Firefox users are finding themselves in a bit of a pickle after a recent update seems to have thrown a wrench into the browser’s gears. Reports are flooding in about unresponsive toolbar buttons and some truly bizarre tab behavior.
Let’s start with the toolbar trouble. According to posts by users like SouthwesternStripe, suddenly the part of Firefox between the bookmark bar and tab bar decides it wants a break: “The toolbar stops responding to clicks for 10+ minutes. Some tabs become invisible while the bug is happening. It becomes completely unresponsive, not responding to hover or click.” If you think a browser freezing is annoying, try losing both the address bar and buttons for basic tasks like reload.
Another user also jumped in to say, “Same thing started happening to me with 142.0… It only affects one of the instances, usually my vertical monitor. The only way I found to fix it is going into about:profiles on my main monitor and restarting Firefox.”
Over on Bugzilla, user numanron described how this glitch isn’t random. It can hit after something as simple as reloading a tab and quickly switching away before the reload finishes. Basic navigation buttons like back, forward, reload, and the address bar just stop responding, even on a totally clean Firefox profile with no extensions. Sometimes, switching tabs or dragging the affected tab to a new position brings the toolbar back to life, but it’s a band-aid, not a fix.
What’s handy, though, is that keyboard shortcuts still work when the toolbar locks up, and the actual webpage remains usable. The developer thread zeroed in on the “leftover movingtab attribute” as the likely cause. Oddly enough, a console error about a missing JSProcessActor crops up every time the bug fires. Hopefully, it gives the devs a clue as they search for a solution.
If you were hoping the carnage stops at the toolbar, think again. Several users have found their tabs either wiped out, converted into blank husks, or behaving like stacked pancakes after a few hours. “All my tabs are gone. Converted to blank pages,” laments one frustrated poster.
People are testing everything from safe mode to profile resets, often to no avail. It seems that even the tab history — the classic safety rope for reopening your old session — sometimes just disappears.
While I don’t see any active report on the Bugzilla tracker about the issue, let’s hope the team resolves it sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, I also noticed some confusion surrounding the missing “Translate page” function on some devices with small screens. Rest assured, the function hasn’t been removed, but it’s been relocated to the banner at the bottom instead of in the toolbar.
In short, the latest update has shuffled the deck in all the wrong ways for a lot of faithful users. We’ll keep track of the issues and will post an update if and when there are any further developments.
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Dwayne Cubbins
1320 Posts
For nearly a decade, I've been deciphering the complexities of the tech world, with a particular passion for helping users navigate the ever-changing tech landscape. From crafting in-depth guides that unlock your phone's hidden potential to uncovering and explaining the latest bugs and glitches, I make sure you get the most out of your devices. And yes, you might occasionally find me ranting about some truly frustrating tech mishaps.
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