Fix ‘Firefox Not Responding’ issue on Windows and Mac

Many people want to know more about how to Fix ‘Firefox Not Responding’ issue on Windows and Mac. Mozilla Firefox has been around for almost 20 years, and many changes have been made to make it more stable and faster. Even so, it’s still not unusual for the browser to freeze right after starting up, during normal use, or when doing certain tasks. If you want a reliable way to browse the web, Firefox is the best option. So many people all over the world use the browser because it has so many themes and can be used with extensions. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have problems. There are times when Firefox won’t do anything.

Don’t worry if you’re going through the same thing! You are not alone. You ended up here because your Firefox browser isn’t doing anything. There are a lot of great things about the Mozilla Firefox browser that people know about. Users also like that they can use add-ons from the large extension library to make it do more. It also has a lot of security tools, like blocking trackers and a safe, private mode for browsing. If you can’t get Firefox to work on your PC or Mac, try the solutions below to figure out what’s wrong and Fix ‘Firefox Not Responding’ issue on Windows and Mac.

Check for the required access rights

When the profile folder doesn’t have write rights, the Firefox browser often stops working. This happens a lot when Firefox uses a profile from a file system that was mounted with “read-only” rights before. You can easily set up the right access by changing the settings of the profile folder. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Press the Windows key and the letter R to bring up the Run box.
2. Type “%APPDATA%MozillaFirefoxProfiles” in the Run box.
3. Hit Enter to open the folder with Firefox’s profile folders.
4. Go up one folder until you reach the Firefox folder.
5. Right-click on the Profiles folder and choose Properties.
6. In the Profiles Properties window, go to the General tab.
7. Uncheck the box that says “Read-only.”
8. Click the Apply button.
9. If you checked the Read-only box and then changed it, you can restart your machine.
10. When you next start up your computer, use Firefox again and watch for any signs that it won’t respond.

Start Firefox in Safe Mode and disable extensions, themes or hardware acceleration

Fix ‘Firefox Not Responding’ issue on Windows and Mac: Firefox add-ons and custom styles are also things that can make a browser unresponsive for a while. If you use a lot of Firefox add-ons, it would be a big waste of time to uninstall them all only to find out that they are not the problem. But you can get rid of this risk if you start Firefox in “Safe Mode” and see if the times when it doesn’t do anything stop. While Firefox is running in Safe Mode, all of its add-ons will be turned off immediately. If you want to know more information about this visit Firefox official Website.

On top of that, hardware acceleration will be turned off, and any custom themes will be replaced with the stock ones. This will help you figure out if one of the plugins or themes you are using is the cause of the problem. If not, the trouble is somewhere else. Here’s a quick guide on how to start Firefox in “Safe mode” and what to do if one of the add-ons is making the browser unstable:

1. Click on the menu button at the top right of Firefox to get started.
2. Then, click on the button that looks like a question mark, which is the Help icon, and then click on Restart with Add-ons Disabled.
3. At the new warning, click the Restart button, then click Start in Safe Mode and wait until Firefox restarts in safe mode.
4. Try using Firefox in “Safe Mode” for a while and see if the same trouble happens.
5. If the sluggish times don’t happen when you’re surfing in Safe mode, you can look at extensions, themes, or hardware acceleration as possible causes.

Revert to the Default Theme

Custom themes are often to blame for problems with steadiness. If you switch back to the normal theme, it will be easy to tell if the problem is caused by the custom theme you are using. Here’s a quick explanation of how to do it:

1. Click the menu button in the top right corner of Firefox to get started.
2. Then, click Add-ons and wait for the Add-ons Manager to open.
3. Go to the Themes page in the Add-ons Manager and click the Enable button next to the Default theme.
4. Restart Firefox and see if it acts the same way when it starts up the next time.
5. If you are, move on to the next way to fix it.

Clearing the Cache & Cookies

Fix ‘Firefox Not Responding’ issue on Windows and Mac: Clearing the cache is another famous fix that has helped a lot of people get rid of unresponsive times. By getting rid of saved versions of web pages and cookies, you get rid of a lot of possible causes of the problem. Here’s a quick guide on how to clear Firefox’s cache and cookies to fix times when it won’t respond:

1. Open Firefox.
2. Click the menu button in the upper right corner.
3. Click Options.
4. Click on the Privacy & Security tab.
5. Scroll down to Cache Web Content.
6. Click on the Clear Now button.
7. Close Firefox.
8. Reboot your machine.
9. Restart your computer.
10. Open Firefox again.
11. See if the sluggish times have been fixed.

Disabling hardware acceleration

In the latest version of Firefox, hardware acceleration will be turned on by default. This makes most systems run better, but some older ones might become unstable if this feature is turned on. You can turn off hardware acceleration quickly and see if that fixes the problem for good. Here’s a quick way to turn off hardware accelerations:

1. Click on the menu button in the top right corner of Firefox, then click on Options.
2. Go to the General section of the Options menu, then scroll down to the Performance tab, and uncheck the box next to Use suggested performance settings.
3. Next, uncheck the box next to Use hardware acceleration when possible.
4. Restart Firefox and use it properly to see if the problem comes back. If the person is still not responding, move on to the next step.

Force close restart and update

1. Rarely experience instability:
   • Temporary fix: force close Firefox and initiate a restart.
   • If error caused by internal bug or corrupted internal file, force client to update to resolve errors.
2. Mozilla Firefox becomes unresponsive:
   • Unable to close using conventional way (via close icon).
   • Close program through Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc).
   • Go to Processes tab, select Firefox, and click End task button.
3. Close unresponsive application, restart operating system.
4. At next startup, open Firefox and click Menu icon (top-right corner).
5. Go to Help and click on About Firefox.
6. Wait for system to check for latest version.
7. If new version available, click on Restart and update Firefox.
8. Wait for update process to complete.

Why does Firefox keeps freezing

The “Firefox Not Responding” issue refers to a situation where the Firefox web browser becomes unresponsive and stops responding to user input. When this happens, the browser may freeze, become slow, or completely lock up, preventing users from interacting with it. There can be several reasons behind the “Firefox Not Responding” issue. Some of the common causes include:

1. Add-ons or Extensions: Certain add-ons or extensions installed in Firefox can conflict with each other or with the browser itself, causing it to become unresponsive.
2. Large Number of Tabs or Heavy Website: Opening a large number of tabs simultaneously or visiting resource-intensive websites with heavy content (such as videos or complex web applications) can strain Firefox’s resources, leading to unresponsiveness.
3. Outdated Software: Running an outdated version of Firefox or using outdated plugins can result in compatibility issues and cause the browser to stop responding.
4. Corrupted Profile: A corrupted user profile can cause instability in Firefox, making it unresponsive or prone to crashes.
5. Insufficient System Resources: If the computer running Firefox has limited memory (RAM) or processing power, it may struggle to handle the browser’s resource demands, leading to unresponsiveness.
6. Conflicts with Security Software: Certain security software or firewalls may interfere with Firefox’s operations, causing it to become unresponsive.
7. Hardware Acceleration: Enabling hardware acceleration in Firefox can sometimes cause issues, especially if the graphics card or its drivers are not properly compatible.