Firefox is one of the most popular web browsers that you probably are using. But issues like freezing would happen. When Firefox freezes, it stops responding to your clicks on the websites. Pretty frustrating, right? Don’t worry. You’ll pinpoint the issue by trying the fixes listed in this article.

But before you take any troubleshooting steps, you’re highly recommended to initiate a restart. Sometimes a simple restart may fix the issue.

Try these fixes:

  1. Turn off hardware acceleration
  2. Clear your history in Firefox
  3. Update to the latest version
  4. Disable Add-ons
  5. Update your graphics drivers
  6. Create a new places database
  7. Delete duplicate Session Restore files
  8. Repair corrupted system files

Fix 1: Turn off hardware acceleration

Hardware acceleration is a setting that allows Firefox to use your computer’s graphics processor to display graphics-heavy web content. It’s turned on by default. But many users have reported that turning off hardware acceleration helps fix the freezing issue. So here, you can give it a shot.

1) In the upper right corner, click on the menu button (three lines).
Then select Options.

2) Under the General tab, scroll down and find the Performance section. Uncheck the box Use recommended performance settings in order to show the hardware acceleration option.

turn off hardware acceleration Firefox freezes

3) Uncheck the box Use hardware acceleration when available.

turn off hardware acceleration Firefox freezes

4) Now in the upper right corner of Firefox, click on the menu button (three lines) and select Exit. Wait until Firefox has completely quit.

create a new places database Firefox freezing

5) Start Firefox to check if the issue is fixed.


Fix 2: Clear your history in Firefox

Firefox restores lots of information including the sites you’ve visited, files you’ve downloaded, and more. But there are situations when problems like freezing emerge. So it’s always a good idea to clear the browsing history, cookies, and cache on a regular basis.

Here’s how you can do it:

1) In the upper right corner, click on the menu button (three lines).
Then select Library from the drop-down menu.

clear history on Firefox

2) When the Library window opens, click History.

clear history on Firefox

3) Click Clear Recent History….

clear history on Firefox

4) When the window opens, simply click OK.

clear history on Firefox

After clearing your history in Firefox, restart it to check if the freezing issue persists. If it does, don’t worry. We’ve got other working fixes for you.


Fix 3: Update to the latest version

The latest Firefox version may substantially fix some bugs and improve performance. So for the Firefox freezing issue, updating Firefox to the latest release might work.

By default, Firefox updates automatically. But you can always update it manually in case an update is downloaded but not installed. Here’s how you can do it:

1) In the upper right corner, click on the menu button (three lines).
Then select Help.

update Firefox

2) Click About Firefox.

update Firefox

3) Till then, the About Mozilla Firefox window opens and Firefox will check for updates and download them automatically. Once the download is complete, click Restart to update Firefox.

After restarting Firefox, check if it’s functioning normally. If it still freezes, move on to the next fix.


Fix 4: Disable Add-ons

An incompatible or outdated extension may freeze Firefox. So to get rid of freezes, you should disable them manually.

1) In the upper right corner, click on the menu button (three lines).
Then select Add-ons.

disable Add-ons on Firefox

2) When the tab opens, head to the Enabled section and make sure the extensions you’ve enabled are switched to OFF.

After applying the changes, restart Firefox and check if this fixed the issue.


Fix 5: Update your graphics drivers

Driver updates provide bug fixes and compatibility with the software programs you’re running. So it’s highly recommended to update your graphics drivers on a regular basis to gain better performance on your PC.

There are two ways you can update your graphics drivers:

Option 1 – Manually – You’ll need some computer skills and patience to update your drivers this way because you need to find exactly the right driver online, download it and install it step by step.

OR

Option 2 – Automatically (Recommended) – This is the quickest and easiest option. It’s all done with just a couple of mouse clicks – easy even if you’re a computer newbie.  

Option 1 – Download and install the drivers manually

NVIDIA and AMD keep updating drivers. To get them, you need to go to the official websites, find the correct drivers, and download them manually.

Once you’ve downloaded the drivers, double-click on the downloaded file and follow the on-screen instructions to install the drivers.

Option 2 – Automatically update your drivers

If you don’t have the time, patience, or computer skills to update the drivers manually, you can do it automatically with Driver Easy.

Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for it. You don’t need to know exactly what system your computer is running, you don’t need to risk downloading and installing the wrong driver, and you don’t need to worry about making a mistake when installing.

You can update your drivers automatically with either the FREE or the Pro version of Driver Easy. But with the Pro version, it takes just 2 clicks:

1) Download and install Driver Easy.

2) Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.

update drivers automatically

3) Click the Update button next to the flagged driver to automatically download the correct version of that driver, then you can manually install it (you can do this with the FREE version).

Or click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system. (This requires the Pro version which comes with full support and a 30-day money-back guarantee. You’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All.)

update drivers automatically
The Pro version of Driver Easy comes with full technical support. If you need assistance, please contact Driver Easy’s support team at support@drivereasy.com.

Fix 6: Create a new places database

If your Firefox freezes periodically, it may be caused by a corrupted places database. To fix it, you’re supposed to create a new places database by following the steps below:

1) In the upper right corner, click on the menu button (three lines).
Then select Help.

create a new places database Firefox freezing

2) Click Troubleshooting Information.

create a new places database Firefox freezing

3) When the Troubleshooting Information tab opens, head to the section Application Basics. Find Profile Folder and click Open Folder next to it.

create a new places database Firefox freezing

Then your profile folder will open.

You can also open your profile folder by typing %APPDATA%MozillaFirefoxProfiles in the Run dialog box.

4) Now in the upper right corner of Firefox, click on the menu button (three lines) and select Exit. Wait until Firefox has completely quit.

create a new places database Firefox freezing

5) Now go to the profile folder you’ve just opened. Scroll down and find the file places.sqlite. Right-click on it and select Rename to rename it to places.sqlite.old.

create a new places database Firefox freezing

Also taking similar steps to rename the file places.sqlite-journal to places.sqlite-journal.old (if this folder exists).

6) Restart Firefox to check if this resolves the freezing issue.

This will clear your browsing history and remove the bookmarks of the day.

Fix 7: Delete duplicate Session Restore files

Session Restore is a useful feature in Firefox that saves open windows, tabs, and other information. But when multiple copies are created, freezes would happen. So to fix it, you’re supposed to delete them.

1) In the upper right corner, click on the menu button (three lines).
Then select Help.

Delete duplicated Session Restore files Firefox freezing

2) Click Troubleshooting Information.

Delete duplicated Session Restore files Firefox freezing

3) When the Troubleshooting Information tab opens, head to the section Application Basics. Find Profile Folder and click Open Folder next to it.

Delete duplicated Session Restore files Firefox freezing

Then your profile folder will open.

You can also open your profile folder by typing %APPDATA%MozillaFirefoxProfiles in the Run dialog box.

4) Now in the upper right corner of Firefox, click on the menu button (three lines) and select Exit. Wait until Firefox has completely quit.

Delete duplicated Session Restore files Firefox freezing

5) Now go to the profile folder you’ve just opened. Locate and delete the sessionstore.js file and any copies, such as sessionstore-1.js, sessionstore-2.js.

6) Restart Firefox and the freezing issue should be fixed.


Fix 8: Repair corrupted system files

If you have corrupted, malfunctioning, and missing Windows software files, you’re more likely to encounter performance issues. A program may freeze and become static. To fix the issue you’re having, you need to repair those corrupted files.

To do this, you can try using Fortect, professional Windows system repair software which runs a deep scan of your Windows system, and finds and automatically fixes system software issues that are causing the freezing issue. Additionally, Fortect will constantly refresh your operating system which will keep your computer running at its best.

1) Download and install Fortect.

2) Open Fortect and it will run a free scan of your PC and give you a detailed report of your PC status. This will take a few minutes.

3) Once it’s finished, click Start Repair to start the repair process.

When the repair process is finished, restart your PC and open Firefox.


In conclusion, Firefox freezes because of its outdated version, terrible Add-ons, and corrupted files, etc. But with the fixes provided in this article, we hope you can finally fix the freezing issue and browse your websites smoothly again. If, unfortunately, none of these work for you, you should uninstall Firefox, download it, and install it again.

And that’s it. For any ideas or questions, please leave us a comment below.

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