Firefox has stopped loading websites for some users, here's how to fix it

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Users are reporting that Firefox on Mac and Windows now hangs indefinitely when trying to access any websites. Fortunately, there is a work-around.

The issue first appeared to have been triggered by an overnight update to Firefox version 96. However, some users of older versions have subsequently reporting the same severe problem.

It appears to be related to a Firefox company data analytics server, rather than the browser itself. The server is said to have been recently updated to HTTP3, and the Firefox browser is failing to connect to it. According to the company’s Bugzilla page, it’s then creating an infinite loop bug.

The company has yet to fix the issue, but multiple users have found a workaround that appears to be temporarily solving the problem. It involves disabling Firefox’s HTTP3 implementation until a proper solution is issued.

How to get Firefox to load webpages again

1. Launch Firefox and a new, empty window
2. In the address bar, type about:config and press Return
3. On the configuration screen that appears, search for network.http.http3.enabled
4. Change the setting to false
5. Quit and restart Firefox

A more straightforward workaround, though, is to switch to Safari, Chrome, or Microsoft Edge.

AppleInsider has not been able to reproduce the error so it isn’t affecting all Firefox users. This may be to do with international differences as the browser attempts to connect to different Firefox data analytics servers.