Fast Fixes

Fix ‘Your connection is not secure’ errors, stop Firefox clashing with your firewall and solve password-saving problems

Firefox

Fix insecure connection error message

If when trying to open a website in Firefox you see a ‘Your connection is not secure’ error message, it means the website’s security certificate is not recognised by Firefox and therefore not trusted. You should take the warning seriously because the website may contain malware. If you think the site is safe, you can check using Qualys’ website test page: www.ssllabs.com/ssltest. If you get the all-clear, you can force Firefox to load the website. Click Advanced and you’ll see one of two options: to load the site using Outdated Security or to ‘Add Exception’ (see screenshot below). Click the option you see and Firefox will now load the website.

Fix recurring ‘Your connection is not secure’ error

Even having carried out the previous fix, you may continue to see the “Your connection is not secure” error message when attempting to access websites you know are secure (for example, www. google.co.uk or www.youtube.com). This is probably caused by conflicts with your antivirus (AV) software. Avast, Bitdefender, Bullguard, ESET and Kaspersky all have HTTPS- scanning features that have been known to clash with Firefox. You can switch these off in your AV’S settings.

In Kaspersky, for example, click Settings, Additional, then Network. Scroll down to the ‘Encrypted connections scanning’ section and tick ‘Do not scan encrypted connections’ (see screenshot above right), then click Continue when prompted.

Avast users should turn off ‘Enable HTTPS Scanning’; in Bitdefender switch off ‘Scan SSL’; in Bullguard untick ‘Show safe results’; in ESET disable and reenable ‘SSL/TLS protocol filtering’.

If the problem persists, you could also try uninstalling your AV before reinstalling it. This should force Firefox to place your AV into its store of trusted programs, therefore preventing any further conflicts. Check the manual of your particular AV to find out how to properly uninstall it.

Incorrect location shown

Popular websites like BBC Weather and Google Maps rely on knowing your location so they can instantly provide you with local information. If websites aren’t using your correct location, make sure you’re not using a VPN that might be disguising your location. If you aren’t, try deleting Firefox’s cached web content and cookies to reset location data for those websites.

Click Firefox’s menu button (the three lines at the top right), Options, then Advanced (on the left). Click the Network tab, then the Clear Now button in the Cached Web Content section. To clear stored cookies, click Privacy and ‘clear your recent history’. When the pop-up window opens, select Everything from the ‘Time range to clear’ dropdown menu, then click Clear Now.

No websites will display

If Firefox suddenly stops displaying any website, then – assuming your router and phone line are working properly – the problem is probably caused by your firewall, especially if it’s been recently updated. If you’re not certain which firewall is running on your PC, you can find out by using Enumprocess. Go to www.snipca.com/22800, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Enumprocess 1.2.1 link. Double-click the download, then click Run to see a window listing the firewall that’s running on your PC (see screenshot below). With this knowledge you’ll be able to search online for information on how to configure that firewall to allow Firefox to access the internet.

Usernames and passwords won’t save

Firefox sometimes fails to save your usernames and passwords for websites you visit. This is due to the Password Manager settings. Click the menu button, Options, Security, then tick ‘Remember passwords for sites’. Next, click the ‘Exceptions…’ button (to the right of ‘Remember passwords for sites’) and check that the site you’re trying to log into isn’t listed. If it is, click the entry to select it and click Remove.