Reset Firefox – easily fix most problems

Over time Firefox can develop problems like slowness, crashing, unwanted toolbars and more.Troubleshooting and fixing these issues can be difficult and time consuming. The Reset Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information.

What does the reset feature do?

All of your Firefox settings and personal information are stored in your profile folder. The reset feature works by creating a new profile folder for you while saving your most important data.

Firefox will keep the following data:

  • Bookmarks
  • Browsing history
  • Passwords
  • Open windows and tabs
  • Cookies
  • Web form auto-fill information
  • Personal dictionary

The following items and settings will be restored or removed:

  • Extensions and themes: Although they can be incredibly helpful, some extensions and themes can cause problems. If you need to reinstall important extensions, see Find and install add-ons to add features to Firefox for help.
  • Site-specific preferences, search engines, download history, DOM storage, security certificate settings, security device settings, download actions, plugin MIME types, toolbar customizations and user styles are also not saved. See the Profiles - Where Firefox stores your bookmarks, passwords and other user data article for more information about these.
  • All Firefox Services, including Facebook Messenger for Firefox will be removed.

How do I reset Firefox to its default state?

  1. On the menu bar, click the Help menu and select Troubleshooting Information.

    Troubleshooting info - mac
  2. Click the Reset Firefox button in the upper-right corner of the Troubleshooting Information page.
    Reset Firefox - Mac - 1
  3. To continue, click Reset Firefox in the confirmation sheet that slides down.
  4. Firefox will close and be reset. When it's done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click Done and Firefox will open.