Why, with Firefox 67.0 (64-bit), does Thunderbird 60.7.0 (32-bit) ignore the running Firefox instance and starts, instead, the default profile to handle links?
Hi, all.
On Windows 10 Pro (64-bit), I run Firefox (64-bit) and Thunderbird (32-bit), each with two profiles.
Until this afternoon, when Firefox updated to 67.0, clicking on a link in Thunderbird would open a new tab in the currently running instance of Firefox. If Firefox was not running, it would open "Profile 1."
Now, Thunderbird will only open links in my "Profile 1" Firefox. If I have "Profile 2" running, Thunderbird ignores it and starts a new instance of Firefox using "Profile 1." With both instances running, Thunderbird opens a new tab in the "Profile 1" instance.
I updated to Thunderbird 60.7.0 (32-bit), but it did not change the behaviour. So, this seems to be a Firefox change. Is there a way to go back to having the running Firefox instance handle the external launch of links?
This is the behaviour that I want: clicking on a link, anywhere, will open it in a new tab in the currently running Firefox profile, only opening the default profile if Firefox is not yet running.
Thanks in advance!
Izabrano rješenje
I took some time to play around with the Firefox Profile Manager, and I can sort of get back to the behaviour that I expect by un-checking the "Use the selected profile without asking at startup" box.
In the past:
- I had configured "Profile 1" and "Profile 2" and checked the "Use the selected profile without asking at startup" box (which basically set "Profile 1" as the default profile);
- Starting Firefox without any parameters would open my default profile ("Profile 1");
- Starting Firefox with a specified profile would open the specified profile (in practice, I only ever had to specify "Profile 2");
- Whichever profile I started was the one used to open URLs (in a new tab), regardless of how I opened them (from Thunderbird, from a link in a PDF, from Windows' "Run..." dialogue box).
Now:
- I have configured "Profile 1" and "Profile 2" and unchecked the "Use the selected profile without asking at startup" box (which means that I do not have a default profile for Firefox);
- Starting Firefox without any parameters opens Profile Manager, from which I must select which profile I want;
- Starting Firefox with a specified profile opens the specified profile (in practice, I have a shortcut that specifies "Profile 2");
- Whichever profile I start is the one used to open URLs (in a new tab), regardless of how I open them (from Thunderbird, from a link in a PDF, from Windows' "Run..." dialogue box).
Basically, the currently running profile is set as the default, and Firefox uses it for any subsequent URL requests just as though the "Use the selected profile without asking at startup" box were checked in Profile Manager.
During testing, I had one URL open a new window of the currently running Firefox profile instead of opening a new tab in the currently running window of the currently running Firefox profile, but I have not been able to duplicate that. It may have been just my two profiles getting their new instructions.
If I run Firefox with "Profile 2" and then run a second instance of Firefox with "Profile 1," I get two instances of Firefox, as expected. Launching URLs uses "Profile 2," the first instance that I launched (perhaps, the first instance's "I'm the default" setting prevails?). Similarly, launching "Profile 1" and then "Profile 2" results in "Profile 1" being preferred for external URL requests. If I close the instance of Firefox that I started first, my next external request for a URL results in the Profile Manager coming up and asking which profile I want to use. If I select the still-running profile, the URL opens in a new tab in the currently running Firefox instance.
In conclusion, it is a minor annoyance to have to be prompted for my "Profile 1" Firefox profile instead of having it as the default. The larger issue appears to me to be that, whatever change was made to how profiles are handled for multiple installations, there is an unintended consequence for regular profile handling introduced in Firefox 67.0. I would like to get to the bottom of it and change the behaviour back (or have a setting to regulate the behaviour).
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Of course, back up your "Profile A" and "Profile B" folders before you use the "Choose folder..." option, just in case!
You get to the "Choose folder..." button by selecting "Create a New Profile" in either the classic Profile Manager or the about:profiles tab. Click "Next" to get started, give the profile a name ("Profile A"), then click on "Choose folder..." to pick your existing profile directory instead of the suggested, new directory.
Repeat that for "Profile B," and you should then be able to use them as described in my reply, above.
I was able to add profiles for A and B to profiles.ini using the about:profiles page. when I choose the path for each profile I pointed to the existing profile folder A and B. I then copied my desktop icon and changed "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -profile "C:\users\zt1\AppData\roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\A" to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -profile A.
I started firefox using the new icon and firefox started ok but acted like I was a new user with some intro screens and the bookmark toolbar did not show anything that I had previously. When I go back to the original icon my firefox looks normal.
h45acpwt said
...firefox started ok but acted like I was a new user...
When you look at about:profiles, does the "Root Directory" actually point to "C:\users\zt1\AppData\roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\A" or did Profile Manager make a subdirectory, there, and create a new profile?
h45acpwt said
I then copied my desktop icon and changed
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -profile "C:\users\zt1\AppData\roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\A"
to </br> "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -profile A.
Do you want to switch to calling the profile by name instead of path? To see the name Firefox expects, call up the Profile Manager using
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P
Then you can use
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P "profilename"
My objective here is to be able to invoke firefox from a url in thunderbird or some other app and have it start the default firefox if no other firefox is running. If a firefox is already running than that is the one I want to be used for the url. Used to work until firefox folks changed something that as far as I concerned broke firefox.
When I added profile A the root folder points to the to the A folder in roaming and the local folder points to the same only in the local.
when I use the modified desktop icon with -p A it looks like a new user. If I use the about:profile page and select open browser then firefox A comes up with all the correct things.
i must admit this is very frustrating. I spent 38 years in IT starting back in the early days. I was a EAM operator, sys/360 operator, applications programmer and a systems programmer. I spent the last 23 years as a systems programmer on IBM mainframes and distributed backup for PCs both windows and linux based. I've been retired for 14 years so I am a little rusty but seems like things are unnecessarily complicated these days. Now I just want to be a "user" and not a "technician".
Well I went back and checked my desktop icon and found i was using -profile A which did not work. i changed it to -P A and lo and behold firefox A started. I had not gone back to check the actual options but there must be a difference between -profile and -P. So now I can play with the start check box in about:profiles.
Now when using a url for thunderbird or other apps firefox is asking which profile I want to use. One extra keystroke and a slight delay because it has to load that firefox but it is now doing what it is supposed to. Thanks for everyone's comments and help. In the end it was (as usual) the little things that get you. Like not checking on the syntax of the desktop properties command line.
h45acpwt said
Now when using a url for thunderbird or other apps firefox is asking which profile I want to use. One extra keystroke and a slight delay because it has to load that firefox but it is now doing what it is supposed to.
If you keep that Firefox open, with the default profile and running profile aligned, you won't have to choose again until you switch to the other profile. At least, that's how it works for me.
Izmjenjeno od jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
I have the very same problem with both FF on Win 7 and Win 10 64bit.
Is there a solution that doesn't involve profile manager dialog?
Aleksandar Stojsavljevic said
I have the very same problem with both FF on Win 7 and Win 10 64bit. Is there a solution that doesn't involve profile manager dialog?
Do you intentionally use multiple profiles on a frequent basis?
It might be possible to override Firefox using the default profile, but I wasn't able to find a way. For example, I tried modifying the command line used to open links in the Registry.
This is where Windows 10 stores the assigned default program for http:// URLs:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Associations\UrlAssociations\http\UserChoice => ProgId=FirefoxURL-308046B0AF4A39CB
I added a profile into the command line:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxURL-308046B0AF4A39CB\shell\open\command
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P "Quantum" -osint -url "%1"
The result was that the link never opened. So that was a complete fail. Maybe someone else has an idea.
Izmjenjeno od jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
> Do you intentionally use multiple profiles on a frequent basis?
Yes, my wife uses default profile and I use another.
As I want all external links to be opened in currently active profile, no profile hard-coding is applicable. Also, I don't want to use profile manager every time FF starts.
I believe that my usecase is fairly common so I don't understand how the behavior is changed without option to get old behavior back.
Aleksandar Stojsavljevic said
> Do you intentionally use multiple profiles on a frequent basis?
Yes, my wife uses default profile and I use another.
Hmm, if you used different Windows logons, then Firefox would normally create separate data folders in your individual Windows user profiles and that would avoid the problem.
As I want all external links to be opened in currently active profile, no profile hard-coding is applicable. Also, I don't want to use profile manager every time FF starts. I believe that my usecase is fairly common so I don't understand how the behavior is changed without option to get old behavior back.
What is common is just coming to light after Firefox 67: people have a lot of different ideas about how to use profiles.
Are you using a custom icon to start Firefox with a particular profile (-P his and -P hers)? I think it would be really convenient for the developers to add a new parameter like -make-default-profile as a shortcut to using the Profile Manager. However, I'm not sure who decides such things.
Hmm, if you used different Windows logons, then Firefox would normally create separate data folders in your individual Windows user profiles and that would avoid the problem.
I don't want to use different Windows logons :)
Are you using a custom icon to start Firefox with a particular profile (-P his and -P hers)?
I have custom FF shortcut for me with -P param. Shortcut my wife uses is without -P param as she uses default profile.
Can you (or somebody else) point me to release notes when this change is introduced? Is there a ticket (JIRA or whatever they use) for this?
Izmjenjeno od Aleksandar Stojsavljevic
Hi Aleksandar Stojsavljevic, do you want to file a bug proposing that or another specific change? Perhaps there already is such a bug on file, I haven't searched. Specific is the key thing, "Change it back" is not likely to go anywhere.
I found this newly reported bug: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1580630 It looks like the root cause is the same but I might be wrong. I added a comment with my usecase and I will report new bug if necessary.
Aleksandar Stojsavljevic: You already use a specific shortcut to open Firefox with your profile; you could change the shortcut that your wife uses to specify the Default profile. That removes the Profile Manager dialogue box from the start-up of Firefox for your wife, when she starts Firefox from "her" shortcut icon.
Unfortunately, Windows remembers which profile each programme used to open a link, the last time that it opened a link, and, if the currently running Firefox profile is not the same, Profile Manager is started so that you can specify which profile you want to use. If you select the currently running profile, the link opens in the currently running instance of Firefox.
In the short term, I suggest that you rename your profiles to "Al's Profile" and "Al's Better Half's Profile" (or whatever gets you the most points :-) ).
The bug report that you want to file should request that an option be added to skip the Profile Manager if Firefox is already running so that links are opened in the currently running profile (defaulting to "TRUE"). This would satisfy everyone who has posted in this thread (on that point, at least), and whoever wanted it to work the way that it is working since the 67.0 update can change the setting to "FALSE."