Lately my Firefox is randomly shutting itself down for no apparent reason
The last couple of weeks, my Firefox has been just shutting down at random times, without warning. There is no apparent reason for this, and sometimes I can be right in the middle of type up a post and the whole thing just vanishes and I have to restart Firefox and start over again.
Opaite Mbohovái (20)
We're sorry to hear that Firefox is crashing. In order to assist you better, please follow the steps below to provide us crash IDs to help us learn more about your crash.
- Enter about:crashes in the Firefox address bar and press Enter. A Submitted Crash Reports list will appear, similar to the one shown below.
- Copy the 5 most recent Report IDs that start with bp- and then go back to your forum question and paste those IDs into the "Post a Reply" box.
Note: If a recent Report ID does not start with bp- click on it to submit the report.
(Please don't take a screenshot of your crashes, just copy and paste the IDs. The below image is just an example of what your Firefox screen should look like.)
Thank you for your help!
More information and further troubleshooting steps can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly) article.
bp-2fbf69cc-8acf-482a-88f7-1a5342160408 bp-d448d2bf-c75e-40a6-80ab-8b8bb2160316 bp-861d8abc-d7c5-487d-88b7-e91542160316 bp-57f5b624-4bce-4252-9b55-5eadb2160107 bp-106eea23-9df2-4cb6-b546-4a0152160408
At least some of those crashes involve software from Trusteer Rapport.
Try disabling or temporarily uninstalling that. It is software that may be in more than one security related product, and so we can not be certain what you may have. We do know some Trusteer products were supposed to be getting updates to fix issues. (The Firefox Release notes for Fx44 & Fx45 mention known issues if Trusteer is used)
If you still get crashes when trusteer is not in use please let us have another two or three Crash IDs.
The System Detail list next to the question shows that you run an older Firefox 44 version that is no longer supported with security updates. Always update Firefox and Add-ons to the latest versions to get all security fixes.
Please update to the current Firefox 45.0.1 release.
- Help > About Firefox
It seems that automatic updates got turned off for Firefox somehow, and I wasn't aware of it. Likely done by our netwerp people!
I have FF up-to-date now, but it is still doing the random shutdowns. It is only 11:00 AM and it is done it 2 or 3 times already this morning. Sometimes, when it fails, I will lose things, like items on my Bookmarks Toolbar.
Not sure how to disable the Trusteer software. It is required for my online banking, so I am going to need it. I don't want to fully uninstall it if I don't have to.
A co-worker is now experiencing the exact same problem and has pretty much given up on FF as a result.
I have been using FF faithfully since it came out and have never had issues like this until the last couple of weeks. I'll keep trying to figure out how to disable Trusteer, but I wish FF would just go back to its old, reliable self.
I disabled Trusteer and have my FF up to the current version, but it is still randomly shutting down.
I can't send you any more crash ID's because it isn't throwing any. The list is still the same as it was list time - nothing is being added to it. It just shuts down.
Moambuepyre
Hello Mozilla! Anybody still out there?
Try Firefox Safe Mode to see if the problem goes away. Firefox Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that temporarily turns off hardware acceleration, resets some settings, and disables add-ons (extensions and themes).
If Firefox is open, you can restart in Firefox Safe Mode from the Help menu:
- Click the menu button , click Help and select Restart with Add-ons Disabled.
If Firefox is not running, you can start Firefox in Safe Mode as follows:
- On Windows: Hold the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
- On Mac: Hold the option key while starting Firefox.
- On Linux: Quit Firefox, go to your Terminal and run firefox -safe-mode
(you may need to specify the Firefox installation path e.g. /usr/lib/firefox)
When the Firefox Safe Mode window appears, select "Start in Safe Mode".
If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, theme, or hardware acceleration. Please follow the steps in the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article to find the cause.
To exit Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.
When you figure out what's causing your issues, please let us know. It might help others with the same problem.
I put it in safe mode, as directed, but it shut itself down again within a half hour, or so. This was not the answer.
Do you have any recent crash report IDs?
- bp-xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx
Nope. It is not actually "crashing" so much as it just is gone. There are no crash reports being generated. There is no warning. One second it's there and I am using it, the next second it's as if it had never been running.
Do you notice any memory problems like that Firefox uses a lot of memory?
Boot the computer in Windows Safe Mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen or hold down the Shift key) to see if that has effect.
I can't say that I've seen memory issues, but I'll watch for it. As for running in safe mode, this is my computer at work, and it may be a while before I can spare the time to put it in safe mode for long enough to see what happens. Today, for example, I am the only one in and I cannot afford to be without my computer in full operation.
I'll get back to you when I can.
An infection on your computer could be closing Firefox and doing some bad things behind the scenes.
You can try these free programs to scan for malware, which work with your existing antivirus software:
- Microsoft Safety Scanner
- MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware
- Anti-Rootkit Utility - TDSSKiller
- AdwCleaner (for more info, see this alternate AdwCleaner download page)
- Hitman Pro
- ESET Online Scanner
Microsoft Security Essentials is a good permanent antivirus for Windows 7/Vista/XP if you don't already have one. Windows 8 has antivirus built-in already.
Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.
Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!
Corporately we have System Center Endpoint Protection running. I also recently ran MalwareBytes on this computer, as well. Beyond that, we are limited as to what we are allowed to install in that line.
bp-51f482cf-1f1a-401d-86f9-703f82160105 1/5/2016 6:59 PM bp-2ead39a5-2e29-4fe8-8e6d-0607c2140202 2/2/2014 3:13 PM bp-d5bf9648-3de5-44f9-911b-9ba222140201 2/1/2014 1:15 PM bp-8ce1112d-9fc3-43a9-bb6e-07d482140201 2/1/2014 1:03 PM bp-47d00a4e-6673-4e2a-9d9c-f1b6f2130303 3/3/2013 4:28 PM bp-bd66e0a2-48d7-42a9-b9da-36d382130302 3/2/2013 12:52 PM bp-a9a63fbe-e725-4951-b4d8-e8f142130107 1/7/2013 11:02 AM bp-32c2e48d-1c23-46a0-8d43-74e452121217 12/17/2012 1:11 PM
Moambuepyre
Product Firefox Version 43.0.1 Build ID 20151216175450 Release Channel release OS Windows 7 OS Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1
bp-51f482cf-1f1a-401d-86f9-703f82160105 Date Processed 2016-01-05
These reports are too old to be useful. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/update-firefox-latest-version 46.0.1
When this happens, how many tabs and windows are usually open? I think we had a thread where a user experienced the current tab being closed, and since it was the only tab open, Firefox exited. With a second tab open, you can recover by right-clicking the remaining tab and choosing Undo Close Tab (or use the History menu).
If you are in a "single tab" situation, could you open a second tab in the same window. If you are in a "multi tab / single window" situation, could you open a second window (you can keep it minimized to the taskbar).
If you need an example of a page that doesn't do anything after loading, the following page just lists some browser information:
https://www.jeffersonscher.com/res/jstest.php
Let us know what kind of behavior changes you see, if any.
You can set the browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab pref to false on the about:config page to prevent closing the last tab from closing that window and make a close button appear if only one tab is open.
You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I'll be careful" to continue.