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 to stop the disappearing Firefox shortcut icon

  • 5 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by cor-el

more options

About every two days or so, my Firefox icon disappears from the desktop and my taskbar. I have to relocate the icon and repin it. Annoying. Is this something to do with being on the beta version? Or is anyone else having this repetitive problem, likely due to updates? Anyway to stop it from happening?

About every two days or so, my Firefox icon disappears from the desktop and my taskbar. I have to relocate the icon and repin it. Annoying. Is this something to do with being on the beta version? Or is anyone else having this repetitive problem, likely due to updates? Anyway to stop it from happening?

All Replies (5)

more options

The icon should not disappear unless you remove it. Even removing the program would not remove the icon unless you tried using it.

Note: If you are still using the beta v61, you should get to the full version, or update the beta.

When the icon disappears, had you done a reboot? Run a system cleaner . . . . .

more options

No, it's not supposed to disappear, but it does. I'm not doing any manual updates, though I have Microsoft updates set to automatic. Can't see why that would be a problem. Since it doesn't seem to be a widespread problem, I'll just uninstall FF and reinstall.

more options

I would advise not using beta for anything other then testing purpose.

more options

Hi, try this to fix any registry and file errors in Win10 :

!) Use the Windows key + X keyboard shortcut to open the Power User menu and select Command Prompt (Admin).

2) Type the following command and press Enter:

3) DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Reboot after.

Certain Firefox problems can be solved by performing a Clean reinstall. This means you remove your Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox. This process does not remove your Firefox profile data (such as bookmarks and passwords), since that information is stored in a different location.

To do a clean reinstall of Firefox, please follow these steps: Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.

  1. Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from this page) and save the setup file to your computer.
  2. After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (or open the Firefox menu New Fx Menu and click the close button Close 29).
  3. Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default:
    • Windows:
      • C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
      • C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
    • Mac: Delete Firefox from the Applications folder.
    • Linux: If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it - see Install Firefox on Linux. If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder firefox in your home directory.
  4. Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:
    1. Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
    2. Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.

More information about reinstalling Firefox can be found here.

WARNING: Do not use a third party uninstaller as part of this process. Doing so could permanently delete your Firefox profile data, including but not limited to, extensions, cache, cookies, bookmarks, personal settings and saved passwords. These cannot be easily recovered unless they have been backed up to an external device! See Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.

Please report back to say if this helped you!

Thank you.

more options

Try to make the shortcut read-only via the properties (right-click menu).