Secondary user profile in Firefox forgets my website logins after each restart!
I'm using a "feature" in Firefox that allows me to select my Firefox profile on startup (by adding -ProfileManager to the target value). This way I can choose between my "home" aka "default-release" and "work" profiles.
Now my issue is that every time I open my work (non-default) profile, I have to login to services like Gmail all over again! Firefox won't save my login information for the work profile similar to the default-release profile. I have back-up and sync set-up on both profiles. So why does this happen?
Chosen solution
A detail like a website remembering you (log you in automatically) is stored in a cookie.
You can use these steps to make a website recognize and remember you:
- create a cookie allow exception with the proper protocol (https:// or http://) to make a website remember you
- use "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed" to let cookies without allow exception expire when Firefox is closed
- Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
Cookies and Site Data: "Manage Permissions"
In case you use "Clear history when Firefox closes" or otherwise clear history.
- do not clear the Cookies
- do not clear the Site Preferences
- Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history":
[X] "Clear history when Firefox closes" -> Settings - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/delete-browsing-search-download-history-firefox
- clearing "Site Preferences" clears exceptions for cookies, images, pop-up windows, and software installation and exception for password and other website specific data
- clearing "Cookies" will remove all selected cookies including cookies with an allow exception you may want to keep
All Replies (3)
Chosen Solution
A detail like a website remembering you (log you in automatically) is stored in a cookie.
You can use these steps to make a website recognize and remember you:
- create a cookie allow exception with the proper protocol (https:// or http://) to make a website remember you
- use "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed" to let cookies without allow exception expire when Firefox is closed
- Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
Cookies and Site Data: "Manage Permissions"
In case you use "Clear history when Firefox closes" or otherwise clear history.
- do not clear the Cookies
- do not clear the Site Preferences
- Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history":
[X] "Clear history when Firefox closes" -> Settings - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/delete-browsing-search-download-history-firefox
- clearing "Site Preferences" clears exceptions for cookies, images, pop-up windows, and software installation and exception for password and other website specific data
- clearing "Cookies" will remove all selected cookies including cookies with an allow exception you may want to keep
cor-el said
A detail like a website remembering you (log you in automatically) is stored in a cookie. You can use these steps to make a website recognize and remember you:
- create a cookie allow exception with the proper protocol (https:// or http://) to make a website remember you
- use "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed" to let cookies without allow exception expire when Firefox is closed
- Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
Cookies and Site Data: "Manage Permissions"
In case you use "Clear history when Firefox closes" or otherwise clear history.
- do not clear the Cookies
- do not clear the Site Preferences
- Options/Preferences -> Privacy & Security
Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history":
[X] "Clear history when Firefox closes" -> Settings- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/delete-browsing-search-download-history-firefox
- clearing "Site Preferences" clears exceptions for cookies, images, pop-up windows, and software installation and exception for password and other website specific data
- clearing "Cookies" will remove all selected cookies including cookies with an allow exception you may want to keep
EDIT: The option "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed" was checked and that was the issue. Thank you for your response. Solved!
OUTDATED REPLY: So I just checked all these settings. They look fine. I don't clear anything on closing Firefox. Why does Firefox behave differently only on my second profile? Same settings on the main profile and it remembers my login information on all websites
Modified by user3033756
Does Firefox still have the persistent Google cookies at startup in the work profile? You can use the "Manage Data" button to get a count of cookies and size of DOM storage data per site.
But more generally, does your work account set a persistent cookie for your session authentication info? If the site only sets a session cookie, it will be flushed automatically when you end your Firefox session regardless of other settings.
It may be possible to retain session cookies if you set Firefox to automatically restore your previous session and you leave your Gmail open when you Exit Firefox.