How To Make Firefox 3.5 Always Start In Private Browsing Mode

Private Browsing mode is a new feature that has been added in the latest version of Firefox 3.5. You can make Firefox always start in private mode. This way you will not have to worry about turning Private mode on each time you want to browse without leaving any traces behind. This tip is for advanced users of Firefox who are aware of performing tweaks using about:config. If you are new to about:config, then you may like to read our short about:config tweak guide. In order to set Firefox to always start in Private Browsing Mode, 1. Open about:config. 2. Search for ‘private’ in the filter box.

3. Double click the option ‘browser.privatebrowsing.autostart’ to set it to true (By default it is false). You can also right-click and select ‘Toggle’. 4. Close all windows of Firefox and restart again to start browsing in Privacy.

You may notice that ‘Stop Private Browsing‘ and ‘Clear Recent History…‘ from the Tools menu are disabled. This is because Firefox no longer saves any history, cookies and other browsing data.

UPDATE: As one reader has pointed out in the comments section, this feature can also be set through Tools –> Options -> Privacy Tab. Basic users who feel uncomfortable with above described about:config tweak might prefer to do this via the Options menu.

• Choose “Use custom settings for history” for the “Firefox will” drop down list.This will make some advanced settings for private browsing visible.
• Select the “Automatically start Firefox in a private browsing session” in order to make Firefox always start in private browsing mode.