A search for slow firefox on Twitter shows that there is a virtually constant stream of tweets complaining about Firefox being slow. I don’t find the current Firefox (Windows) release any quicker or slower than previous versions yet many people are under the impression that it is. I do find it’s still a memory hog – for me, currently around 230MB with 5 tabs open, about 20 plug-ins installed and 3 Greasemonkey scripts enabled – so probably about a typical set-up. Before you start, it may be worth checking that you’re not blaming Firefox for what’s just a slow internet connection. Check your connection is up to speed by visiting SpeedTest.net and testing the speed of your connection. So is there anything that the typical user can try which might help speed things up before throwing up their arms in disgust and moving to Chrome or Safari? Well I hope this list of tips might help:
Some tips to speed up Firefox
1. Uninstall the latest buggy Skype plug-in: If you are experiencing that Facebook, GMail or Google Reader are really crawling and you’ve recently updated Skype to version 4.1 and installed the Skype plug-in for Firefox, try uninstalling the Skype plug-in, but leave the main Skype program installed. That should help. Hopefully, Skype will update this plug-in soon because, reading the tweets on slow firefox, it’s certainly responsible for driving a number of people away to other browsers, particularly Chrome.
2. Check how much memory Firefox is using: Bring up Windows Task Manager with Ctrl-Alt-Del in Windows XP or Crtl-Alt-Esc in Vista and go to the Processes tab. Look for the process called firefox.exe and check the memory usage: for example, 230,000K is 230MB. Try cutting back on the number of tabs you have open and uninstall any plug-ins you really don’t need and see if this brings down memory usage. If you’re anything like me, you’ll have installed plug-ins which seemed a good idea at the time but which you now rarely, if ever use. Uninstall them.
Edit (13 March 2010): From Creoffblog, if you have an antivirus anti-phishing toolbar add-on, try disabling it as this may be causing the slow down.
3. Do some maintenance: Use a program like CCleaner (for Windows) or BleachBit (for Windows or Linux) to clear your browser temporary files, internet cache and browser history regularly.
4. Modify the Firefox config file: Here’s some tweaks which involve modifying the config file for Firefox. I’d heard some of these a while ago on the Mike Tech Show podcast, also at Life Rocks 2.0. It’s not difficult to edit the config file. Just type about:config in the Firefox address bar and press enter. Then type network.http in the filter field. This will filter the list down to only those with network.http in the name. Now make the following changes:
- Double click on ‘network.http.pipelining’ and set the value to true (double clicking toggles the value between true and false).
- Double click on network.http.pipelining.maxrequests’ and in the dialog box enter a value higher than the default value 4. According to Mozillazine, the maximum you can use is 8.
- Double click on ‘network.http.proxy.pipelining’ and set the value to true.
- Again in the filter field enter ‘browser.sessionstore.interval‘ (without the quotes), double click on the entry and change the value from 10000 (10 secs) to 120000 (2 minutes). This adjusts how frequently Firefox creates session restore save points. Firefox will now take a snapshot of your browsing session every 2 minutes instead of every 10 seconds.
- Right click on the page and select New->Integer. Enter the name nglayout.initialpaint.delay and then click ok. Set the integer value of this to 0 and click ok.
You can find additional great config file tweaks at Technically Personal.
5. Disable Firebug: If you’re using Firebug, it can slow Firefox to a crawl.
6. Optimize Firefox’s SQL database: Firefox uses SQLite databases to store lots of its settings. With time, the databases grow and Firefox slows down. Use either Vacuum Places Improved, a Firefox add-on, or SpeedyFox, a stand-alone app to compact these databases without losing any data. I prefer SpeedyFox as I like to keep the number of Firefox add-ons to a minimum. Only works in Windows at the moment though. Thanks again to Life Rocks 2.0 for this tip. I also use the portable version which doesn’t modify the Windows registry.
7. Try Memory Fox, a memory optimizer for Firefox 3. It constantly flushes Firefox’s memory usage. At the moment it’s only for the Windows OS. There’s a full write up on ghacks.net.
8. If you’re still not happy with Firefox, there’s a terrific Firefox Troubleshooting Guide over on MakeUseOf.com. And have a look at this post at Dedoimedo for more suggestions.
9. And if you’re still not happy, try Google Chrome – it’s a worthy alternative to Firefox.
Do you have any tips for speeding up Firefox? Drop a comment below with your tweaks.
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September 3rd, 2009 at 3:31 am
This is a complete guide to speed-up Firefox! Awesome stuff! Thanks for linking though.
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:11 am
Thanks for the good suggestions, but Chrome is not a good alternative. I’ve used Chrome and its not where near ease-of-use, plugin-friendly Firefox. I’d rather go to IE/Opera before going to Chrome.
Just my feeling….
_UB
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:30 am
Nice article, but this seems to be a more Windows focused article; perhaps some tips for cleaning up crap on a Mac too?
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:03 am
I agree with all of that except the end part. Google chrome is no match for Firefox. It has no features.
If you really want speed, you can try out the new build of Maxthon browser. It is using the webkit engine, same as chrome, plus many additional features.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:11 pm
BleachBit is another stand-alone app to vacuum Firefox (and clean 50 other apps) for Linux and Windows.
September 4th, 2009 at 1:40 am
I have noticed that firefox takes along time to load on a number of Windows machines. Firefox loads slower then Safari on my Mac but much faster then what I have seen on Windows
September 5th, 2009 at 6:39 am
Raju: Thanks for that!
jeff: I don’t have a Mac so I can’t help on that.
UB and Chinmoy: I agree, and this post wasn’t really about finding an alternative; it was trying to help people have a better faster experience with Firefox. The problem for many is that loading up Firefox with all the plug-ins they want for a feature-rich experience has a detrimental effect on performance. Chrome is a leaner alternative, doesn’t have the features of Firefox and so is faster. It’s their choice.
Andrew Z: Thanks for the info on BleachBit. I’ll update the post with it.
September 7th, 2009 at 2:10 am
Just changed most of these in Ubuntu – we’ll see how it goes. Thanks for writing this up, appreciate anyone taking time to help out!
September 8th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
I mainly mentioned BleachBit because it vacuums Firefox, so it is an alternative to “Vacuum Places Improved” and “SpeedyFox.” CCleaner does not support vacuuming.
September 12th, 2009 at 6:27 am
Sorry to say but these suggestions stuffed up my ability to connect to the internet…luckily i took a screenshot so i could remember how to undo the tips.User be very wary.
September 13th, 2009 at 2:03 am
It would be really helpful to know which suggestion caused the problem. Was it modification of the config file? If so, try implementing the changes one by one and seeing which change caused the problem. If you let me know then I can modify the advice accordingly.
October 12th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
There is no need to run external programs in order to compact the SQL DB of FF.
Simply:
1. click tools> error console.
2. in the code bar paste the following command and click enter which will compact it:
Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL(“VACUUM”);
December 12th, 2009 at 2:31 am
Don’t use Google’s Chrome! Use SRWare’s Iron, it’s the same as Chrome, but all the privacy issues were taken out.
January 23rd, 2010 at 11:09 am
Thank you for the tips. My Firefox browser is now HAULING A$$!!!
February 1st, 2010 at 10:53 pm
I entered that in the Error Console “code” box and it generates an error.
Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL(“VACUUM”);
February 1st, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Error: illegal character
Source File: javascript:%20Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL(%E2%80%9CVACUUM%E2%80%9D)
Line: 1, Column: 149
Source Code:
Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL(“VACUUM”)
February 6th, 2010 at 10:10 am
Just performed the conf tweaks and downloaded and ran SpeedyFox. Firefox now opens up and moves like it did back in the day. Great advice!
February 13th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Best way to speed up Firefox is to use Opera.
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:50 am
iLoveCO2, you’re a moron. Opera is a cancer on your system. Plz die.
March 13th, 2010 at 6:28 am
[...] itself? Other blogs gave tips on generally improving the internal mechanics of Firefox. I kept this reference as a last resort, but my instincts told me to look [...]
April 9th, 2010 at 8:30 am
[...] Is Firefox slow for you? Here’s some tips to try which might speed it up [...]
April 9th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Still looking for loading fixes, rather than when Firefox is actually running. Anyone? Otherwise, great article!
May 9th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Slow FF start-up can be caused by .sol cookies. Do a search for *.sol files on your drives, if you’ve got loads of them that may be your problem.
Apart from a manual delete, the BetterPrivacy add-on is the way to go. I advise some research in advance of deleting all .sol files e.g. settings.sol & others that make website access smoother: all systems are different!