I have trouble with Firefox displaying menus and options correctly, and I keep it up to date. I have to switch to Safari to perform basic activities. What's up?
I have Firefox 37.0.1 which I just updated on my MacBook Pro running Mac OX 10.7.5. Frequently, on web sites where I'm following directions to sign in or reset a password or do a financial transaction, like a purchase, there are menus missing from my screen. At first I blame the instructions for not being complete or accurate, but lately I've been trying to switch to another browser, like Safari. And when I do the missing menus appear! What's up? Have I missed a setting in Firefox that allows menus to appear?
All Replies (7)
Can you post the address of a website that shows the issue?
It's hard to give specific suggestions without more information, but here are some general ideas:
(1) Support article: Websites look wrong or appear differently than they should
(2) Have you noticed any problems with secure certificates?
(3) To bypass problems created by extensions, could you test in Firefox's Safe Mode? That's a standard diagnostic tool to deactivate extensions and some advanced features of Firefox. More info: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode.
If Firefox is not running: Hold down the option key (Windows:Shift key) when starting Firefox.
If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:
- "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
- Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
and OK the restart.
Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).
Same situation or do you get the menus now?
Hi again. Here's a site that refuses to load on Firefox but has no problem in Safari:
http://www.countytreasurer.org
This is the error message I get in Firefox:
404 - File or directory not found. The resource you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.
Hi LornaLyons, when I open Firefox's Web Console (Developer menu) and reload the page, only 4 files show a 404 status, the rest of the site seems fine. (Screen shot attached)
I did reload bypassing cached files, which is Ctrl+Shift+r on Windows but probably is Command+Shift+r on Mac. Does that make any difference for you?
Could you test the site in Firefox's Safe Mode? That's a standard diagnostic tool to deactivate extensions and some advanced features of Firefox. More info: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode.
If Firefox is not running: Hold down the option key when starting Firefox.
If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:
- "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
- Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
and OK the restart.
Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).
Will the site load?
OK. I did restart Firefox in Safe Mode and then accessed the page link I sent to you. This time it loaded. When not in Safe Mode it throws me to a Yahoo page showing search engine results. So what does this mean? Do I need to run Firefox in Safe Mode all the time?
Oh, that means you probably have a bad add-on from Spigot or Conduit. Let's try to get rid of that.
Open Firefox's Add-ons page using either:
- Command+Shift+a
- "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
In the left column, click Plugins. Set nonessential and unrecognized plugins to "Never Activate".
In the left column, click Extensions. Then, if in doubt, disable (or Remove, if possible) unrecognized and unwanted extensions.
Often a link will appear above at least one disabled extension to restart Firefox. You can complete your work on the tab and click one of the links as the last step.
Any improvement?
I did what you suggested with the Plugins and Extensions, and restarted Firefox. This time it loaded the web site in question with no problem. Thanks for your help! I'll see if it continues to load sites and menus with no issues.