Firefox UI freezes when clicking the addressbar.
I am using Firefox 125 in Windows 11. And this just happens recently.
Sometimes, quite frequently, when I click the addressbar wanting to input or select a new address. The Firefox UI freezes (before the dropdown list of addresses is shown). The video/audio/other effects are still working, and from task manager, it does not cost more CPU/mem than usual. But it does not response to key press or mouse action. All I can do (that I know of) is killing the processes. The problem does not seem related to "current" webpage I am browsing. And I have not installed new addons for a few months.
Any idea what should I look into?
Chosen solution
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer said
There's a Clipboard checkbox on the suggestion source list starting in Firefox 125: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/address-bar-autocomplete-firefox#w_how-can-i-control-what-results-the-address-bar-shows-me
Thank you. The UI is a little different in my Firefox. There is no "address bar" in the title.
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Boot the computer into Windows Safe Mode with network support to see if that has effect.
- https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tuto.../how-to-start-windows-in-safe-mode/
- https://www.digitalcitizen.life/4-ways-boot-safe-mode-windows-10/
If you use Sync, best is to disconnect Sync temporarily during troubleshooting.
You can check for problems with the places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder.
- use the "Places Database" -> "Verify Integrity" button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support)
If errors are reported with "Verify Integrity", close and restart Firefox or reboot and retry.
If "Verify Integrity" cannot repair places.sqlite, rename/remove all places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder with Firefox closed. Firefox will rebuild places.sqlite and restore the bookmarks from the most recent JSON backup in the bookmarkbackups folder.
- keep a backup copy of places.sqlite in case a new places.sqlite database has to be created
- you lose the history when a new places.sqlite is created
You may have to restore an older bookmarks backup in the bookmarkbackups folder via the Bookmarks Manager (Library).
- Bookmarks -> Manage Bookmarks -> Import & Backup -> Restore
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/restore-bookmarks-from-backup-or-move-them
See also:
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/fix-bookmarks-and-history-will-not-be-functional
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/cant-add-change-or-save-bookmarks
You can use the button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page (Root directory).
- Help -> More Troubleshooting Information -> Profile Folder/Directory:
Windows: Open Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data
As a cross-reference, there is a thread on Reddit about this problem (unsolved):
https://old.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/1cgxysc/ever_since_update_the_second_i_press_the_search/
You can try to disable Clipboard in the settings for the location/address bar.
The location bar drop-down list can show history items, bookmarked pages, pages opened in tabs, top sites, and search suggestions. You can set what suggestions show when you enter an URL in the location/address bar bar.
- Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Address Bar — Firefox Suggest:
Browsing history
Bookmarks
Clipboard
Open tabs
Shortcuts
Search engines
- 1894614 - Long hangs (75s) seen when opening the address bar due to waiting for the clipboard
(please do not comment in bug reports
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/page.cgi?id=etiquette.html)
Modified
Does disabling Clipboard like I suggested above work for you as this is a new feature that got enabled in Firefox 25?
cor-el said
Does disabling Clipboard like I suggested above work for you as this is a new feature that got enabled in Firefox 25?
Oh, I did not know yet. The issue has not happened since the post, weird. Trying to trigger it and see if any of the solution works.
I don't think the problem occurs when you've copied something simple in Firefox. It may be linked to copying something large in another application.
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer said
I don't think the problem occurs when you've copied something simple in Firefox. It may be linked to copying something large in another application.
I think my problem does not directly related to copy/paste (as it was never triggered by copy/paste). But I am not sure if it was because of something special in the clipboard when I clicked the addressbar.
cor-el said
Boot the computer into Windows Safe Mode with network support to see if that has effect.If you use Sync, best is to disconnect Sync temporarily during troubleshooting. You can check for problems with the places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder.
- https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tuto.../how-to-start-windows-in-safe-mode/
- https://www.digitalcitizen.life/4-ways-boot-safe-mode-windows-10/
If errors are reported with "Verify Integrity", close and restart Firefox or reboot and retry. If "Verify Integrity" cannot repair places.sqlite, rename/remove all places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder with Firefox closed. Firefox will rebuild places.sqlite and restore the bookmarks from the most recent JSON backup in the bookmarkbackups folder.
- use the "Places Database" -> "Verify Integrity" button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support)
You may have to restore an older bookmarks backup in the bookmarkbackups folder via the Bookmarks Manager (Library).
- keep a backup copy of places.sqlite in case a new places.sqlite database has to be created
- you lose the history when a new places.sqlite is created
See also:
- Bookmarks -> Manage Bookmarks -> Import & Backup -> Restore
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/restore-bookmarks-from-backup-or-move-them
You can use the button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page (Root directory).
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/fix-bookmarks-and-history-will-not-be-functional
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/cant-add-change-or-save-bookmarks
- Help -> More Troubleshooting Information -> Profile Folder/Directory:
Windows: Open Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data
So I got it triggered today. Seems like troubleshoot mode did not help. After I enabled the mode and restarted Firefox, it still froze the same way. One thing interesting was that, I then killed Firefox and started it again. It did not look like in the troubleshoot mode.
Another hint is that, once I got this triggered, and restarted Firefox, it can be triggered again, if the first action was clicking the addressbar. If I restarted and clicked one of the existing tabs (and it would start loading the previous page), the problem seemed gone (at least for this time). I can click the addressbar then.
PS: I checked the sqlite database a few days ago, it was alright.
Did this occur after you disabled suggestions from Clipboard on the Settings page?
If you paste into Microsoft Word or another app that can handle a lot of different types of content, what is on the clipboard?
I think I can confirm it is about clipboard.
I just triggered it on not-addressbar, but trying to paste into the search box of Bing. It froze all the same. But I had to check my cat for a while (10 mins, based on the last post I sent), the browser got recovered.
And also, I figured the trigger, it is my remote desktop connection to my Linux host. This explains why I did not have the issue some days before because I did not use the remote desktop. Seems like there is a race condition on clipboard.
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer said
Did this occur after you disabled suggestions from Clipboard on the Settings page? If you paste into Microsoft Word or another app that can handle a lot of different types of content, what is on the clipboard?
I am still working on disabling clipboard, I did not find that option.
It was simple text. And this also leads to another info, I never got such freezing in other apps. For now I am certain my remote desktop connection is the cause of the problem. And I think there might be some possible improvements in Firefox to avoid the freezing.
There's a Clipboard checkbox on the suggestion source list starting in Firefox 125:
Chosen Solution
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer said
There's a Clipboard checkbox on the suggestion source list starting in Firefox 125: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/address-bar-autocomplete-firefox#w_how-can-i-control-what-results-the-address-bar-shows-me
Thank you. The UI is a little different in my Firefox. There is no "address bar" in the title.