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Firefox Starts but doesn't show the browser

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  • Last reply by cor-el

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Hi ! I am a firefox user and i am using Windows 10 Home . today i tried to start firefox, firefox started but it didn't show the browser . i also tried refreshing and reinstalling but it still doesn't work . please help .

Hi ! I am a firefox user and i am using Windows 10 Home . today i tried to start firefox, firefox started but it didn't show the browser . i also tried refreshing and reinstalling but it still doesn't work . please help .

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Some problems occur when your Internet security program was set to trust the previous version of Firefox, but no longer recognizes your updated version as trusted. Now how to fix the problem: To allow Firefox to connect to the Internet again;

  • Make sure your Internet security software is up-to-date (i.e. you are running the latest version).
  • Remove Firefox from your program's list of trusted or recognized programs. For detailed instructions, see

Configure firewalls so that Firefox can access the Internet. {web link}

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What's your computer system and Firefox version?


Occasionally the Firefox window will get off screen. Here are three different approaches to getting that window into view. One of them should work!


Firefox Window "off screen" — Arrow Key Method

If you know that Firefox is off to a particular side, you can use the arrow keys to move it back on screen. You only need to move it far enough to be able to click the title bar and then you can drag it the rest of the way.

Make the Firefox tile active on the task bar and press this key combination to start moving the window:

Alt+Spacebar > M

(To clarify, that's Alt+Spacebar to open the window control menu, then the letter m to start moving the window.)

Press the arrow key for the direction you want to move the window, e.g., press the left arrow key to move the window left. Press the Enter key to complete the move.

Firefox Window "off screen" — Maximize + New Window Script Method

If Firefox is nowhere to be found but you know it's out there, try this method. Make the Firefox tile active on the task bar and press this key combination to maximize the window:

Alt+Spacebar > X

(To clarify, that's Alt+Spacebar to open the window control menu, then the letter x to maximize the window.)

If that works, try this:

(1) Copy the following line of code to the clipboard (it's all one line...):

newwin=window.open(window.location.href,"_blank","width=640,height=480,menubar,toolbar,personalbar");newwin.moveTo(0,0);

(2) In the maximized window, press Ctrl+Shift+K to open the web console.

(3) Press Ctrl+v to paste the line of code next to the caret (») then press Enter to run it. A new copy of that page should open in a window positioned at the top left of the screen.

(4) Switch back to the maximized window and close it first, before doing anything in the new window.

Firefox Window "off screen" — Remove Settings File

If you can't move or maximize Firefox, you can rename or delete the settings file that stores the last window position.

(1) Open your currently active Firefox settings folder (AKA Firefox profile folder). From the Start menu (Run box or search box), paste this into the search box and press Enter:

%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

This should open a window showing one or more Firefox profile folders. If you have multiple folders, look for the most recent. Click into your profile folder.

(2) If Firefox is still running, right-click it on the Task Bar and Close all Windows.

(3) Wait a few moments for Firefox to finish updating files in your profile folder, then rename xulstore.json to something else, like localstore-bad.rdf or localstore.old. Alternately, you can delete the file.

(4) You're done with your profile folder and you can restart Firefox now.

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You can check for issues caused by a corrupted or incomplete Visual C++ installation that is missing runtime components (Redistributable Packages) required by Firefox, especially VCRUNTIME140_1.dll.

See "Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019":

You may not need the latter (32-bit version) if you use 64-bit Firefox. You may have to reboot the computer.