This can be a problem with the file places.sqlite that stores the bookmarks and the history.

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bookmarks_history_and_toolbar_buttons_not_working_-_Firefox

Nope, that didn't work but thanks for the reply.

Start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the add-ons is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Tools > Add-ons > Themes).

• Don't make any changes on the Safe mode start window.

See:

• Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems
• Troubleshoot issues with plugins like Flash or Java to fix common Firefox problems

If it does work in Safe-mode then disable all extensions and then try to find which is causing it by enabling one at a time until the problem reappears.

• Use "Disable all add-ons" on the Safe mode start window to disable all extensions.
• Close and restart Firefox after each change via "File > Exit" (Mac: "Firefox > Quit"; Linux: "File > Quit")

Thanks, cor-el. I tried all of that but it didn't help. I only have the default theme. I disabled all plugins - java, flash and mozilla default - as as well as deleting java plugins, and none of that made a difference. Yes, I was in safe mode, out of safe mode, back into safe mode at the time. I've tried every iteration of the above.

Okay, I see how it's going to be. Once the generic support routines are exhausted, this problem will die on the vine like all the rest.

"Have you done this, that or the other? You have? You've done them all before coming here because you know the routines all too well yourself? Well, I'm sorry but I have no more pre-configured responses to give. I really don't know what the hell I'm doing. I just repeat what's given to me like a parrot and appear like I'm doing something when I'm not. It looks like you have a real problem with Firefox. We just don't do real problems here."

Yeah, I know, not the best way to engender goodwill among volunteers but the other approach wasn't working either. I should have known better...

You did delete places.sqlite in the Firefox Profile Folder as mentioned in the mozillaZine KB article in my first answer?

Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Open Containing Folder

Can you right-click either Back or Forward button to open the history list of the current tab?

"You did delete places.sqlite in the Firefox Profile Folder as mentioned in the mozillaZine KB article in my first answer?"

Yes I did.

"Can you right-click either Back or Forward button to open the history list of the current tab?"

Yes, and I can navigate back to a non-gmail link, if it still shows (only the last 15 links show), by simply clicking on that non-gmail link from the list, which is what I've been doing. However, if the history list is populated only with gmail links, then I'm not able to get back to anywhere but the current page. In other words, clicking any of the the gmail links in the history list simply refreshes the existing gmail page. There's no back button functionality when using gmail, and I assume that's the case for the forward button as well but then who knows? You can't go back to go forward.

In short, what I do is open a tab just for checking my gmail accounts and another tab for whatever else I'm doing. Once you start logging into gmail your browsing in that tab is toast for anything else. Yes, it's not that big of a deal but, as I said, this doesn't happen in IE.

........

........

After two days of waiting without further suggestions, the problem still exists. I know, that's weird. Simply waiting for more routine questions should help, right?

I have the same problem just as the OP describes

This one is not dying on the vine simply because the generic support routines have done nothing - as always. If nothing else, this and the countless other unsolved bug reports on this forum serve as a reminder of how worthless Firefox really is.

bumpity bump

I'm getting the same error. As soon as you login to gmail the back button doesn't work anymore.

Back up on top....

I AM SO SICK OF THIS ISSUE PLEASE FIX THE ******* THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT HAS BEEN GOING ON NOW FOR MONTHS!!!!

EXACTLY THE SAME AS DESCRIBED ABOVE, IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT SITE IT HAS NO RHYM OR REASON SOMETIMES I CANNOT GET ANY OF THE TEN LINKS IN THE BACK BUTTON TO WORK AND THEN SOMETIMES IF I CLICK BACK 2 or 3 LINKS IT WILL WORK BUT ALMOST NEVER WILL IT WORK WITH THE FIRST LINK IN THE BACK BUTTON ORDER.....BUT THEN OTHER TIMES IT WILL WORK FINE!

IT HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR AT LEAST THE PAST 3 VERSIONS OF FIREFOX I AM USING 3.6.13 CURRENTLY

Excellent, jnridlinghafer and thank you!

They're not listening, which is why I keep bumping this ***damn thread to the top every week.

I'll keep bumping it until it's fixed...

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Same thing for me: In Hotmail, if i search on something and it returns a group of emails with that something in it. I click and read one of them. Then I want to return to my search results, but am not able to. Hitting the BACK button, everything just sits there and it still says Done in the bottom-left corner. So I wait in case it's really gonna do something. But it doesn't. So I hit BACK again and it just goes to my Inbox. Search results are gone.

I've done this a million times recently. It's not a one-time thing. Completely annoying.

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

See Basic Troubleshooting: Make a new profile

If that new profile works then you can transfer some files from the old profile to that new profile (be careful not to copy corrupted files)

See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Standard_diagnostic_-_Firefox#Extension_issues