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When I open links, all I get are a string of little question marks inside diamonds like this: �. It also happens if I type in the URL of certain websites. Why?

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  • Last reply by cor-el

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When I open links, the new page or tab that opens only contains a long string of question marks inside diamonds - �. It doesn't happen with every link, and doesn't happen every time you open the same link. It also happens if I type in the URL of certain websites (or if I type in the URL for a link directly into the address bar).

It's only started happening in the last 3 or 4 days. Websites that I've stored in my favourites and have accessed through Firefox quite happily all year are suddenly only appearing as �������. Any ideas anybody?

When I open links, the new page or tab that opens only contains a long string of question marks inside diamonds - �. It doesn't happen with every link, and doesn't happen every time you open the same link. It also happens if I type in the URL of certain websites (or if I type in the URL for a link directly into the address bar). It's only started happening in the last 3 or 4 days. Websites that I've stored in my favourites and have accessed through Firefox quite happily all year are suddenly only appearing as �������. Any ideas anybody?

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Links should be stored as UTF-8 and show a little box with the hex code in case of problems and not such a FF FD code that indicates a character that can not be mapped.

You may have a corrupted font or a problem with an extension.

You can try to check the files with the System File Checker:

Start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of your add-ons is causing your problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Tools > Add-ons > Themes).

  • Don't make any changes on the Safe mode start window.

See Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems and Troubleshoot issues with plugins like Flash or Java to fix common Firefox problems