Fix Firefox Not Loading a Website That Works in Other Browsers

A site that opens fine in Chrome or Edge can still stall in Firefox, showing a blank page, a Server Not Found error, or a spinner that never stops. That pattern usually points at Firefox itself, not the site or your connection.

Start with the Firefox-only checks: Troubleshoot Mode, extensions, and site data. If the page still fails, review proxy, DNS, and HTTPS-Only settings before you reset the profile.

In this guide, I have covered:

One Website Won’t Load in Firefox, But Works Everywhere Else

You open the site in Chrome or Edge and it loads instantly. Same computer, same Wi-Fi, same link. In Firefox you get a blank page, a “Server Not Found” error, or a spinner that never stops.

That gap is the clue. If the site or your connection were at fault, every browser would fail. When only Firefox struggles, the cause usually sits inside Firefox: an extension, damaged site data, a proxy or DNS setting, HTTPS-Only Mode, or a permission you saved earlier.

The checks below run from quickest to heaviest, so start at the top and stop when the page loads. Mozilla’s Firefox troubleshooting guidance is a good backstop if your error doesn’t match anything here.

Does One Site Fail, or All of Them?

Before you change a setting, find out how wide the problem is. The answer decides which half of this page you need.

1. Open a new tab in Firefox and enter the address of a widely used website.
2. Try the failing website again in a separate tab.
3. Compare the results with another browser on the same computer and network.

Every Firefox page failing while other browsers work points to proxy or DNS settings. If only one site fails, extensions, site data, and permissions are the likely suspects, and Troubleshoot Mode is the faster route.

Try Firefox Troubleshoot Mode

Troubleshoot Mode starts Firefox with a clean, temporary profile and turns off extensions along with several features. It answers one question: does the site load when your normal setup is out of the picture?

1. Click the hamburger menu at the top right of Firefox.
2. Click Help.
3. Select Troubleshoot Mode….
4. Click Restart in the confirmation dialog.

Load the failing site while Troubleshoot Mode is active. You’ll know it worked when the page renders there but breaks again in a normal window, which puts the cause in your saved profile, an extension, or a Firefox feature rather than the site.

Disable Extensions to Rule Them Out

Ad blockers, privacy tools, and script blockers can quietly kill a page’s requests even when Chrome loads the same site without complaint. Disabling extensions is reversible, so test first and decide later.

1. Click the hamburger menu and select Add-ons and themes.
2. In the left sidebar, click Extensions.
3. Use the blue toggle next to each extension to disable it. Start with ad blockers, tab managers, and any extension you installed in the past few weeks.
4. Restart Firefox from the hamburger menu .
5. Use Firefox normally for a few minutes, then check about:performance. If usage dropped sharply, re-enable extensions one by one to find the offender.

Reload the site with extensions off. You’ll know it worked when the page appears. Then switch extensions back on one at a time, reloading the site after each, until the failure returns. Update that extension, adjust its settings for this domain, or remove it.

If the site works only in Troubleshoot Mode and breaks again after a restart, keep extensions disabled until you find the conflict. Your bookmarks and browsing data stay untouched by this test.

Clear Firefox Data for the Failing Website

A stale cookie or a corrupted cached file can break one domain while every other site loads normally. Clear data for that site alone, not your whole browser.

1. Open the menu at the top right of Firefox and click Settings.
2. Select Privacy & Security from the left sidebar.
3. Scroll to the Cookies and Site Data section and click Manage Data….
4. Type the site's name into the Search websites field to find it faster.
5. Select the site, then click Remove Selected.
6. Click Save Changes and confirm the prompt.
7. Reopen the site in a new tab and pin it again.

Return to the website and reload it. Still broken? Move on to the wider cache and cookie reset.

1. Open the Firefox browser on your computer.
2. Click on the More menu and select the Settings menu.
   
3. Switch to the Privacy & Security tab and scroll to the Cookies and Site data section.
   
4. Click on the Clear Data... button.
5. Enable the checkbox for the 'Cookies and Site Data' and 'Cached Web Content' options.
   
6. Hit on the Clear option.
   It will immediately delete the cache, cookies, and site data on the browser.

Close the tab, reopen the site, and check again. If it loads, sign in again where the site asks and confirm the error is gone.

Clearing everything signs you out of most sites, so use the site-specific option whenever you can. For the full cleanup walkthrough, see Clear Browsing Data in Firefox on the Computer.

Check Firefox’s Network and Proxy Settings

Firefox keeps its own connection settings, separate from Windows or macOS. A proxy that other browsers ignore can send Firefox’s requests somewhere they never come back from.

1. Click the menu in Firefox.
2. Select Settings.
3. Open General and scroll to the bottom of the page.
4. Select Network Settings.
5. Click the Settings… button next to Configure how Firefox connects to the Internet.
6. Review the Connection Settings dialog, especially the proxy, offline, and DNS options.

Remove any proxy you did not set up yourself, or correct the details. If Work Offline is enabled, turn it off. If Firefox points at a custom DNS server, check that the server is reachable from your network.

Close the dialog, restart Firefox, and load the site again. Mozilla’s Firefox connection settings guidance explains each option if you are unsure what one does.

Check DNS and IPv6 Behavior

A “Server Not Found” error on one domain, while other sites load fine, points at name resolution. Firefox may be asking a different resolver or preferring IPv6 where another browser falls back to IPv4.

1. Open the Firefox address bar and enter about:config.
2. Accept the warning about advanced configuration.
3. Search for network.dns.disableIPv6.
4. Toggle the preference to true.
5. Restart Firefox and reload the failing website.

You’ll know it worked when the domain resolves after the restart. If it does, decide on purpose: leaving the preference changed keeps IPv6 off in Firefox, which is fine for a quick test but easy to forget. If nothing changes, set it back and look at your system’s DNS and network configuration instead.

Disable HTTPS-Only Mode for Testing

Some pages half-load because HTTPS-Only Mode upgrades a request the site cannot serve securely. Turning it off for a minute tells you whether the site’s certificate or redirect chain is the blocker.

1. Click the hamburger menu at the top right and choose Settings.
2. Select Privacy & Security from the left sidebar.
3. Scroll to HTTPS-Only Mode.
4. Select "Don't enable HTTPS-Only Mode."
5. Reload the page that was blocked.

Reload the website. If it loads only with the mode off, the site’s secure setup is at fault, not Firefox’s defaults. Turn HTTPS-Only Mode back on after the test unless you have a specific reason to leave it off.

Check Whether a Site Permission Is Blocking the Page

Firefox stores permission choices per site and keeps them until you change them. A block you set months ago on cookies or site data can leave today’s page blank.

1. Open the menu and select Settings.
2. Open Privacy & Security.
3. Find the site’s permissions controls and review the affected domain.
4. Reset the relevant permission, such as cookies or site data, and reload the page.

TIP: A private window keeps its own cookies and site data. If the page loads there, saved site information is the blocker, and clearing it for that domain fixes the normal window.

Bank and payment portals trip on this most often because they depend on cookies and strict redirects. If that is your site, these fixes for Firefox not loading bank websites go deeper into cookies, certificates, and secure redirects.

Reset Firefox’s Website Data and Settings

Nothing so far has fixed it, and the site still loads in another browser. Time for the heavier options: a clean profile, then a reset or reinstall.

A fresh Firefox profile has no extensions, no saved permissions, and default network settings. If the site loads there, your old profile is the problem. Export bookmarks and passwords before you refresh Firefox rather than uninstalling blind.

If you are still stuck, run Troubleshoot Mode once more now that site data is cleared. It shows you a clean profile in action before you commit to a refresh.

1. Click the hamburger menu at the top right of Firefox.
2. Click Help.
3. Select Troubleshoot Mode….
4. Click Restart in the confirmation dialog.

If Troubleshoot Mode still fails while another browser works, the problem sits below Firefox: your operating system’s DNS, proxy, VPN, or firewall, or a certificate exception that no longer holds. Mozilla’s Server Not Found troubleshooting guide covers those connection checks.

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