[Fix] Firefox Showing Blank Unknown File Icon in Windows Taskbar

Recently I encountered this annoying issue with Mozilla Firefox web browser in one of my Windows 11 devices. Suddenly Firefox started showing a blank unknown file icon in the Taskbar instead of its default icon. If you also face this issue in future, this article will help you in fixing it.

Firefox Showing a Blank File Icon in its Taskbar Button

All of a sudden, Firefox started using a blank White file icon in the Taskbar whenever I opened the web browser. Following screenshot shows the blank file icon used by Firefox in the Taskbar:

Firefox_Showing_Blank_Unknown_File_Icon_Windows_Taskbar.png

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As you can see in the above screenshot, Firefox is showing an empty White icon which is displayed by Windows for unknown file types which don’t have any program associated with them.

I tried to close and re-launch the browser but it didn’t help. Restarting the device also didn’t fix the issue. Firefox just kept showing blank file icon in Taskbar.

Here is How I Fixed Firefox Blank File Icon Problem

The fix was super simple. Somehow Firefox pinned icon stored in Windows cache got corrupted which started causing blank file icon issue.

I tried to repair the corrupt Firefox icon and it worked perfectly. Here is how I did this:

When Firefox was running and showing blank file icon, I right-clicked on the Firefox Taskbar icon and toggled the “Pin to Taskbar” option status. It forced Windows to re-create a new icon for Firefox Taskbar button and the blank file icon issue resolved.

In other words, if Firefox is pinned to your Taskbar, right-click on Firefox button and select “Unpin from Taskbar” option. Now again right-click on Firefox button and select “Pin to Taskbar” option.

Similarly if Firefox is not pinned to your Taskbar, right-click on Firefox button and select “Pin to Taskbar” option. Now again right-click on Firefox button and select “Unpin from Taskbar” option.

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Pin_Unpin_Firefox_Fix_Blank_Unknown_File_Icon_Taskbar_Problem.gif

As soon as you follow this pattern, Firefox will immediately start showing its default icon in Taskbar.

I shared a video of these steps on Twitter a few days back. You can check out it at following link:

See The Magic of Firefox Taskbar Icon !!!pic.twitter.com/wkdpqLo0Y9

– Vishal Gupta (AskVG) (@VishalGuptaMVP) December 9, 2022

You can also Reset Firefox to Fix the Issue

You can also try to reset Firefox to default factory settings and it’ll fix the issue. In fact, resetting Firefox will resolve all kind of issues which you are facing with Firefox.

Following article contains detailed step-by-step instructions about how to reset Firefox and other browsers:

Reset_Mozilla_Firefox_Settings_Default_Factory_State.png

[Tip] How to Reset / Restore Your Web Browser Settings to Default Factory State

Try to Clear Startup Cache in Firefox

Sometimes clearing startup cache in Firefox may also help in fixing such kind of issues.

Following article will let you know how to clear Firefox startup cache:

Clear_Startup_Cache_Mozilla_Firefox_Browser.png

Fix Mozilla Firefox Slow Loading and Crashing Problems by Clearing Startup Cache

Published in: Mozilla Firefox, Troubleshooting Guides

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. In my case the issue is not permanently fix by your method of pinning and unpinning the icon. The error reappears every time I try to pin Firefox to the taskbar or I close the application and open it again, the correct icon only appears after I do a loop of pin – unpin which is very inconvenient to have to do manually every time I open Firefox.

  2. To resolve the issue, I had to unpin from both Start Menu and Taskbar (I had it pinned in both places to begin with)

  3. Windows keeps removing the Firefox link. This has happened to me repeatedly and, maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like another desperate play from Microsoft to force people into using Edge.

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