Make sure that you do not run Firefox in permanent Private Browsing mode.

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Private+Browsing

To see all History and Cookie settings, choose:

• Firefox > Preferences > Privacy, choose the setting Firefox will: Use custom settings for history
• Deselect: [ ] "Always use private browsing mode"

Session restore works more reliable if you choose Firefox > Preferences > General > Startup: "When Firefox Starts": "Show my windows and tabs from last time".

Nope, I've never used private browsing mode. This was working fine up until Friday 2/24 when I did the most recent Firefox update. It then persisted after I did the Mac OS update. Did the usual settings restore, complete shutdown, etc. with no change. And my general preference settings still indicated "Show my windows and tabs from last time" even though it was opening with a single tab, and after resetting/restarting. The most recent FF version is working fine on my Win7 box.

(As part of my job, I test web apps across multiple browsers on both PC and Mac platforms, so I rarely change any browser settings to keep testing consistent.)

See if this helps :Preferences are not saved

thank you

The preference settings appear to be saved. When I close Firefox and reopen, and navigate to Preferences > General > Startup: "When Firefox Starts", it shows as "Show my windows and tabs from last time". That setting does not appear to be applied on startup, however.

I did the systems setting restore last night, then closed Firefox and did a complete power-down on the Macbook. Reopened, verified app defaults applied, opened three tabs, closed Firefox, and it reopened to one tab as specified in settings ("Show my home page"). Changed settings to "Show my windows and tabs from last time", opened three tabs and navigated around in each on for a while, closed Firefox. Reopened, still just got the single tab with designated startup page, verified Startup: "When Firefox Starts" showed as "Show my windows and tabs from last time". Also verified navigation locations correctly showed in History from the previous browsing session. Changed designated startup page to something else, did same test cases, same result. So, setting saved, but not applied, it seems.

I have not tried looking for/modifying a user.js or prefs.js file; I will try that tonight.

"I have not tried looking for/modifying a user.js or prefs.js file; I will try that tonight."

tell us when you try it

thanks again

It just may be that (because of an update, usually), some add-on or similar is causing the issue. If you chose to try a fresh Firefox Profile (Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles), the bookmarks can be exported through the built-in manager and the Password Exporter saves you the hassle of manually transferring the files. =)

Otherwise the about:config settings could also help, browser.showQuitWarning and browser.sessionstore.max_resumed_crashes, although the first one messes with App Tabs (the reason why it's disabled by default).

PS. The Add-on Compatibility Reporter will allow installation of incompatible Add-ons.

PPS. From the main Support page, Common issues after updating:

• How do I restore my tabs from last time?

Same problem as above PLUS: when i restart Fox 11 from the Taskbar it now often opens multiple copies of itself. I have tried altering the settings for restoring tabs on opening and this procedure does not work in either format of wait for a click or simply reload. I have even gone to the extent of reloading the W7 system to see if it helped - no. (Should you have to reboot the system at any time after altering Fox? )

It is already a nuisance for me that when I do simply close it I lose all the tabs I had and have to restore them from history .

I have to regularly close because of the monstrous memory creep. (I do have LOTS of extras in use).

Can I safely remove this copy of Fox and reload again without losing all the saved items?