Uninstall Firefox from your computer

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This article describes how to uninstall the Firefox application for supported operating systems. If you are planning to uninstall and reinstall Firefox to fix problems you may be having, you should first read Troubleshoot and diagnose Firefox problems.

Uninstall Firefox

To uninstall Firefox, follow these steps:

  1. Close Firefox (if Firefox is open): Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  2. Open the Applications folder in Finder.
  3. Drag the Firefox application to the Trash.

Your uninstall of Firefox is finished.

  • If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it - see Install Firefox on Linux for details.
  • If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder firefox in your home directory to uninstall Firefox.
  1. Close Firefox (if it is opened): Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  2. Click the Windows Start button and select Control Panel.
    Control Panel - WinXP
  3. In the Control Panel window click on Add or Remove Programs. The Add or Remove Programs window will open.
  4. Select Mozilla Firefox from the list of currently installed programs.
  5. To begin the uninstall, click the Remove button to the right of Mozilla Firefox. The Mozilla Firefox Uninstall Wizard window will open.
    If the Uninstall Wizard does not run, you can start it manually by running helper.exe, which is located by default in C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\uninstall\helper.exe.
  6. In the Mozilla Firefox Uninstall Wizard window click Next.
  7. Click Uninstall.
  8. Click Finish.
  9. To remove other files and folders that may not be removed by the uninstall, you must manually delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located by default in C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox.

Start the Mozilla Firefox uninstall

To begin the process of uninstalling Firefox, follow these steps:

  1. Close Firefox (if it is opened): Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  2. Click the Windows Start button or press the Windows Key key.
  3. In the Start Menu select Control Panel.
    Control Panel - Win7
  4. In the Control Panel window click the Uninstall a program link under the Programs section.
    Uninstall a program - Win7
  5. Select Mozilla Firefox from the list of currently installed programs.
  6. To begin the uninstall, click the Uninstall button at the top of the list. The Mozilla Firefox Uninstall window will open.
    If the Mozilla Firefox Uninstall window does not open, you can start it manually by running helper.exe, which is normally found in one of these locations by default:
    C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\uninstall\helper.exe
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\uninstall\helper.exe
  1. Close Firefox (if it is opened): Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  2. On the Start Screen click the Desktop tile. The Desktop view will open.
  3. On the Desktop hover in the lower right-hand corner to access the Charms.
  4. Select Control Panel from the Settings charm.
    • The Control Panel window will open.
      Control Panel - Win8
  5. In the Control Panel window click the Uninstall a program link under the Programs section.
    Uninstall a program - Win7
  6. Select Mozilla Firefox from the list of currently installed programs.
  7. To begin the uninstall, click the Uninstall button at the top of the list. The Mozilla Firefox Uninstall window will open.
    If the Mozilla Firefox Uninstall window does not open, you can start it manually by running helper.exe, which is normally found in one of these locations by default:
    C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\uninstall\helper.exe
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\uninstall\helper.exe
  1. Close Firefox (if it is opened): Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  2. Click the Windows Start button or press the Windows Key key.
  3. In the Start menu select Settings.
  4. In the Settings window select Apps to open the Apps & features list.
  5. Select Mozilla Firefox from the list of currently installed programs.
    Win10-UninstallFirefox
  6. To begin the uninstall, click Uninstall. The Mozilla Firefox Uninstall window will open.
    If the Mozilla Firefox Uninstall window does not open, you can start it manually by running helper.exe, which is normally found in one of these locations by default:
    C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\uninstall\helper.exe
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\uninstall\helper.exe
  1. Close Firefox (if it is opened): Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  2. Click the Windows Start button or press the Windows Key key.
  3. In the Start menu select Settings.
  4. In the Settings window select Apps and then Apps & features.
    win11 apps features
  5. Select Mozilla Firefox from the list of currently installed programs.
  6. To begin the uninstall, click the three vertical dots Vertical dots menu and then click Uninstall in the drop-down menu. The Mozilla Firefox Uninstall window will open.
    If the Mozilla Firefox Uninstall window does not open, you can start it manually by running helper.exe, which is normally found in one of these locations by default:
    C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\uninstall\helper.exe
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\uninstall\helper.exe

Fx79Uninstaller-Refresh

Note: Instead of uninstalling Firefox, you can try the Refresh Firefox option included in the uninstaller. This can fix many issues by restoring default settings and removing add-ons.

Complete the Mozilla Firefox uninstall

To finish uninstalling Firefox, follow these steps:

  1. Click Next in the Mozilla Firefox Uninstall window. The next window that opens will show the location of the Firefox program that will be uninstalled.
    Fx79Uninstaller2
  2. Click Uninstall.
  3. Click Finish to complete the uninstall.
  4. To remove other files and folders that may not be removed by the uninstall, you must manually delete the Firefox program folder from the location shown in the Uninstall Mozilla Firefox window (usually C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox or C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox).

Remove user data and settings

Uninstalling Firefox does not remove any user data such as bookmarks, history, passwords and cookies (unless you are using snap on Ubuntu). If you also want to remove this information, you should delete the Firefox folder containing your user profile:

Note: If you want to preserve your bookmarks, passwords, cookies and other user data and settings, see Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.
  1. Click the Finder icon in the dock.
  2. In the menu bar click the Go menu, hold down the option or Alt key and select Library. A window will open containing your Library folder.
  3. Open the Application Support folder.
  4. Delete the Firefox folder.
  1. (Ubuntu) Click the Places menu on the top right of the screen and select Home Folder. A File Browser window will open.
  2. Click the View menu and select Show Hidden Files if it isn't already checked.
  3. Open the folder marked .mozilla.
  4. Delete the folder marked firefox.
  1. Click the Windows Start button and select Run…. A Run dialog will open.
    • Alternatively, you can press Windows Key+R to open a Run dialog.
  2. Type in %APPDATA%\Mozilla\ and click OK. A window will open containing the Firefox folder.
  3. Delete the Firefox folder.
  1. On the Start Screen click the Desktop tile. The Desktop view will open.
  2. On the Desktop hover in the lower right-hand corner to access the Charms.
  3. Select the Search charm. The Search sidebar will open.
  4. Type %APPDATA%\Mozilla\ in the search field and press Enter. A window will open containing the Firefox folder.
  5. Delete the Firefox folder.
  1. Click the Start button or press the Windows Key key.
  2. Type %APPDATA%\Mozilla\ in the search field and press Enter. A window will open containing the Firefox folder.
  3. Delete the Firefox folder.
Alternatively, you can press Windows Key+R to open a Run dialog, type in %APPDATA%\Mozilla\ and press Enter to open the Mozilla folder, then delete the Firefox folder.



Based on information from Uninstalling Firefox (mozillaZine KB)

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