Safe Mode

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Revision as of 11:47, 19 September 2005 by Asqueella (talk | contribs)
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This article applies to Firefox and Thunderbird.

Safe Mode is a Firefox startup mode where all the extensions you have installed are disabled and the default theme is used. This is useful for debugging and seeing which extension might be causing a problem, especially since extensions are known to act up. Safe Mode is always a handy option to revert to if things begin to go wrong (for example, Firefox opens with no theme and everything is white).

All

Firefox must not be running to enter Safe Mode. This includes all windows like the Firefox Download Manager and Extensions that open in a separate window like Chatzilla.


How do I know if Firefox is running in Safe Mode?
There are two ways to tell if Firefox is running in Safe Mode. The first is that Firefox will be using the default theme. Second all extensions listed in the Extensions Manager will be disabled. This is shown by each extension being greyed out and unselectable.

Windows

To launch Firefox in Safe Mode on Windows, you can use the shortcut in the Mozilla Firefox folder on the Start Menu. If you have accidentally deleted this shortcut, you can re-access it by going to "Start -> Run" and running:

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -safe-mode

Linux

On Linux, you can go to your Terminal and run:

/path/to/firefox/firefox -safe-mode

Mac OS X

On Mac OS X, it will look like:

/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox -safe-mode

If you have installed Firefox to another location, modify the path as such. It's the "-safe-mode" command line parameter that's crucial here.