Firefox Refusing To Open
When I first downloaded Firefox it opened normally and stayed open for around twenty seconds after which it crashed. Every subsequent attempt to open it has resulted in the outline of the program briefly flashing in the corner of my screen but otherwise nothing. It also doesn't appear in task manager. I have scoured the internet looking for solutions and have reinstalled it several times but nothing has worked. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
All Replies (5)
We're sorry to hear that your Firefox seems to be crashing when you open it. Please perform the following steps to give us a crash report ID that helps us find out more about the cause of the crash.
- On the keyboard, press [Windows] The image "Windows key" does not exist. + [R]. This should bring up a Run window that contains a text field.
- In that text field, type %APPDATA% and press Enter. An explorer window should open.
- From that explorer window, double-click on the Mozilla folder, then double-click on Firefox and then on Crash reports. Double-click on submitted.
- Now, you should see a list of files that contain reports. Go to View > Arrange Icons by > Modified to get the most recent files at the top of the window.
- Open the most recent 5 files with a text editor and copy the IDs.
- Paste each ID with bp- into the reply window on the forums.
Thanks in advance!
You can find more information and troubleshooting steps in the Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly) article.
Thank you for the response. The crash window never opened and as such there are unfortunately no crash reports. I also tried everything on that article already. Is there anything else I can do to help narrow down the issue?
Boot the computer in Windows Safe Mode with network support to see if that has effect.
- https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tuto.../how-to-start-windows-in-safe-mode/
- https://www.digitalcitizen.life/4-ways-boot-safe-mode-windows-10/
You can check for issues caused by a corrupted or incomplete Visual C++ installation that is missing runtime components (Redistributable Packages) required by Firefox.
See "Visual Studio 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022":
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-US/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist
- https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x64.exe
- https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x86.exe
You may also have to install the Visual Studio 2013 Redistributable Package. You need to reboot the computer.
You can create a new profile as a quick test to see if your current profile is causing the problem.
See "Creating a profile":
If the new profile works then you can transfer files from a previously used profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over problems.
Firefox worked when I booted in safe mode but the other suggestions didn't work, unfortunately. The C++ install didn't have an effect and the profile manager also refused to launch. Does this information help?
Restart your computer. Sometimes problems can be fixed by simply restarting your computer and then starting Firefox again. Clear your cookies and cache. Restart Firefox in Safe Mode. Restart Firefox in Troubleshoot Mode. Reinstall Firefox. Refresh Firefox. Create a new Firefox profile.
Regards, Peter