This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

"Show my windows and tabs from last time" overrides "Keep cookies until: I close Firefox"

  • 2 cavab
  • 4 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by gizmoguy1

more options

I have set Firefox to restore tabs, but also want to delete cookies on close.

When I restart Firefox, any webpages with cookies (e.g. GMail) still have their cookies and log me in again, despite having set Firefox to delete cookies on close.

I appreciate that some users will want the convenience of keeping cookies for open tabs from the last session, but this is not explicitly stated and is not the behaviour I want. I consider it a UX/security bug.

I think it would be best to add an option to either keep or remove the cookies for the tabs from last session when "Show my windows and tabs from last time" is set.

Thanks everyone! :)

I have set Firefox to restore tabs, but also want to delete cookies on close. When I restart Firefox, any webpages with cookies (e.g. GMail) still have their cookies and log me in again, despite having set Firefox to delete cookies on close. I appreciate that some users will want the convenience of keeping cookies for open tabs from the last session, but this is not explicitly stated and is not the behaviour I want. I consider it a UX/security bug. I think it would be best to add an option to either keep or remove the cookies for the tabs from last session when "Show my windows and tabs from last time" is set. Thanks everyone! :)

Chosen solution

Are you automatically reopening tabs and windows from the previous session via session restore?

  • Tools > Options > General > Startup: "When Firefox Starts": "Show my windows and tabs from last time"

Firefox stores cookies used in tabs that are currently open in the sessionstore.js file as part of saved session data, so those cookies will be restored if Firefox is closed without first closing these tabs.

You can set browser.sessionstore.privacy_level to 2 (never) or 1 (non-HTTPS) on the about:config page to disable saving cookies via session restore in the sessionstore.js file. The browser.sessionstore.privacy_level_deferred pref is used when you do not reopen the previous session automatically via "Show my windows and tabs from last time" and uses the same values.

Read this answer in context 👍 4

All Replies (2)

more options

Seçilmiş Həll

Are you automatically reopening tabs and windows from the previous session via session restore?

  • Tools > Options > General > Startup: "When Firefox Starts": "Show my windows and tabs from last time"

Firefox stores cookies used in tabs that are currently open in the sessionstore.js file as part of saved session data, so those cookies will be restored if Firefox is closed without first closing these tabs.

You can set browser.sessionstore.privacy_level to 2 (never) or 1 (non-HTTPS) on the about:config page to disable saving cookies via session restore in the sessionstore.js file. The browser.sessionstore.privacy_level_deferred pref is used when you do not reopen the previous session automatically via "Show my windows and tabs from last time" and uses the same values.

more options

@cor-el: That's exactly what I wanted, thanks! :)