Fix: Firefox Keeps Crashing

Mozilla Firefox is an open-source and free web browser developed by Mozilla Corporation. Firefox is available for Windows, Linux, and macOS while also available on mobile platforms. Firefox was created in 2002 by the Mozilla community who desired a standalone browser like Google Chrome or Internet Explorer. When it was released in 2004, it was hit with more than 60 million downloads in just nine months.

Firefox saw its peak in late 2009 where its usage was 32% of the total users using explorers. Firefox is a great web browser and offers its user with more than just browsing. It allows them to install add-ons and also provides the extra security with its configurations. Lately, many users have started reporting that their Firefox client keeps crashing randomly and they are unable to determine the problem. We have listed down a series of steps. Start from the first one and work your way down.

Solution 1: Refreshing Firefox

We can try diagnosing if the problem is with the add-ons or the extensions you have installed in your Firefox browser. We will start Firefox in safe mode where all the add-ons and extensions will be disabled and then try to refresh it. If the problem is with the additional configurations with your browser, it will be fixed indefinitely.

1. Open your Firefox client and click on the Menu icon present at the top right side of the screen.
2. Once in the menu, click on the question mark icon present at the bottom of the drop-down menu. Now a new side menu will show up. Select “Restart with Add-ons disabled”.
3. Now Firefox will prompt you to confirm your actions to enter the safe mode. Press Ok.

Now check if your Firefox client works as expected. If it does, it means there is some problem with your extensions or plug-ins. You can try diagnosing which one is giving you the problem by referring to solution 3.

If your Firefox, still crashes in safe mode, we can try resetting it. It is advised that you navigate down and check with the other solutions before proceeding with the remaining part of solution 1 down below. The fix will remove all the Firefox settings and reset it with everything disabled.

1. Now we will try resetting Firefox to its default settings. Click on the Menu icon present at the top right side of the screen.
2. Once in the menu, click on the question mark icon present at the bottom of the drop-down menu. Now a new side menu will show up. Select “Troubleshooting information”.
3. A new window will be brought up. Look at the top right side of the screen and you will see an option which says “Refresh Firefox”. Click it.

4. Now Firefox client will pop a small window asking to confirm your actions. Press Okay to proceed.
5. Now check if your problem gets solved.

If there are no crashes, it means there was a problem with your extensions or plug-ins. Restart Firefox normally and disabled the extensions or plug-ins one by one to check which one is causing the problem. Once you have identified the culprit, disable it until its developer releases a new update with a fix.

Solution 2: Check if your Firefox client is up-to-date

As we all know, major software also develop bugs which constitute to weird behavior by the application. The new updates by the manufacturer addresses these updates and develop a fix for them. If you are holding back due to any reason, it is advised that you update your client as soon as possible.

1. Open your Firefox client and click on the Menu icon present at the top right side of the screen.
2. Once in the menu, click on the question mark icon present at the bottom of the drop down menu. Now a new side menu will show up. Select “About Firefox”.
3. A small new window will pop up in the middle of your screen. It will check and display if your client is updated to the latest version. If it is, the window will say “Firefox is up to date”. If it isn’t, there will be an option to update the client.

Solution 3: Checking your Flash software

Firefox is known to clash with the Flash software. There are several mechanics involved which cannot be explained here briefly as they require a long explanation. If you have a flash software installed on your computer or integrated in your Mozilla Firefox, we advise that you check it for updates.

1. If it is updated and still crashing, we can try disabling it from your Firefox client. Open the menu (as explained above) and select the option of Add-ons.

2. Once in the add-ons window, navigate to plugins from the left side of the screen and search the list of installed plugins for your flash software.
3. Click on the drop down box present near its options and click on “Never Activate”. Save your changes and exit.

4. Restart your Mozilla Firefox and check if the problem still persists.

Solution 4: Clearing Firefox cache

Any browsers cache contains all the information regarding your bookmarks or your saved information. It even contains your favorites and some data regarding the website you visit often. It is possible that your Firefox cache may have gotten corrupted. We can try clearing your cache and then check if it starts and works properly.

1. Open your Firefox client and click on the Menu icon present at the top right side of the screen.
2. Once in the menu, click on the option of History present in somewhere in the middle of the small window.
3. Once the history tab is opened, click on clear recent history.

4. Now a small window will pop up asking you for details on what to delete. Select all checkboxes and set the time range to everything. Click “Clear Now” to proceed with the deletion.

5. Once everything is cleared, restart your Firefox client and check if the problem got fixed.

Solution 5: Install the latest Windows updates

Windows roll out important updates targeting the bug fixes in the operating system. If you are holding back and not installing the Windows update, we strongly recommend that you do. Windows 10 is the latest Windows operating system and new operating systems take a lot of time to get perfect in every regard.

There are a lot of issues still pending with the OS and Microsoft rolls out frequent updates to target these issues.

1. Press Windows + S button to launch your start menu’s search bar. In the dialogue box type “Windows update”. Click the first search result which comes forward.

3. Once in the update settings, click on the button which says “Check for updates”. Now Windows will automatically check for updates available and install them. It may even prompt you for a restart.
4. After updating, check if your issue got fixed.

Solution 6: Scanning for Malware

Sometimes, this unusual behavior is caused by malware or virus present in your machine. They have special scripts which run in the background which may be extracting your data or making changes to the settings.

Scan your computer using your antivirus utility and ensure that your PC is clean. If you don’t have any specific antivirus utility installed, you can use the Windows Defender utility and scan.

1. Press Windows + S to launch the start menu’s search bar. Type “Windows Defender” and open the first result which comes forward.

2. At the right side of the screen, you will see a scan option. Select the full scan and click on Scan This process might take some time as Windows scans all of your computer’s files one by one. Be patient and let the process complete accordingly.

3. If there was malware present on your computer, let the utility remove and restart your computer before launching Firefox again.

Solution 7: Updating your Drivers

Outdated, broken or incompatible drivers also often cause the problem. The device drivers may not be installed properly or they might not be configured as expected which may be causing Firefox to crash. We can try updating the drivers automatically using the Windows Update.

If you still don’t get the desired drivers installed, we can manually install the drivers after downloading them from the manufacturer’s site.

1. Press Windows + R to launch the Run Type “devmgmt.msc” in the dialogue box and hit Enter. This will launch your computer’s device manager.
2. Here all the installed devices against your computer will be listed. Navigate through all the devices and update the display/graphics drivers as first priority. You should check updates for all the drivers present on your computer.
3. Click on the Display adapters dropdown to see your installed display card. Right click on it and select “Update driver”.

4. Now Windows will pop a dialogue box asking you which way do you want to update your driver. Select the first option (Search automatically for updated driver software) and proceed. If you are unable to update the drivers, you can head over to your manufacturers site and install them manually.

5. Update all your drivers before restarting Firefox and checking if the problem got fixed.

Solution 8: Reinstalling Firefox

If the problem still doesn’t go away, we can try reinstalling Firefox from its official website. Do note that this action might remove all your current settings and configurations of your client.

1. Press Windows + R to launch the Run application. Type “control panel” in the dialogue box and press Enter.
2. Once in the control panel, click on “uninstall a program” option present at the bottom left side of the screen.
3. Now all the programs installed on your computer will be listed in front of you. Search through them for Mozilla Firefox.
4. Right-click it and select the option of “uninstall”.

5. Now Mozilla’s uninstall wizard will pop up. Click on Next and follow all the instructions to proceed with the uninstallation.

6. Once you have uninstalled Firefox, head over to its official website to install a fresh copy of the software.
7. Install Firefox and check if the problem got fixed.