Images or animations do not load

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Revision as of 12:33, 13 October 2006 by Alice Wyman (talk | contribs) (→‎First steps: Step 1: added two most common problems that are included in the forum diagnostic.)
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This article is about problems loading images (PNG, JPG, or GIF) or animations. It does not cover problems with video or plugins such as Macromedia Flash. Those can be found in Video or audio doesn't play.

First steps

  1. Run your browser through this diagnostic to test for the most common configuration problems, such not having "Load Images" or "Enable JavaScript" checked in your Firefox Options (both should be checked by default).
  2. Hold down the <Shift> key and press the Reload button to force a fresh reload of the page [1].
  3. If you are using anything to block ads (e.g Adblock, a hosts file, or security software), disable it. If you use ZoneAlarm Pro or eTrust Firewall, see the Security software section below.
  4. If you have enabled network.http.pipelining (a "tweak" designed to improve page loading time), disable it in about:config by typing "pipelining" in the filter and right-clicking all entries and choosing Reset. (If you set this preference by editing the "user.js" file, remove this edit.) Some websites do not support pipelining, which may result in images not being sent.
  5. Clear your cache and cookies in Firefox "Tools -> Options -> Privacy" (under "Cache" and "Cookies" ) or in Mozilla Suite preferences (under "Advanced -> Cache" and "Privacy & Security -> Cookies -> Cookie Manager").

If none of these suggestions help, try the rest of the solutions in this article.

Images don't load

  • The site hosting the images may be down or experiencing difficulties, try loading the site from another computer or browser to see if this is the case.
  • Make sure that you are allowing all images to load and that images from specific sites are not being blocked. In Firefox, look under "Tools -> Options -> Content (Web features in 1.0.x)" to ensure that "Load Images" is checked and that "for the originating website only" is not checked. Next, open [Exceptions] and remove any sites being blocked. In Mozilla Suite, look under "Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy & Security -> Images and make sure that "Accept all images" is selected, then open [Manage Image Permissions] and remove any site listed with the status, "site cannot load images".
  • Images from a site can be blocked from a context menu (right-clicking, in Windows). A site could be blocked accidentally by right-clicking on an image.
  • If images such as google maps don't load (or won't zoom in and out): In Firefox 1.0.x or Mozilla Suite go to your advanced JavaScript settings and make sure "Change Images" is enabled. This option was removed in Firefox 1.5 [2] so you'll need to type about:config in the address bar and check the list to verify that the related preference dom.disable_image_src_set is set to "false". If it isn't, context-click (right-click) the preference name and select "reset", or double-click to toggle.
  • Some image references contain backslashes (e.g. something.com\blah.jpg), which cause the images to be loaded in Internet Explorer but not other browsers. If you see the image's URL contains a backslash, contact the webmaster about the issue. The Slashy extension will let you work around this problem.
  • Some sites will block the request if no referring URL is sent. Make sure network.http.sendRefererHeader is set to 2 and any proxies, firewalls, or other security software used are allowing the referrer to be sent.
  • As a security precaution, references to images on your local computer from a remote web site are disabled. If you encounter this restriction and you understand the security implications, you can disable this security measure.
  • Many of the solutions under Error loading some websites and Websites randomly don't load will also fix image loading problems.

Images load, but look wrong

  • If the colors appear wrong, try the solutions in Website colors are wrong.
  • If you are using any sort of web accelerator software, disable it and see if images load properly.
  • If the image is very large, Firefox by default will resize it to fit inside the browser window. If you prefer to see the image full size you can either click on the image to resize it, or go into "Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> General" and un-check "Resize large images to fit in the browser window"
  • If you are using the Image Zoom extension, go to "View -> Image Zoom -> 100% (Original Size)". Additional support for Image Zoom

Images load as text (gibberish)

See Page displays as gibberish.

Security software

Some security software may block certain images by identifying them as "web bugs" or may stop .gif image animations. If you are using ZoneAlarm Pro or eTrust Firewall from Computer Associates, do the following to correct these problems:

  1. Open the Firewall Control Center.
  2. Select "Privacy" on the left tabs.
  3. Select "Custom" in the Cookie Control section.
  4. Uncheck the box for "Disable web bugs" in the "3rd Party Cookies" section.
  5. Select "Custom" in the Ad Blocking section.
  6. Uncheck the box for "Animation", as shown here.

Images still don't load correctly

If you have tried all of the solutions in this article and images or animations still don't load correctly:

See also