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One of Several Gmail Accounts Requires a Private Window to Open

John Larson
John Larson
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Earlier, we asked Google Support for help, because only one of our 9 Gmail accounts did not open in Firefox.

It turns out we could open it in a private window.

Why is that necessary? We did not change our settings or anything else.

Earlier, we asked Google Support for help, because only one of our 9 Gmail accounts did not open in Firefox. It turns out we '''could''' open it in a '''private''' window. Why is that necessary? We did not change our settings or anything else.

All Replies (2)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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You can check for issues caused by corrupted cookies and files in the cache if a link works in a private window. A major difference between a regular window and a private window is that the private window doesn't use the disk cache and use a separate cookie jar and cookies used in the regular window can't be accessed.

You can try these steps in case of issues with webpages:

You can reload webpage(s) and bypass the cache to refresh possibly outdated or corrupted files.

  • hold down the Shift key and left-click the Reload button
  • press "Ctrl + F5" or press "Ctrl + Shift + R" (Windows,Linux)
  • press "Command + Shift + R" (Mac)

Clear the Cache and remove the Cookies for websites that cause problems via the "3-bar" Firefox menu button (Settings).

"Remove the Cookies" for websites that cause problems:

  • Settings -> Privacy & Security
    Cookies and Site Data: "Manage Data"

"Clear the Cache":

  • Settings -> Privacy & Security
    Cookies and Site Data -> Clear Data -> Cached Web Content: Clear

Start Firefox in Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration or userChrome.css is causing the problem.

  • switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
  • do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Troubleshoot Mode start window
John Larson
John Larson Question owner
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Unfortunately, that doesn't help.

We cleared the entire history from Firefox and re-entered the different tabs we had had open.

This is the only one of our 9 Gmail accounts that did and does not load. We are not able to open it without Private mode. There is no explanation that we have found.

Is there something else that may be the problem? We have not changed the password or settings in Firefox or for that account.