Fix: “Hmm. We’re having trouble finding that site” Mozilla Firefox error

Looking at the current numbers, Mozilla Firefox is the greatest alternative to Google Chrome. After Mozilla revitalized its native browser with the Quantum update, Firefox retook its rightful place. However, in spite of a myriad of upgrades, Firefox is far from flawless. Some users experienced the “Hmm. We’re having trouble finding that site.” error which, seemingly, occurs frequently.

If you’re seeing this error on the regular basis, make sure to check the solutions we enlisted below.

Hmm. We’re having trouble finding that site [FIX]

1: Check your connection

First things first. We need to make sure that the Firefox browser is the one to blame for the error. Open an alternative browser and try connecting. If you’re having better luck, than move to the additional steps below. Otherwise, if you’re still unable to open any website on the alternative browser, too, — we have the connection issues at hand.

• READ ALSO: Fix: No Internet Connection after installing Windows updates

Now, these are always difficult to deal with due to a variety of possible reasons why the network is down. Maybe it’s on your side or maybe is the ISP. Either way, we suggest you take these steps in the order they’re presented and look for resolution:

• • Try using the wired connection instead of the wireless.
  • Restart your router/modem and PC.
  • Flush DNS:
    1. Press Windows key + S to summon the Search bar.
    2. Type cmd, right-click Command prompt and run it as an administrator.
    3. In the command line, type the following commands and press Enter after each:
       •  ipconfig /release
       • ipconfig /renew
    4. After the process ends, type in this command and press Enter:
       • ipconfig /flushdns
    5. Close the Command Prompt.
  • Run the dedicated Troubleshooter:
    1. Press Windows key + I to open the Settings app.
    2. Choose Update & Security.
    3. Select Troubleshoot from the left pane.
    4. Expand Internet Connections and Run the troubleshooter.
  • Temporarily disable the VPN/Proxy.
  • Update router’s firmware.
  • Reset router to factory settings.

2: Clear Firefox’s cache

Firefox, as any other browser does, collects a lot of cached data. Besides the browsing history, it’ll collect cookies which store the website data. The intention here is to speed up your surfing experience, but cookies can, when pilled up, cause issues within the browser. What we recommend doing is clearing all browser-stored files and try connecting again. Just don’t forget to back up your passwords, as this procedure will delete those, too.

• READ ALSO: Fix: “Firefox had a problem and crashed” in Windows 10

Follow these steps to clear the browsing data in Mozilla Firefox:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete to open the “Clear browsing data” dialog box.
2. Check all boxes and select “Everything” under the Time range.
3. Click Clear now.

3: Disable Add-ons

Even though this is a long shot, disabling Add-ons might help. This especially applies to proxy/VPN extensions which hide your IP address and replace it with the public one. They are only browser-based, and, in my own experience, free options never worked for me. They either have a low data limit or slow down the bandwidth substantially. Paid solutions are much better but they still fall short in comparison to VPNs.

• READ ALSO: Google Container is a new Firefox add-on that blocks Google tracking

Here’s how to disable Add-ons in Mozilla Firefox temporarily:

1. Open Firefox.
2. Click on the hamburger menu and expand Help.
3. Choose Restart with Add-ons disabled.
4. Click Restart.
5. Try accessing any sites and look for improvements.

And this is how to disable them for good:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + A to open the Add-ons menu.
2. Disable every add-on individually and restart Firefox.


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4: Disable IPv6, Proxy, and DNS Prefetching

Mozilla Firefox works with the IPv6 rather than with the IPv4. If you’re for some reason sticking with the IPv4 protocol solely, we recommend disabling the IPv6 in Mozilla Firefox. This should avoid further issues and the aforementioned error should be dealt with. In addition, if you don’t use the general Proxy server settings, we suggest disabling this option, too. And, finally, disable the DNS Prefetching. This feature allows Firefox to load uncached sites faster.

Here’s how to disable IPv6 in Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Firefox.
2. Type about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Accept the risk.
3. Search for IPv6 in the search bar.
4. Right-click on network.dns.disableIPv6;false and click Toggle.

And these steps should show you how to disable Proxy:

1. Click on the hamburger menu and open Options.
2. Scroll to the bottom and open Settings under the Network Proxy.
3. Select No proxy and click OK to confirm changes.

Finally, here’s how to disable the DNS Prefetching option:

1. Repeat the first 2 steps from the IPv6 instructions.
2. Right-click on the list and select New > Boolean from the contextual menu.
3. In the preference dialog box, type network.dns.disablePrefetch and press Enter.
4. Set the preference as True and restart Firefox.

5: Reinstall Mozilla

In the end, the only thing we can think of concerns the clean reinstallation of Mozilla Firefox. This might be the long shot, but there’s always the danger of some hidden error. Things sometimes tend to go awry after an update, so there’s also that. When we say ‘reinstallation’, we refer to cleaning everything and starting from a scratch.

In order to clean reinstall Mozilla Firefox, follow the steps we provided below:

1. In the Windows Search bar, type Control and open Control Panel from the list of results.
2. From the Category view, click Uninstall a program under Programs.
3. Right-click on Mozilla Firefox and Uninstall it.
4. Use IObit Uninstaller (suggested) or any other third-party uninstaller to clean all remaining files and registry entries related to Firefox.
5. Restart your PC.
6. Download Mozilla Firefox, here. Install it and try connecting again.

That should do it. In case you’re still unable to address this, we recommend sending a ticket to Mozilla support. On that note, don’t forget to share your questions or alternative solutions with us and our readers in the comments section below.

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