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I started my Ubuntu (Version 18.04 LTS) machine this evening only to discover that Firefox has suddenly stopped working. No matter what web page I attempt to browse to, it simply sits there blankly, never timing out or displaying anything. Using information I found here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-extensions-themes-to-fix-problems#w_start-firefox-in-safe-mode

I followed their advice, and restarted in Safe mode. This worked which tended to imply some add-on was not working. I'm not generally a fan of having dozens of add-ons in my browser, so was not surprised to find only 5 in there, all of which I disabled. When running in normal mode, but with all the Add-ons etc. disabled, Firefox still refused to work. Next I disabled performance/hardware acceleration. No Joy.

I then proceeded to completely uninstall and reinstall Firefox via CLI. Still no luck. Used the following website advice to do so: https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-install-uninstall-and-update-firefox-on-ubuntu-18-04-bionic-beaver-linux

I must point out that my computer has a working Internet connection (I used it for example, to download emails as well as carry out the download/re-installation of Firefox). This is strictly Firefox related. This question may be better suited to the Mozilla forum page, but given the fact that I don't know where the problem lies, and I've completely re-installed Firefox, I thought it prudent to start here.

I keep my computer updated at all times, and am running the latest version of Firefox (67.0). I'm really at a loss as to what to do next.

witenitenz
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    Same here, now I'm in safe mode, I'll try to totally wipe the profile cache as suggested by the comment above... It worked, @guiverc you should post your comment as an answer. – Avio May 24 '19 at 15:36

1 Answers1

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I have solved this issue by using the refresh feature.

Please note that it will revert Firefox to its original state: configurations and customizations, including extensions, extension data, and about:config preference configurations are removed.

Go the Troubleshooting Information page, that can be accessed by the following ways:

  1. Menu: Help > Troubleshooting Information.
  2. Type about:support in your address bar.

Click the Refresh Firefox button.

For more information, visit: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings

chus
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  • Thank you, that fixed my problem (doing a refresh of Firefox). The impact was minimal as I only had a tiny handful of add-ons, and use most of the default Firefox settings anyway. – witenitenz May 26 '19 at 01:19
  • Please have a look at the duplicate question, **there is a solution that does not require changing your profile**. – Byte Commander May 28 '19 at 10:35