# Firefox displaying jumbled, overlapping text **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 18, 2011, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-displaying-jumbled-overlapping-text/571790 "2011-02-18T05:39:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-displaying-jumbled-overlapping-text/571790/1 "2011-02-18T05:39:30Z")
This is really driving me nuts. I am running the latest Firefox on Windows XP. Some - not all - pages display a lot of jumbled, overlapping text and icons. [Here](http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/9958/textoverlap.jpg) is a screenshot of what I mean. This doesn’t happen on my other computer, which is running the same version of Firefox on Windows 7. And also, as far as I can remember, it never happened back when I used to run Firefox on Windows XP, years ago. So why is it happening now, and how on earth can I fix it? ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-displaying-jumbled-overlapping-text/571790/2 "2011-02-18T05:41:33Z")
Hold down “ctrl” and use the mouse scroll wheel until you get the size you want. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-displaying-jumbled-overlapping-text/571790/3 "2011-02-18T05:49:57Z")
That doesn’t work; text is jumbled anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-displaying-jumbled-overlapping-text/571790/4 "2011-02-18T05:51:27Z")
Sometimes it is the developer of the webpage’s fault. Different browsers simply go about thing differently. A “good” page designer will see to it that all browsers work well but this is not always the case. Sometimes there is no getting around it. I’d suggest trying a different browser (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox are my main recommendations). Try whatever you are not trying. Or…update the browser you are using. Use Windows Update for Internet Explorer. Download the others for the latest from their homepages. I’d suggest clearing your cache. [CCleaner](http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download) is great for this (free…although if you do not pay attention it may wipe out saved passwords and history so…pay attention). On the webpage press: CTRL+F5 That will force the page to toss its cached page and reload from start. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-displaying-jumbled-overlapping-text/571790/5 "2011-02-18T05:54:50Z")
I get that on some pages. I think they are set for IE and that is different … Go figure. I did not have it on early versions of Firefox but it happens now some. I keep IE around for just that reason and it seems faster dealing with M$ like updates & and stuff. I actually have 5 different browsers I can call on. One is bound to get it right. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-displaying-jumbled-overlapping-text/571790/6 "2011-02-18T05:54:53Z")
I tried CTRL-F5. Didn’t work. Do I have to install that program for it to work? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-displaying-jumbled-overlapping-text/571790/7 "2011-02-18T06:01:45Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I tried CTRL-F5. Didn’t work. > > Do I have to install that program for it to work? CCleaner? Yes. Download and install. It is free and it is clean (no adware or shit like that). Really good stuff for sprucing up your PC. Highly recommended. **BUT!!!** CCleaner may wipe your browsing history and passwords. You can stop that but it is not real clear in the interface. I have blasted that stuff a few times. (Has one section for IE then another section for any other browser you use) If you do not care or know all your passwords you will just enter them on your next visit to those websites. If you forgot you have to muck around with recovering them. CCleaner is overall great stuff though (will clean your registry too…run it a few times till nothing shows). I am a computer geek and people pay me and often all I need to sort them is CCleaner. Don’t tell anyone though or the geeks will have to kill you. 😉 ETA: Not saying this will sort your problem but it is free, fast and your PC will be better for it even if the page is still messed up. Easy stuff first. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-displaying-jumbled-overlapping-text/571790/8 "2011-02-18T07:48:31Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > That doesn’t work; text is jumbled anyway. Tools -\> Options -\> Content -\>Fonts -\> Advanced Default is 16/13/none for font sizes. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-displaying-jumbled-overlapping-text/571790/9 "2011-02-18T12:27:19Z")
This happens regularly on certain sites with Firefox on XP. I’m hoping the next version, long overdue, will fix this. When it happens, I switch to another browser for that site. Nothing else, like using CCleaner, will help this bug in Firefox. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-displaying-jumbled-overlapping-text/571790/10 "2011-02-18T20:20:45Z")
The CTL + scroll wheel worked for me. Thanks **SuperHal**! Also agree about CCleaner being an excellent utility. I recommend it also for an easy way to manage your startup programs. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-displaying-jumbled-overlapping-text/571790/11 "2011-02-18T20:45:05Z")
It also doesn’t help the site isn’t standards-compliant. Firefox does that to me every so often, but it only does it when the site isn’t standards-compliant. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-displaying-jumbled-overlapping-text/571790/12 "2011-02-18T21:52:10Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Tools -\> Options -\> Content -\>Fonts -\> Advanced > > Default is 16/13/none for font sizes. This fix worked. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-displaying-jumbled-overlapping-text/571790/13 "2011-02-19T19:09:20Z")
No problem. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-displaying-jumbled-overlapping-text/571790/14 "2011-02-21T13:05:30Z")
If you actually need the larger fonts, I’d suggest getting the NoSquint Plugin, which will make it easier to tweak the fonts without messing up those default settings. It’s been upgraded to Firefox 4, so it should be good for whatever you are calling the latest Firefox, as 5.0 won’t be out until 3 months after 4.0 is officially released. ---
**Author:** ![jimmynog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@jimmynog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmynog)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-displaying-jumbled-overlapping-text/571790/15 "2013-12-02T22:44:14Z")
I think I have finally figured out this problem, which has plagued me for a long time. Google “bettersurf removal” and get rid of this malware if it is on your system. I got rid of it two days ago, the problem disappeared immediately and hasn’t come back. bettersurf inserts html directly into web pages you are viewing, to create links directing you to sites who are paying them money. I believe this is what confuses the browser and causes the scrambled display.