Uninstall Firefox
March 12th, 2008 · by David Bradley
There are times when you might want to uninstall Firefox. For instance, you might want to clean up your machine and do a clean reinstall without all the Firefox addons for security reasons. You might even have become enamoured of the apparently all-singing, all-dancing Internet Explorer 8 (although that’s doubtful), or you may have defected into Opera territory.
Whatever the reason, the how to uninstall Firefox instructions from the Mozillazine site are summarized below.
- Linux Users - Remove the firefox Installation directory, usually: /usr/lib/firefox-
. For example, if using Firefox 3.0 it would be: /usr/lib/firefox-3.0 - Mac Users - Drag the Firefox application to the Trash. Firefox also has a .plist file at ~/Library/Preferences/org.mozilla.firefox.plist you may wish to remove
- Windows Vista - Go to “Programs -> Programs and Features”, select Mozilla Firefox
and click click Uninstall. Then delete the Firefox Installation directory, located here, by default: C:\Program files\Mozilla Firefox - Windows XP or earlier - Double-click “Add or Remove Programs” Select “Mozilla Firefox
” in the list of installed programs and click “Remove” to run the uninstaller. Windows users should check out the Mozillazine page to find out how to remove orphan files and remnan folders that will undoubtedly remain on your machine after the supposed uninstall.
If you’re planning a clean reinstall, then you should also delete all the user data (although you might want to save or export your bookmarks file first). This step will become an option for Firefox 3 uninstall.
To get rid of the user data delete (or rename) the Firefox folder in the default profile path (or move it to a backup location). You must remove the Firefox folder and all of its contents including “profiles.ini” otherwise you’ll get an error when you try to run the reinstalled Firefox.
If you have problems leave a comment and between us we will try to help you uninstall Firefox.
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4 responses so far ↓
Ann Tamplin // Jul 28, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I dont really want to uninstall Firefox but I’ve somehow got igoogle- Mozilla Firefox. I’m 56 & female so I’m lost!!!!! I haven’t set up a GMail account ( I checked this & Google confirmed there was no acct for my email). I only knew I had a prob when I tried to send a link for a web page I was on. Usually I click on ” send link” & my O/Look Express create mail page opens & I’m off & running. Now when I do the same I get GMAIL! Why now when I open Firefox do I get igoogle-Mozilla Firefox & how do I get rid. I’ve googled that question & it says at the top of any Google Mail page click on settings etc etc but I cant find any Google Mail Page cos I dont have an account! Can you help before I slash my wrists? regards Ann
Ann, don’t reach for the rusty razorblade just yet. It seems that you’ve inadvertently set the mailto links in your browser to default to Google Mail instead of Outlook. That’s a Firefox setting rather than having anything to do with Google per se.
To remove the Gmail handler, in Firefox’s Tools menu, choose Options. (Mac users, go to the Preferences dialog.) In the Applications tab, search for mailto. From the drop-down of mailto handlers, choose Applications Details, as shown. Here you can select a webapp handler and Remove it using the button.
Wong Number // Aug 31, 2008 at 9:04 am
I have Vista & after downloading Mozilla, I found I didn’t like it so, I uninstalled it. Afterwards, I found a few of my desk top short cuts no longer worked. I tried to create new short cuts but, they don’t work either. I keep getting messages that say “Windows cannot find….”. What happened & how can I fix this?
@Wong That sounds odd. Any particular shortcuts broken? Can you locate the actual file to which they are supposed to point and fix it. Right click the icon and choose properties and browse for the program file.
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