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Firefox won't open even when running.

  • 2 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 73 views
  • Last reply by FredMcD

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I have version 34.0.5 updated 12.19.2014. Click on it several times. Sometimes open after many hours of waiting. Run Norton utilities weekly to clean computer. Read your articles. Solution requires going on Internet. How can I do that when Firefox doesn't open? I'm sending this question on my smartphone. Can I fix the problem on desktop computer from my smartphone?

I have version 34.0.5 updated 12.19.2014. Click on it several times. Sometimes open after many hours of waiting. Run Norton utilities weekly to clean computer. Read your articles. Solution requires going on Internet. How can I do that when Firefox doesn't open? I'm sending this question on my smartphone. Can I fix the problem on desktop computer from my smartphone?

All Replies (2)

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Certain Firefox problems can be solved by performing a Clean reinstall. This means you remove Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox. Please follow these steps:

Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.

  1. Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from mozilla.org (or choose the download for your operating system and language from this page) and save the setup file to your computer.
  2. After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (or open the Firefox menu New Fx Menu and click the close button Close 29).
  3. Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default:
    • Windows:
      • C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
      • C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
    • Mac: Delete Firefox from the Applications folder.
    • Linux: If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it - see Install Firefox on Linux. If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder firefox in your home directory.
  4. Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:
    1. Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
    2. Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.

More information about reinstalling Firefox can be found here.

WARNING: Do not use a third party uninstaller as part of this process. Doing so could permanently delete your Firefox profile data, including but not limited to, extensions, cache, cookies, bookmarks, personal settings and saved passwords. These cannot be easily recovered unless they have been backed up to an external device! See Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.

Please report back to say if this helped you!

Thank you.

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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?


Is there a Firefox icon on your taskbar? Right click and select Open New Window. If the window opens, then Menu > Files > Exit