It might be the unstable network connectivity or a piled-up browser cache stopping you to access pages. An internal interference from Windows, or buggy browser extensions could also be the culprit.
If your Firefox is stalling while loading pages, you can try the following fixes.
1. Ruling Out Internet Issues
Even though nothing could be as straightforward, simply ruling out the internet issues may immediately solve the problem.
To check your network status, right-click the Wi-Fi icon in the bottom-right of your screen and then click on Open Network & Internet settings.
If the Network Status says You’re connected to the Internet, you are good to go. However, if you see the Not Connected warning, either the internet isn’t connected, or the connection isn’t stable.
If that’s the case, restart your internet router and see if the problem goes away. If restarting the router doesn’t help, try loading files on Firefox in another computer to ensure it isn’t the connection issue. When you are sure it’s the connection issue that isn’t going away after restarting your router, consider contacting your ISP.
When the internet is working well, and the problem occurs on only one computer, it’s time to dig deeper into the problem.
2. Give Firefox a Fresh Start
Instead of grinding for hours to pinpoint the issue and then find the correct fix, just giving your Firefox browser a fresh start could be a game-changer and save you a lot of trouble and time.
Follow the below steps to refresh Firefox:
Click on three horizontal lines in the top-right corner and navigate to the Help. From the Firefox help menu, click More troubleshooting information. Click on the Refresh Firefox… button under Give Firefox a tune up. In the pop-up window, hit Refresh Firefox.
When you refresh Firefox, all of your extensions will be removed, and any customizations you made will be reverted. Therefore, if you don’t feel comfortable doing this, only close your browser once and reopen it afterward.
3. Close Other Browsers Running in the Background
If you have a habit of running multiple browsers on your computer simultaneously, it’s time to check your system’s memory.
Low memory issues can often affect browser performance. If that’s not the case, consider closing all browsers running in parallel to eliminate any possibilities of external interference by them.
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In addition, if you have recently imported data from another browser and your websites fail to load, consider reverting the import and resetting Firefox. It may be a hidden bug that got carried with the import that might be halting your browser’s performance. So, it is worth checking.
4. Clearing Firefox Cache
Like other online applications, Firefox stores a lot of data in the form of browser cache, which speeds up the loading of visited websites by retaining some site information for later use. However, there are times when either the accumulation of data or corrupt cache files start hindering the browsing experience.
Thus, clearing the browser cache is imperative. To do so, follow these steps:
Open Firefox. Click on three horizontal lines in the top-right corner. Navigate to History > Clear recent history. Uncheck the boxes for Active logins and Form & search history. In the Time range to clear, select Everything from the dropdown. Hit Ok.
Check whether Firefox is back to normal or not. If it’s still halted, consider changing the privacy settings.
5. Change the Enhanced Tracking Protection to Standard
Firefox uses Enhanced Tracking Protection to protect users’ privacy. Even though it acts as a shield against online threats and deals well with shady scripts, it can also impede the browser’s performance.
Out of three protection levels, Strict, Standard, and Custom, it is recommended to use Standard. It is the default protection level and rarely causes issues. On the other hand, Strict protection overprotects your browser, causing it not to load a few pages with no threats. Thus, if you changed the protection level recently, you should change it back to default.
To do that, follow the following steps:
Click on the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner and navigate to Settings. Go to Privacy & Security in the left sidebar. Change Enhanced Tracking Protection from Strict to Standard. Then, click Reload All Tabs to see the change take effect.
See whether any previously halted pages now load correctly. If the protection level is already set to Standard or resetting it to Standard doesn’t produce a positive result, it’s time to disable adblockers.
6. Disable Adblocker Extensions
The presence of an adblocker extension may be another cause of your browser’s inability to load pages. While they prevent online ads and pop-ups from spoiling your browsing experience, they directly interfere with scripts as well. This interference is likely causing the said problem.
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Furthermore, many websites now block access to their web pages if you use an adblocker extension since their revenue depends on seeing their advertisement. Thus, if you are using any, follow the below steps to disable it:
Click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner and navigate to Settings. Click the Extensions & Themes button in the bottom-left corner. Locate the adblocker extensions and disable them.
Try reaccessing the site from the homepage of your browser. If it does not work, run a quick malware scan on Windows to rule out that possibility.
7. Run a System Malware Scan
Perhaps the problem isn’t with the browser itself, but instead with malware hidden in Windows, causing Firefox to malfunction. Therefore, if tweaking your browser settings hasn’t fixed the issue, running a quick malware scan may help you identify and fix it.
To run a quick malware scan, follow these steps:
Open Windows Settings and navigate to Update & Security. Go to Windows Security on the left-sidebar. Click on Virus & threat protection under Protection areas. Navigate to Scan options and choose your preferred scan. Once selected, hit Scan now.
Each scan takes a different amount of time to complete, so wait until the scan is complete and restart your browser. If the problem persists, consider reinstalling Firefox.
Firefox Still Fails to Load Pages?
In theory, the fixes in the list should help Firefox get back on track and begin loading files properly. The browser may continue to hang when loading specific pages if they have been added to blocked websites. So check that as well. Alternatively, if nothing else works, you can switch to another browser.
Are you interested in customizing your Firefox browsing experience? Altering themes, customizing the toolbar, changing the fonts and colors on webpages, and customizing Firefox’s search suggestions and address bar are all methods you can use to do so.
