I don't what would be causing that, but you can try cleaning it up as follows:

Clean Reinstall

We use this name, but it's not about removing your settings, it's about making sure the program files are clean (no inconsistent, corrupted, or alien code files). As described below, this process does not disturb your existing settings. Do NOT uninstall Firefox, that's not needed.

(A) Download a fresh installer for Firefox 41.0.1 from https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ to a convenient location. (Scroll down to your preferred language.)

(B) Exit out of Firefox (if applicable).

(C) Rename the current program folder, either:

(64-bit Windows folder names) 

C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox

to 

C:\Program Files (x86)\OldFirefox

(32-bit Windows folder names) 

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox

to 

C:\Program Files\OldFirefox

(D) Run the installer you downloaded in (A). It should automatically connect to your existing settings.

I'm not sure whether that updates the total in the Uninstall a Program dialog, but it should give you a more logical result when you again right-click > Properties on the folder.

Note: Some plugins may exist only in that OldFirefox folder. If something essential is missing, look in these folders:

  • \OldFirefox\Plugins
  • \OldFirefox\browser\plugins

Otherwise, there's no reason to keep the old folder except research/curiosity.

cor-el
cor-el
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Firefox may create an update folder when an update is downloaded and prepared for installation. That may explain the double size of the Firefox installation.

If you have such a folder then try to run the Firefox program once as Administrator (right-click: Run as Administrator) to see if that makes install the update.

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Thanks for the replies. I will test them out.