The browser is certainly one of the most important programs when we use the PC, since it allows us to surf the Internet and take advantage of its contents. Unfortunately, it can happen that, following an infection or visiting a scam advertising page, our browser slows down to the point of freezing (often with a confirmation window on which we must click).If our browser is not as fast and snappy as it was just installed, the only thing to do is to reset it, so that we can start all over again (while keeping the bookmarks and the history).
In this guide we will show you in fact how to reset Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox to initial settings using both the menu items in the settings and how to reset blocked browsers, i.e. those that no longer start due to an infection or a scam page.
ALSO READ: Come Ripristinare i Browser Chrome, Firefox, Edge
How to save bookmarks and history before reset
With Google Chrome we can save the bookmarks using the synchronization system offered by Google itself; to activate it, click on the icon of our profile at the top right (next to the button with the three dots), then click on Turn on synchronization.
In the new window that will appear, enter the login credentials of our Google account (Gmail, Android accounts and accounts created with YouTube are fine) and, on the confirmation page, make sure that the voice is activated Synchronize everything.
If we want to synchronize only some elements, just deactivate the previous item and activate the buttons next to the functions we want (Add to Favourite for bookmarks and Chronology). In a few seconds our contents will be saved online and can be restored after the reset, so you can start over immediately.
If Chrome doesn't start or is blocked, we can save the components of our profile by pressing Win + R on the keyboard, by copying the following path ....
% LOCALAPPDATA% GoogleChromeUser Data
.... and finally copying the sub folder Default present in the window that will appear.
Su Mozilla Firefox we can exploit a similar synchronization system; to activate it, all we have to do is click on the user profile symbol at the top right, click on the Activate Sync button and proceed with the activation of our Firefox account.
Whether we already have a Firefox account or if we don't have it yet, we enter a valid email address and proceed according to the situation (we will be asked to choose a password if we do not already have an account; if the email is already registered, we will be asked to enter the password chosen in the past).
Once logged in we will be able to choose which elements to synchronize: make sure to insert Bookmarks e Chronology to be able to quickly restore our personal content.
If Firefox does not start or it is stuck on startup, we press WIN + R on the keyboard, we enter the following command ...
% APPDATA% MozillaFirefoxProfiles
.... then we copy the sub folder xxxxxxx.default present inside; if we have multiple profiles, we save all folders with the extension .default present in the indicated path.
How to reset Google Chrome
Once all personal content has been saved, we can reset Chrome to the initial settings by clicking on the menu with the three dots at the top right, taking us to Settings, scrolling until you find the section Advanced (on which we will have to click to unlock the new page section) and scrolling again until you find the menu Restore the original default settings.
In the window that opens, all we have to do is click on the button Reset to reset Google Chrome to the initial settings, thus eliminating all kinds of problems. This window can also be accessed by opening a tab in Chrome at: chrome: // settings / resetProfileSettings
If Chrome is blocked or unbootable, let's also close it forcibly and restore it "brutally" by deleting the folder User Data present in the following path (we can insert it in the field that can be activated with WIN + R):
% LOCALAPPDATA% GoogleChrome
Now all we have to do is start Google Chrome again and synchronize as seen in the previous chapter.
How to reset Mozilla Firefox
Once the personal contents have been backed up, we can restore Mozilla Firefox by clicking on the address bar at the top, typing about: support and finally clicking on the button Reset Firefox.
In the window that we will see appear, simply click on Reset Firefox to reset the Mozilla browser to the initial settings.
If Firefox does not start or is blocked, we can force the browser to reset by pressing WIN + R on the keyboard, typing the following command ...
% APPDATA% MozillaFirefoxProfiles
.... and finally deleting all the folders xxxxxxx.default that we find inside. Alternatively we can manage the profiles in Firefox by opening WIN + R and typing the following command:
firefox.exe -P
A special browser window will open in which we can create, edit and remove all user profiles in Mozilla Firefox.
To delete a profile, select it and press the key Eliminate profilo; to create a new one, click on Create profile, click on NEXT in the new window and choose a name to assign to the new profile.
Finally we press on end, select the new profile, make sure there is a check mark on the item Use the selected profile without asking at startup and finally we press on Start Firefox to finish the restore.
Conclusions
If the browser we are using starts to give too many problems, surfs slowly or tends to crash continuously, restoring will solve most of the problems, also allowing us to resume work from where we left it.If, even after the reset, our browser should be slow or blocked or it should no longer surf the Internet, we recommend that you read our two guides If the PC is not connected to the internet, how to reset the network and web browsing and how Clean the PC infected with malware by deleting all traces.
