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help! How do I get rid of firefox developer tools.

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  • 21 have this problem
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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I am a computer dummy. Firefox is installed in our Windows 8 computer as our browser. Whenever we use it, a very annoying thing called Default Fire Fox Developer tools comes up at the bottom and takes up half our screen. Sometime it lets me hit esc. to close it but then it just pops back up. We use our computer for the net, e mail and social media alongside learning sites for our kids. How can I get rid of this thing? Please help me and explain it like I am 6 .

I am a computer dummy. Firefox is installed in our Windows 8 computer as our browser. Whenever we use it, a very annoying thing called Default Fire Fox Developer tools comes up at the bottom and takes up half our screen. Sometime it lets me hit esc. to close it but then it just pops back up. We use our computer for the net, e mail and social media alongside learning sites for our kids. How can I get rid of this thing? Please help me and explain it like I am 6 .

All Replies (12)

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Do a clean reinstall and delete the Firefox program folder before (re)installing a fresh copy of the current Firefox release.

Download a fresh Firefox copy and save the file to the desktop.

Uninstall your current Firefox version, if possible, to cleanup the Windows registry and settings in security software.

  • Do NOT remove personal data when you uninstall your current Firefox version, because all profile folders will be removed and you lose personal data like bookmarks and passwords from profiles of other Firefox versions.

Remove the Firefox program folder before installing that newly downloaded copy of the Firefox installer.

  • (32 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\"
  • (64 bit Windows) "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\"

Your bookmarks and other personal data are stored in the Firefox profile folder and won't be affected by an uninstall and (re)install, but make sure that "remove personal data" is NOT selected when you uninstall Firefox.

If you keep having problems then also create a new profile.


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I have done all these things, twice, exactly as you describe - - no change.

Basically, I'd like to know how to delete this entire program, which I neither need nor want. How can I do this?

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Hi RenoBill, I'm not sure what entire program you want to delete -- Firefox?

Do you have any security or filtering software on your computer that could be altering scripts on the fly when retrieved by Firefox. For example, I think the McAfee suite might have such a feature. If so, try turning that off (not the entire product, just any filtering features related to scripts).

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I want to remove just the FF developer tools (and its console). I have uninstalled/reinstalled FF a couple of times, to no avail.

No security/filtering software that I can think of. The only program added, that I can think of, in the past 6 mos (5 mos before this problem started) was EMET from MS, more designed to prevent malware installations. I did find a FF conflict in EMET and resolved it, so we shall see if that was the culprit.

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have you tried with a different keyboard hardware - it might be a hardware issue where a key misfiring (like F12) which may open the console...

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I changed keyboard batteries, it didn't help.

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I just changed to 0 all the devtools entries in about:config that I hadn't already changed to false. Unfortunately, that didn't get rid of the console, as it has appeared a couple of times while typing this message.

So far, no one has offered any suggestions as to how to delete the devtools program (and its console). Any ideas?

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Hi RenoBill, as a temporary workaround, what do you think about docking the console at the bottom of the tab and reducing its height as much as possible? I can get the height down so it looks like a thick black border there and it's not too intrusive.

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I'm seeing this same problem on a Linux Mint system. However, I don't think it is specifically Firefox. If I open my Chrome browser, it destroys the lower portion of the display by trying to run it's developer tool session. It keeps flashing on and off and covers the bottom half of the screen.

In Firefox, it pops-up the developer menu box and just won't let it go away. I wish I could offer more, but I don't know where to begin. It randomly disappears. Weird.

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hello k1ypp, this might be a hardware issue with your keyboard...

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Based on a previous poster's suggestion, I changed the batteries in my keyboard, but that didn't help at all. I just can't see how the keyboard could cause the problem, but who knows.

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Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.

See "Creating a profile":

If the new profile works then you can transfer some files from an existing profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over the problem.

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