Handy tool that only a bunch of users actually discover

Oct 10, 2019 11:59 GMT  ·  By

There are times when apps simply stop working or crash on load, and it all happens for a reason that at first glance is pretty difficult to determine.

Browsers make no exception to this rule, so it’s important for developers to equip their apps with the necessary tools that would help users not only figure out the cause of the problem, but also send feedback that would then be used to prevent the glitch from happening again.

Mozilla Firefox, for example, comes with a built-in Safe Mode, whose purpose is fairly easy to understand.

In fact, the Firefox Safe Mode is very similar to the Safe Mode in Windows 10, pretty much allowing users to launch the browser without any add-ons in order to determine if the crash is caused by a third-party extension or themes or by a browser component.

Based on this, Safe Mode can help find out what causes the problem as per the following approach:

Error also exists in Safe Mode – Possible causes: plugins, incorrect settings Error doesn’t exist in Safe Mode – Possible causes: extensions, themes

Launching Firefox in Safe Mode is easy, albeit there’s a chance you didn’t know this option was there despite using the browser on a daily basis. To Do this, follow this path:


Firefox > Menu > Help > Restart with add-ons disabled
Clicking this option and restarting the browser will display a notification message explaining that Safe Mode is:
Safe Mode is a special mode of Firefox that can be used to troubleshoot issues.
You add-ons and custom settings will be temporarily disabled, and Firefox features may not perform as they currently do.
You can also skip troubleshoot and try refreshing Firefox.
What’s important to know is that the Safe Mode starts without all your customizations, so you get the default buttons and toolbars. Hardware acceleration is also turned off, so just don’t try to load any apps that are heavy on GPU.
Mozilla Firefox Safe Mode

On the other hand, while Firefox does launch without all your settings, these customizations aren’t lost. The next time you enter Firefox in normal mode, everything should be back to normal with all your original settings.

When entering Safe Mode, you’re also provided with an option to refresh Firefox.

What this option actually does is restore the default configuration of the browser, so you’re going to lose any settings and customizations, extensions and other modifications that you made in the flags screen. On the other hand, bookmarks, browsing and download history, passwords, cookies, auto-fill information, and personal dictionary data are all saved. Mozilla explains:

Mozilla Firefox Safe Mode

“All of your Firefox settings and personal information are stored in a profile folder. The refresh feature works by creating a new profile folder for you while saving your important data. Add-ons which are normally stored inside the Firefox profile folder, such as extensions and themes, will be removed. Add-ons stored in other locations will not be removed but any modified preferences will be reset.”

Don’t use the refresh option unless you’re sure the bug breaking down the browser can’t be resolved manually.

Exiting the Safe Mode in Firefox only requires you to simply close the browser. In some cases, Firefox might get stuck in Safe Mode, so the next time you launch it, the browser still loads without extensions and your customizations. In this case, rebooting the device is the easiest workaround, as all files of the browser should be reloaded and the Safe Mode should then be completely disabled.

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