Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

How do I EXIT firefox 29.0 (and save windows/tabs)?

  • 6 replies
  • 10 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by hengels

more options

Previous versions of Firefox allowed me to "exit Firefox" from the drop-down file menu. This is now gone as of the 29.0 update. How do I now exit Firefox while saving my open windows/tabs? Should I just shut the computer down (with FF still running) and hope all windows and tabs will be restored at next startup? Will I be admonished (possibly in the form of losing my windows/tabs) for not shutting Firefox down 'correctly'?

Previous versions of Firefox allowed me to "exit Firefox" from the drop-down file menu. This is now gone as of the 29.0 update. How do I now exit Firefox while saving my open windows/tabs? Should I just shut the computer down (with FF still running) and hope all windows and tabs will be restored at next startup? Will I be admonished (possibly in the form of losing my windows/tabs) for not shutting Firefox down 'correctly'?

Chosen solution

Hit the 3-bar Menu button on the right-side of the Navigation Bar, and at the bottom-right corner of the Menu Panel there is a icon for Exit.

Or you can hit the Alt key, then open the File menu, then select Exit.
Or you can use Alt then F then X - all from the keyboard.

Read this answer in context 👍 6

All Replies (6)

more options

Chosen Solution

Hit the 3-bar Menu button on the right-side of the Navigation Bar, and at the bottom-right corner of the Menu Panel there is a icon for Exit.

Or you can hit the Alt key, then open the File menu, then select Exit.
Or you can use Alt then F then X - all from the keyboard.

more options

Thank you so much. It's funny but I looked right at the power icon and immediately dismissed it as having anything to do with 'shutting down' FF. I think it's proximity to the customization and help options confused me for some reason. Maybe I'm just getting old. ;)

more options

Yeah, silly place to put it and a silly icon to boot. And Mozilla always talks about whether a feature is "discoverable". I am so used to using the keyboard to show the Menu Bar and using the File > Exit, that until I looked for that "power button" I really never looked at it. As soon as I looked at it closely, I recognized it as a "power" switch symbol. I have done a bit of work on electronic devices in the past.

more options

After upgrading to Firefox 29 on my Windows 8 platform, I was no longer able to save my pinned app tab configurations. I believe I have the same problem as expressed in this thread in that Firefox does not exit properly for me but your solution does not work for me. I can close the browser using the top-right windows X button but this does not save my browser tab settings etc. In trying to debug this problem, various sources indicate that I need to use the File menu or the new Open Menu button and then select the exit option. My problem is that although the buttons are enabled, neither of these Exit buttons do anything. The browser window remains active. Only way to close it is using the Windows Exit button. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Problem started with update to version 29. Running Windows 8.

more options

hengels,

You may have a slightly incompatible add-on that is causing your problem.

Try Firefox Safe Mode to see if the problem goes away. Firefox Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that turns off some settings and disables most add-ons (extensions and themes).

(If you're using an added theme, switch to the Default theme.)

If Firefox is open, you can restart in Firefox Safe Mode from the Help menu by clicking on the Restart with Add-ons Disabled... menu item:
FirefoxSafeMode

If Firefox is not running, you can start Firefox in Safe Mode as follows:

  • On Windows: Hold the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
  • On Mac: Hold the option key while starting Firefox.
  • On Linux: Quit Firefox, go to your Terminal and run firefox -safe-mode
    (you may need to specify the Firefox installation path e.g. /usr/lib/firefox)

Once you get the pop-up, just select "'Start in Safe Mode" Safe Mode Fx 15 - Win

If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, and you need to figure out which one. Please follow the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article to find the cause.

To exit Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.

When you figure out what's causing your issues, please let us know. It might help others with the same problem.

more options

Many thanks to the-edmeister. As suggested, I put the browser into safe-mode (used the "restart in safe mode" option) and decided to reconfigure my pinned apps tabs while in safe-mode before trying the Exit buttons. The File/Exit buttons worked correctly and when I restarted my browser in normal mode, all the tabs had been correctly saved. Also, the Exit function now works correctly from both locations in normal mode.

Don't know what the issue is/was, but am happy that this sequence worked. I'm going to review the link to track down extension issues to see if I can gain more insight into the problem. Again, thanks for the help.