The latest nightly build of Firefox 3.1 included a first version of the long awaited private browsing feature. Private Browsing is basically browsing the Internet in a sandbox that does not write any data of that session on the computer’s hard drive. Unlike Google Chrome’s Incognito Mode Firefox will close all tabs that have been opened before starting the Private Browsing mode and restore them once the Private Browsing session is closed again. Google Chrome on the other hand is opening a new browser window keeping the previously opened tabs which makes it possible to switch between normal and private sessions.
It is important to note that private browsing is only helpful to avoid records of browsing sessions on the computer used. It does not hide the user from the Internet Provider or websites that they visit.
Private Browsing can be enabled in the Firefox Tool menu. It will display a popup that contains information that private browsing mode will be started and all currently open tabs will be saved to be reopened after the private browsing session ends.
Firefox will not record browsing history, search history, download history, web form history, cookies and temporary Internet files. Bookmarks as well as downloads on the other hand will be retained in private browsing mode.
Firefox will add the (private browsing) string to the title which is a indicator for anyone that Private Browsing is enabled. Private Browsing can be disabled from the Tools menu again by selecting the same menu entry that activated it.
Users who regularly clear data when closing Firefox might wonder why they should be using the Private Browsing mode at all. The main difference between clearing data when closing the browser and using the Private Browsing mode is that the Private Browsing mode will never store data on the hard drive. This might however happen when cleaning Firefox data by closing the browser. First, data could be recovered and second it will still be there if Firefox closes unexpectedly.
Read Related Posts
-
Private Browsing Not So Private After All
-
Internet Explorer New Tab Page In Firefox
-
Browsing History
-
Log Into Multiple Accounts Simultaneously
-
Firefox Safe Mode
-
Display Firefox Browsing History With History Tree
-
Disable Location-Aware Browsing (Geolocation) In Firefox
-
Configure tabbed browsing in Firefox
7 Responses to “First Look At Firefox’s Private Browsing Mode”
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
-
[...] following article about First Look At Firefox’s Private Browsing Mode is from our content partner [...]
Private Browsing for me is a way to keep spyware and viruses (and botnets) from sneaking onto my computer. If a virus sneaks into my registry or system files without the sandbox, clearing Firefox’s history will not remove it. Sandboxing is not a guarantee that you will not need security software, but it is my first line of defense.
Private browsing is for porn :D Like in that song, Internet is for porn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GGGAJ_2TvQ
useless. i always run Firefox inside Sandboxie anyway…
up until I upgraded my standard Firefox version to 3.5, I always cleared Firefox, history, cache, and cookies on closing…and this was done automatically. And now, in 3.5, you can still do that, interface has been changed a bit for that feature…but they have added “Private Browsing” which keeps the stuff off the hard drive altogether. Slightly better…and as for the person that commented about viruses and spyware…this has almost [i]nothing[/i] to do with Firefox. A cookie or java or javascript event [i]might[/i] act as a kind of spyware…and can even possibly cause a file to be downloaded onto your computer, which said file can contain a virus. But don’t allow Firefox to automatically download files, and that last problem is solved. And the other ones would be solved by clearing your data…most spyware or viruses are from programs and files that you [i]download[/i] which firefox provides no protection against in any version outside of what i just mentioned about automation.
private browsing was designed exclusively for browsing porn
hahahahaha anonymous is absolutely correct…. the true intentions behind this are so obvious and simple, the techies and office workers reasons for usage are ludicrous and make for a good read on their blogs