Solved Firefox 154.0 creates a new shortcut every time I open it

larc919 · Aug 17, 2026

When I updated Firefox to 154.0 this morning, I specified no shortcuts. Yet there was a new one on the Open-Shell Start Menu. I deleted it. When I opened Firefox again, it created another one and does that with each open when the previous shortcut has been deleted. I wonder if it's somehow tied to the irritable new default setting for Firefox opening with the same site it was on when it last closed. Thankfully, that can be turned off.

wiganken · Tuesday at 4:05 AM

larc919 said:
Firefox to 154.0

Can't recreate that here so unable to help but my FF is showing as up-to-date at v153.0.4 so are you running a special version of FF?

Edwin · Tuesday at 5:04 AM

larc919 said:
When I opened Firefox again, it created another one and does that with each open when the previous shortcut has been deleted.

Same.
Make the shortcut Hidden, seems all you can do!

wiganken · Tuesday at 6:07 AM

Maybe it's related to the FF Nightly channel, which is the least stable channel? It doesn't happen on my Stable channel version.

Kees · Tuesday at 8:16 AM

Because I am running 153.0.4 as well, in which this problem does not yet accur, I asked AI about it and if I could add a command to my user.js to swisch that off permanently. This is the answer I got, edited so that it is shorter:

When Mozilla adds functionalities that check or repair Windows shortcuts at browser startup (as sometimes happens with updates or new installation stubs), these actions fall under Firefox's "shell integration". To prevent Firefox from automatically creating shortcuts in your Start Menu or on your desktop during the transition to version 154 (or later), you can add the following lines to your user.js:

// Prevent Firefox from creating or checking shortcuts at startup
user_pref("browser.shell.checkDefaultBrowser", false);
// If applicable to newer installer/updater stubs (desktop/start menu)
user_pref("browser.shell.shortcutFavicons", false);

This description of using about:config I wrote myself.:

If there is no user.js file then you could change that in the about:config environment of Firefox:
- Open a new tab in Firefox
- Type about:config in the adress bar
- Confirm that you will be careful
- In the search bar type or copy: browser.shell.checkDefaultBrowser
- toggle that value to false
- In the search bar type or copy: browser.shell.shortcutFavicons
- toggle that value to false

I myself have a user.js file (with all kinds of privacy measures), situated in the Firefox profile folder, I just added those two phrases to it.
They look very similar to what I already have in that file, so i fully trust it.

trevo · Tuesday at 9:13 AM

wiganken said:
Can't recreate that here so unable to help but my FF is showing as up-to-date at v153.0.4 so are you running a special version of FF?

I just checked and was offered 154.0 as an update to v153.0.4.

Kees · Tuesday at 9:29 AM

trevo said:
I just checked and was offered 154.0 as an update to v153.0.4.

Yes with me too. While about an hour ago it was not yet.

wiganken · Tuesday at 9:35 AM

trevo said:
I just checked and was offered 154.0 as an update to v153.0.4

Kees said:
Yes with me too.

I hadn't realised that the issue is only with Open-Shell Start Menu so it should not affect those who do not have Open-Shell installed. I don't have Open-Shell. I have StartAllBack installed so I updated v154.0 and all is okay.
Sorry for the misunderstanding.

IanMosley · Tuesday at 9:48 AM

larc919 said:
Firefox to 154.0

Just updated to 154.0 from 153.0.4 - not seeing this issue

Kees · Tuesday at 9:57 AM

wiganken said:
I hadn't realised that the issue is only with Open-Shell Start Menu

It won't be only with Open Shell.
It will be the case at any Menu-tweaking app that's is looking at:
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs (for personal menu-items
and/or
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs (for All Users menu-items).

It even may happen with the normal Windows Menu app, if that is having the right view at those folders. My experience is: sometimes items in those folders appear in the Windows "Show All" menu, sometimes they don't, fully inconsequently...

The order of what is happening is:
- Firefox places a link in one of the two Program folders (if allowed to do so)
- The item appears in the start menu, if that startmenu app is looking in one of those folders (or both) for which shortcuts to show.

KevTech · Tuesday at 10:10 AM

Not seeing this issue on 154.

larc919 · Tuesday at 4:39 PM

KevTech said:
Not seeing this issue on 154.

It's happening on all 5 of my Win 11 computers. My setup isn't standard since I'm using the Open-Shell Start Menu. The regular Firefox shortcut is in a folder with other Internet shortcuts. Firefox apparently can't see that, so is now creating a shortcut outside any folder. If I don't delete the icon, it doesn't create another one when I start Firefox again. This is the same setup I've used for years and Firefox has never done this before.

Edwin · Tuesday at 8:11 PM

You can also Super Hide the Firefox shortcut...
In a Command Prompt paste: attrib +s +h "your full path to the shortcut"

XxXxX · Wednesday at 6:13 AM

this maybe of help to stop the firefox shortcut reappearing
this also happened around 2012.

https://superuser.com/questions/1744677/how-to-delete-firefox-desktop-shortcut-that-keeps-reappearing

best of luck Steve ..

MetalSpike · Wednesday at 9:02 PM

larc919 said:
It's happening on all 5 of my Win 11 computers. My setup isn't standard since I'm using the Open-Shell Start Menu. The regular Firefox shortcut is in a folder with other Internet shortcuts. Firefox apparently can't see that, so is now creating a shortcut outside any folder. If I don't delete the icon, it doesn't create another one when I start Firefox again. This is the same setup I've used for years and Firefox has never done this before.

larc919, I use Open-Shell and ExplorerPatch. Just like you, the issue started with 154.0 and was annoying me because I keep my desktop devoid of icons and my Start Menu neat with shortcuts in folders not just loose in Programs.

I checked About:Config carefully for "shortcut," "startup," and "menu,"but there aren't any obvious settings related to FF keep recreating the shortcut on each Startup. However, you can hide the shortcut (the Super Hide that Edwin mentions is unnecessary) until there is a better way to deal with it.

larc919 · Friday at 10:19 AM

MetalSpike said:
I checked About:Config carefully for "shortcut," "startup," and "menu,"but there aren't any obvious settings related to FF keep recreating the shortcut on each Startup. However, you can hide the shortcut (the Super Hide that Edwin mentions is unnecessary) until there is a better way to deal with it.

Thanks, MetalSpike. That at least gets rid of it for now. The next Firefox update will hopefully solve the problem.

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