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How do I permanently turn off private browsing?

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 30 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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After Firefox recently updated I can't turn off private browsing.

I go to Options -> Privacy & Security -> Uncheck "always use private browsing mode". At this point Firefox must restart to disable this feature, and when Firefox restarts the browser is still in private browsing mode.

Any solutions?

After Firefox recently updated I can't turn off private browsing. I go to Options -> Privacy & Security -> Uncheck "always use private browsing mode". At this point Firefox must restart to disable this feature, and when Firefox restarts the browser is still in private browsing mode. Any solutions?

All Replies (3)

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Please update to Firefox 60.0.1 Update Firefox to the latest release

And let us know if this still happens.

If it does, How to fix preferences that won't save may help

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If the problem continues after consulting the above support article, there's another thing:

The Firefox icon can be set up to launch in private browsing mode at startup. To check whether that is set:

First, open the shortcut as follows:

  • Desktop shortcut: right-click the icon, choose Properties
  • Pinned taskbar icon: right-click the icon, right-click Mozilla Firefox, choose Properties

Windows normally will select the Shortcut tab. If not, go ahead and click the Shortcut tab.

You'll see the Target highlighted. On Windows, that usually is no more and no less than the following (depending on 32-bit/64-bit):

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"

If anything follows after that -- particularly anything with the word private -- clear that all out.

The change would take effect after you exit completely out of Firefox and start it up again.

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You can check the target line in the Firefox desktop shortcut (right-click: Properties) to make sure nothing is appended after the path to the Firefox program.