Try disabling graphics hardware acceleration in Firefox. Since this feature was added to Firefox it has gradually improved but there are still a few glitches.

You will need to restart Firefox for this to take effect so save all work first (e.g., mail you are composing, online documents you're editing, etc.,) and then perform these steps:

In Firefox 54 and below:

1. Click the menu button and select Options (Windows) or Preferences (Mac, Linux).
2. Select the Advanced panel and the General tab.
3. Uncheck Use hardware acceleration when available.
4. Close Firefox completely and then restart Firefox to see if the problem persists.

In Firefox 55 and above:

1. Click the menu button and select Options (Windows) or Preferences (Mac, Linux).
2. Select the General panel.
3. Under Performance, uncheck Use recommended performance settings. Additional settings will be displayed.

   

4. Uncheck Use hardware acceleration when available.
5. Close Firefox completely and then restart Firefox to see if the problem persists.

Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

If the problem is resolved, you should check for updates for your graphics driver by following the steps mentioned in these Knowledge base articles:

• Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems

• Upgrade your graphics drivers to use hardware acceleration and WebGL

Thank you.

Some problems with Flash video playback can be resolved by disabling hardware acceleration in your Flash Player settings. (See this article for more information on using the Flash plugin in Firefox).

To disable hardware acceleration in Flash Player:

1. Go to this Adobe Flash Player Help page.
2. Right-click on the Flash Player logo on that page.
3. Click on Settings in the context menu. The Adobe Flash Player Settings screen will open.
4. Click on the icon at the bottom-left of the Adobe Flash Player Settings window to open the Display panel.
   
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5. Remove the check mark from Enable hardware acceleration.
6. Click Close to close the Adobe Flash Player Settings Window.
7. Restart Firefox.

This Flash Player Help - Display Settings page has more information on Flash Player hardware acceleration, if you're interested.

Does this solve the problem? Let us know.

I disabled hardware acceleration in Firefox, but couldn't figure out how to disable acceleration in Flash Player...

By the way, I haven't had any problems with Flash video playback, it's just that my Firefox tabs have been going "Gah, This page just crashed" a lot recently.

I want to minimize tampering with any of my settings, and do only what's absolutely necessary to stop the tabs from crashing in Firefox.

Is it really necessary to disable hardware acceleration in Flash Player, or is just disabling hardware acceleration in Firefox enough to fix the tabs crashing problem?

We won't know until the problem goes away.

Hey, thanks for all the help! So far Firefox has been running fine, but then again, I downloaded the Adobe Flash uninstaller program and ran it. The funny thing is, even with Flash removed, I can watch YouTube and stream videos just fine...does that mean I actually still have Flash installed?

No.

YouTube and most other websites use the HTML5 media player and not the Shockwave Flash plugin to play media files.

I am glad to hear that your problem has been resolved. If you haven't already, please select the answer that solves the problem. This will help other users with similar problems find the solution more easily.

Thank you for contacting Mozilla Support.