firefox was working, shut down mac and now where the firefox icon used to be is the apple "applications" icon with the work "firefox" when I hover, won't open!
was surfing along with firefox, then shut down my mac as usual. powered back up a couple of hours later and the firefox icon was gone. In its place a little apple "app" icon (the "A" made up of a ruler, pencil, and paintbrush) in a gray rectangle. Upon hovering over it, the name firefox shows up in a gray rectangle as usual, as the names of all other apps show up next to any icon hovered over. When clicked, I get the message: The application "Firefox" cannot be opened. I had a bunch of tabs open, some important, and I don't want to lose them! I downloaded Firefox again thinking I'd try re-installing it. When I slide the Firefox icon into the app folder icon, I get a message telling me firefox already existed, did I want to replace it? Which left me thinking I'd probably lose all my tabs if I tried and if the same version of firefox already exists it seems unlikely that replacing it with the same thing would help. The only thing I can think of is that a bubble had popped up the last time firefox was running saying apple wanted to update or access something, enter my password - I don't recall exactly what it said. It looked like something I've seen before. Could some apple update have caused firefox not to load? OS X version 10.11.1 on a late 2008 macbook. Boy would I love to solve this and keep my tabs! Thanks any and all!
Chosen solution
Let’s do a full clean re-install;
Download Firefox For All languages And Systems {web link}
Save the file. Then Close Firefox.
Using your file browser, open the Programs Folder on your computer.
Windows: C:\Program Files C:\Program Files (x86)
Mac: Open the "Applications" folder. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-download-and-install-firefox-mac
Linux: Check your user manual. If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it. See Install Firefox on Linux; https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/install-firefox-linux
If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder Firefox in your home directory. http://www.mozilla.org/firefox#desktop ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Look for, and remove any Mozilla or Firefox program folders. Do not remove the Mozilla Thunderbird folder if there is one.
Do Not remove any profile folders.
After rebooting the computer, run a registry scanner if you have one. Then run the installer. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If there is a problem, start your Computer in safe mode and try again.
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Linux+Safe+Mode This shows how to Start all Computers in Safe Mode; Free Online Encyclopedia
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Chosen Solution
Let’s do a full clean re-install;
Download Firefox For All languages And Systems {web link}
Save the file. Then Close Firefox.
Using your file browser, open the Programs Folder on your computer.
Windows: C:\Program Files C:\Program Files (x86)
Mac: Open the "Applications" folder. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-download-and-install-firefox-mac
Linux: Check your user manual. If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it. See Install Firefox on Linux; https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/install-firefox-linux
If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder Firefox in your home directory. http://www.mozilla.org/firefox#desktop ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Look for, and remove any Mozilla or Firefox program folders. Do not remove the Mozilla Thunderbird folder if there is one.
Do Not remove any profile folders.
After rebooting the computer, run a registry scanner if you have one. Then run the installer. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If there is a problem, start your Computer in safe mode and try again.
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Linux+Safe+Mode This shows how to Start all Computers in Safe Mode; Free Online Encyclopedia
Thanks FredMcD! For giving me courage. I did not follow your advice precisely, rather, simply opened Safari, since firefox could no longer be opened, then downloaded the install package again, and clicked, "replace existing folder" when prompted with options. All the open tabs I was afraid of losing in so doing came back at once upon opening the freshly installed firefox application. I guess that info is stored in a separate folder, perhaps the profile folder you mentioned. Thank you kindly for taking the time to help.
Glad to help. Safe Surfing.
Firefox comes in two or more folders on all computers. They are;
Maintenance: (Programs Folder) <Windows Only> Firefox itself: (Programs Folder) And two folders in the profile of each user on the computer for each Firefox profile for that user.
If you remove the Firefox folder, the user profiles would not be affected.