This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Èròjà atẹ̀lélànà yii ni a ti fi pamọ́ fọ́jọ́ pípẹ́. Jọ̀wọ́ béèrè ìbéèrè titun bí o bá nílò ìrànwọ́.

why is firefox saving private browsing history

  • 3 àwọn èsì
  • 1 ní ìṣòro yìí
  • 41 views
  • Èsì tí ó kẹ́hìn lọ́wọ́ DavidAR

more options

I am using Firefox 14 with an iPad IOS 10. Occasionally I use Private Browsing. However, the next time I use Private Browsing, maybe weeks or months later, all the Website addresses I ever visited previously are listed. This happens even if I shut down and re-start Firefox, or if I re-boot the iPad. Why isn't this "Private" data not being erased?

I am using Firefox 14 with an iPad IOS 10. Occasionally I use Private Browsing. However, the next time I use Private Browsing, maybe weeks or months later, all the Website addresses I ever visited previously are listed. This happens even if I shut down and re-start Firefox, or if I re-boot the iPad. Why isn't this "Private" data not being erased?

All Replies (3)

more options

DavidAR said

all the Website addresses I ever visited previously are listed. This happens even if I shut down and re-start Firefox, or if I re-boot the iPad. Why isn't this "Private" data not being erased?

It's not private data. It's all the Website addresses you ever visited previously in normal mode and they're accessible in the private mode (this is normal thing). But data from the private mode are not accessible in the normal mode.

more options

Thank you for your response, I did not know that an address was not data!

If "private" has any meaning at all it must mean "inaccessible" to others. But it would seem to be splitting hairs to say that addresses are not data. Look at the definition of "Data": "Factual information, especially information organized for analysis or used to reason or make decisions." Not much ambiguity there. Any address is information; information that one might not want anyone else to have access to.

I would suggest that at the very least Mozilla should make this clear.

David

more options

I have just tried private browsing on a PC. I entered an address, logged in, then logged out and and closed the window, When I opened a private window again that address was not remembered.

So it seems as though Firefox has different standards of "privacy", one for PCs, the other for IOS. Does this seem right? Or am I missing something?

David