This article describes the settings that are available in the Firefox Settings Privacy panel.
The Privacy panel allows you to:
- Control how Firefox handles your history, which includes what pages you've visited, what files you've downloaded, what you've entered into forms, and what cookies sites have sent you.
- Control what sites can send you cookies and remove cookies that sites have sent you.
- Control how the Location bar (address bar) uses your history to suggest matches for what you type in it.
Table of Contents
Tracking
Tell sites that I do not want to be tracked: Checking this box will tell websites that you wish to opt-out of tracking by advertisers and other third-parties. Honoring this setting is voluntary — individual websites are not required to respect it. See How do I turn on the Do Not Track feature? for more information.
Tracking
Request that sites not track you: Checking this box will tell websites that you wish to opt-out of tracking by advertisers and other third-parties. Honoring this setting is voluntary — individual websites are not required to respect it. See How do I turn on the Do Not Track feature? for more information.
Use tracking protection in Private Windows: Checking this box will make Firefox actively block domains and sites that are known to track users while browsing with Private Windows. Click to choose the list Firefox uses to block trackers. See Private Browsing - Use Firefox without saving history and What happened to Tracking Protection? for more information.
Tracking
Use tracking protection in Private Windows: Checking this box will make Firefox actively block domains and sites that are known to track users while browsing with Private Windows. Click to choose the list Firefox uses to block trackers. See Private Browsing - Use Firefox without saving history and What happened to Tracking Protection? for more information.
You can also manage your Do Not Track settings. The Do Not Track feature is turned off by default. To turn it on, click manage your Do Not Track settings and then check the box, Use Do Not Track.
You can also manage your Do Not Track settings. The Do Not Track feature is turned off by default except in Private Browsing where it is always on. To turn it on, click manage your Do Not Track settings and then check the box, Always apply Do Not Track.
See How do I turn on the Do Not Track feature? for more information.
History
The Firefox will setting controls how Firefox saves information about your web browsing.
Remember history
When Firefox will is set to Remember history:
- Firefox will keep a list of the pages you've visited.
- A list of files you download will be kept in the Downloads windowLibrary window.
- The text you enter into form fields or the search bar will be remembered so you can use those entries again. For more information, see Control whether Firefox automatically fills in forms.
- Firefox will accept cookies from sites until they expire. For more information on cookies, see Cookies - Information that websites store on your computer.
Click on:
- clear your recent history to open the Clear Recent History window, which allows you to erase some or all of your history quickly. For more information, see Delete browsing, search and download history on Firefox.
- remove individual cookies to display the Cookies window. For more information, see Clear cookies and site data in Firefox.
Never remember history
When Firefox will is set to Never remember history:
- Firefox will keep no record of your browsing history.
- The files you download will not be listed in the Downloads windowLibrary window.
- The text you enter into form fields or the search bar will not be remembered.
- Firefox will accept cookies from sites and delete them when you close Firefox. For more information on cookies, see Cookies - Information that websites store on your computer.
Using Never remember history is equivalent to always being in Firefox Private Browsing mode. For more information, see Private Browsing - Use Firefox without saving history.
Click on clear all current history to open the Clear Recent History window, which allows you to erase some or all of your history quickly. For more information, see Delete browsing, search and download history on Firefox.
Use custom settings for history
When Firefox will is set to Use custom settings for history, the following settings will be available:
- Always use private browsing mode:
If selected, Firefox will not remember any new history the next time it starts. For more information, see Private Browsing - Use Firefox without saving history. - Remember my browsing and download history:
If selected, Firefox will keep a list of the pages you've visited and the files you've downloaded. For more information about downloaded files, see Where to find and manage downloaded files in Firefox. - Remember search and form history:
If selected, the text you enter into form fields or the search bar will be remembered so you can use those entries again. For more information, see Control whether Firefox automatically fills in forms. - Accept cookies from sites:
If selected, Firefox will accept cookies from sites. Click to control whether some sites are not allowed to set cookies. For more information, see Block websites from storing cookies and site data in Firefox.- Accept third-party cookies:
Always: Firefox will always accept cookies from http://site2.com when you are visiting http://site1.com.
From Visited: If you have visited http://site2.com previously, Firefox will accept cookies from this site when you are visiting http://site1.com, otherwise Firefox will not accept them.
Never: Firefox will never accept cookies from http://site2.com when you are visiting http://site1.com. For more information, see Third-party cookies and Firefox tracking protection. - Keep until:
they expire: If selected, Firefox will allow the sites you visit to specify how long Firefox should keep their cookies.
I close Firefox: If selected, your cookies will be deleted when you close Firefox.
ask me every time: If selected, Firefox will ask you how long to keep a cookie each time a site tries to set one.Click to display the Cookies window. For more information on the Cookies window, see Clear cookies and site data in Firefox.
- Accept third-party cookies:
- Clear history when Firefox closes:
Certain saved items will be deleted when you close Firefox. Click to control what items are deleted. Note: Under certain circumstances, this function will not run:- Firefox did not shut down normally. If Firefox crashes, you will need to start Firefox and exit/quit normally to ensure that this function runs.
- Firefox is set to use automatic private browsing. History retained from regular sessions can only be cleared from a regular window. To change between regular mode and automatic private browsing, see: Private Browsing - Use Firefox without saving history.
Location Bar
The Location Bar is the field where you enter a site's web address (URL). The Location Bar suggests results as you type in a search based on the following:
- History: If selected, sites you've previously visited will appear on your results list.
- Bookmarks: Sites you've bookmarked will appear on your results list. These results appear with the blue star next to them.
- Open tabs: Select this if you want tabs that are currently open to appear in your results list. This is especially useful if you have many tabs open.
Click on Change preferences for search engine suggestions… to go to the Search Settings panel, where you can enable or disable search suggestions from your preferred search engine. See How can I control what results the location bar shows me? for details.
