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How do I know if I am in Private Mode

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  • 12 have this problem
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  • Last reply by roman11

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I am using Firefox Quantum and if I select New Private Window the screen looks the same. If I have 2 windows up I can't tell which one is the private one. Is there a way to tell?

I am using Firefox Quantum and if I select New Private Window the screen looks the same. If I have 2 windows up I can't tell which one is the private one. Is there a way to tell?

Chosen solution

Is it possible that ALL of your windows are private windows? In that mode, Firefox doesn't mark any windows as private and doesn't use the private browsing welcome page.

That can be set up using either:

  • Windows: "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Options
  • Mac: "3-bar" menu button (or Firefox menu) > Preferences
  • Linux: "3-bar" menu button (or Edit menu) > Preferences
  • Any system: type or paste about:preferences into the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it

In the left column, click Privacy & Security. Then on the right side, find the History section, and check for either of these:

  • Firefox will: Never remember history
  • Firefox will: Use custom settings for history + Always use private browsing mode
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All Replies (4)

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When you are in a Private Browsing window, there will be a purple mask near the top right corner of the titlebar and you will be presented with a purple Private Browsing with Tracking Protection page when you do enter it.

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The mask does not appear in the new Quantum version of firefox.

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Chosen Solution

Is it possible that ALL of your windows are private windows? In that mode, Firefox doesn't mark any windows as private and doesn't use the private browsing welcome page.

That can be set up using either:

  • Windows: "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Options
  • Mac: "3-bar" menu button (or Firefox menu) > Preferences
  • Linux: "3-bar" menu button (or Edit menu) > Preferences
  • Any system: type or paste about:preferences into the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it

In the left column, click Privacy & Security. Then on the right side, find the History section, and check for either of these:

  • Firefox will: Never remember history
  • Firefox will: Use custom settings for history + Always use private browsing mode
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Thank you jscher2000 that was it. I actually did want it always in private mode, thats what I like firefox for. But it wasn't clear that was what was happening. And when you do that the mask never shows up even when you select private from the option menu.

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