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Why does Firefox keep refreshing old tab?

  • 9 replies
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  • Last reply by McCoy

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I'm using firefox 67.0.1 It was fine 2-3 ago. Now when i change from tab a to tab b and then back from tab a firefox refreshing its tab it's very annoying when i watch video (youtub*) and checking my email and back to watch the video firefox refreshing it page so the video replayed themselves. I know it's for memory management. but can it be setting to stop??

I'm using firefox 67.0.1 It was fine 2-3 ago. Now when i change from tab a to tab b and then back from tab a firefox refreshing its tab it's very annoying when i watch video (youtub*) and checking my email and back to watch the video firefox refreshing it page so the video replayed themselves. I know it's for memory management. but can it be setting to stop??

Chosen solution

Hello espeon88,

This sounds like one of the new features that came with the update to Firefox 67.0, which apparantly you seem to be aware of :

https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2019/05/21/latest-firefox-release-is-faster-than-ever/

If you want to disable this feature :

Type in the address bar about:config and press Enter (promise to be careful, if asked)

Type in the search bar and look for the preference :

browser.tabs.unloadOnLowMemory

and set its value to false

Then close and restart Firefox.

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All Replies (9)

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i notice someone has the same problem with me.. bug no one is responding

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Chosen Solution

Hello espeon88,

This sounds like one of the new features that came with the update to Firefox 67.0, which apparantly you seem to be aware of :

https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2019/05/21/latest-firefox-release-is-faster-than-ever/

If you want to disable this feature :

Type in the address bar about:config and press Enter (promise to be careful, if asked)

Type in the search bar and look for the preference :

browser.tabs.unloadOnLowMemory

and set its value to false

Then close and restart Firefox.

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McCoy said

Hello espeon88, This sounds like one of the new features that came with the update to Firefox 67.0, which apparantly you seem to be aware of : https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2019/05/21/latest-firefox-release-is-faster-than-ever/ If you want to disable this feature : Type in the address bar about:config and press Enter (promise to be careful, if asked) Type in the search bar and look for the preference : browser.tabs.unloadOnLowMemory and set its value to false Then close and restart Firefox.

thank you for the solution and fast response

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espeon88 said

thank you for the solution and fast response

My pleasure  !

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McCoy said

Hello espeon88, This sounds like one of the new features that came with the update to Firefox 67.0, which apparantly you seem to be aware of : https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2019/05/21/latest-firefox-release-is-faster-than-ever/ If you want to disable this feature : Type in the address bar about:config and press Enter (promise to be careful, if asked) Type in the search bar and look for the preference : browser.tabs.unloadOnLowMemory and set its value to false Then close and restart Firefox.

Thanks both of you, this solution seems to work. It is indeed true that I have low memory on this little laptop and this new feature isn't exactly helpful.

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This solution does not appear to be my issue. I have 32GB memory, and at any given time I have from 10-25 GB free and open. Right now I have 24.5 GB of free memory. AND my problem started at about version 64 and is very random about when a tab goes belly-up. I can close the offending tab and then re-open and solve the issue. For the occasional screw-up, not a big deal. BUT 6 tabs refuse to update after 10 minutes is not acceptable.

AND browser.tabs.unloadOnLowMemory was already set to false due to my large available memory? How much memory can Firefox access and use for the browser?

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@ ZLYman :

Maybe it's best that you start your own thread and post a new question :

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/new/desktop/other

(you'll have to scroll down some)

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Okay! I just decided to do just that and when I went back one page, I saw your response.

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ZLYman said

Okay! I just decided to do just that and when I went back one page, I saw your response.

Good for you !