I recently started experiencing very slow response times when browsing websites on my Mac using Firefox. A painful crawl. Annoyingly slow to the point I was getting extremely frustrated. I’d select a link to follow and then wait anywhere from 3 seconds up to 10 seconds for the page to display.
There are a million factors in our setup here: we have multiple PCs, Macs, and printers all connected via a wireless network. Game controllers and Roku. A cable modem for internet. Both the router and cable boxes have been replaced several times due to power outages frying the components. We upgraded the firmware on the router, rebooted umpteen times, raised the router higher into the air and stood on our heads while crossing our toes. No resolution to my slow browsing.
Last night I was ready to pack up my Mac and take a ferry over to the Apple Store in Seattle, I just couldn’t take it anymore! As a last ditch effort I googled ‘slow web browsing on a mac’. Eureka. A problem with Firefox. That hadn’t even occurred to me.
Here’s what I did:
- Select ‘Firefox’, ‘Preferences’, ‘Privacy’
- Under the History section is a setting called ‘Firefox will:’ with 3 possible choices in a dropdown box. Mine was set to ‘Remember History’. I changed that setting to ‘Use Custom Settings for History’. After selecting that option new settings are displayed that can be edited. I changed my ‘Remember my browsing history for at least XX days’ from 90 to 5.
- Voila! Fixed. Instant response times. Amazing speed! The slowness obviously crept up on me and I hadn’t realized how slow it had actually become. I discovered this solution on Mac Tricks and Tips. I’m so thrilled I just had to share this.
Happy speedy web browsing!
brilliant, done! we’ll see if it improves mine (on windows), too!
When the slow browsing with Firefox on my Mac happened, I switched to Camino, and haven’t had any more problems. Camino was written specifically for Mac. Glad you found a solution.
fantastic tip – thankyou! I have been struggling with this for a few days now and it was driving me nuts!
glad you got it worked out… i’m a google chrome junkie. oh well i just love anything from google! {it workes much better for commenting}
thank
you!
already
notice
the
difference.
When we got our Mac, I had thought about downloading Firefox because I had used it on my PC. But I have had no issues with Safari and just loaded the new Snow Leopard OS X. Response time seems to be pretty quick. Thanks for the tip, I will remember if I ever download Firefox.
Help… please I’m running out of time… could you please pass on the address to me for the IBOL? Thanks…
Jean
i ditched firefox altogether and went back to explorer…. it’s been riddled with too many problems for my liking of late!
Wow, I never thought Firefox was the reason our Internet was SOOOO slow! It’s been getting worse and worse the last couple months and driving me BONKERS! Thank you so much for posting about this – I can already see a difference. You are my hero
.
I am glad you got it working and fast. Nothing like a slow computer, GRRRR!!!! I just love your pics they always show crystal clear, how do you do it?
You can do it on Windows to. Go to Tools, then Options, then Privacy. I had no idea before this!
My computer was slow to the point of shooting it… and that’s when hubby checked my amount of RAM. 512 is NOT enough to run things on any more… So, a 1 gig upgrade later, the computer is fast and happy again. If your computer is slow and the browser fix doesn’t help, try upgrading Ram. Hubby used a free program called Advanced System Care to check how much I was using…
YOU ARE A GENIUS! You could read my mind all the way to TN!
Thanks for great hints and beautiful fabrics and patterns, too!!!
FANTASTIC !!! JUST TODAY and I’m NOT even kidding I have been complaining like made. Even my kids have been going nuts as of late. I just went in on my HP to tools and basically did the same thing. IT NOT SLOW ANYMORE ! WOW. I am forever indebted to you! LOL Son No. 3 has a mac. He’s going to be thrilled! No. 2 has an HP like me. Now I can help both of them! Awesome Possum! Thank You!
Wow I am really surprised at how much of a difference this makes! Thank you so much for sharing the info!
You are my hero!!
Thank you very much. That helped!