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Can I prevent input before entering my primary password?

pmw.gover
pmw.gover
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I have set a primary password, and it all works exactly as it should. But, when I first start firefox, if I type too quickly, my keystrokes find their way to the address bar, rather than the primary password entry pop-up. AFAICT this is because the address bar is automatically selected as the focus for typing at firefox startup.

This sometimes means I've put the first few characters of my password into a search. And with search completion, I worry that these characters get either recorded or worse sent over the Internet.

Is there any way to deselect the address bar before I've entered my primary password? I don't want single site browsing or such, just for either my keystrokes to be buffered and sent to the primary password pop-up, or for the keyboard to block until said pop-up appears.

I have set a primary password, and it all works exactly as it should. But, when I first start firefox, if I type too quickly, my keystrokes find their way to the address bar, rather than the primary password entry pop-up. AFAICT this is because the address bar is automatically selected as the focus for typing at firefox startup. This sometimes means I've put the first few characters of my password into a search. And with search completion, I worry that these characters get either recorded or worse sent over the Internet. Is there any way to deselect the address bar before I've entered my primary password? I don't want single site browsing or such, just for either my keystrokes to be buffered and sent to the primary password pop-up, or for the keyboard to block until said pop-up appears.

All Replies (1)

Sebastian Becker
Sebastian Becker
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Hi! I understand your concern – that’s definitely a valid point regarding privacy and input handling at startup.

Unfortunately, Firefox currently does not support blocking input or de-selecting the address bar focus before the Primary Password prompt appears.

Here are a few ideas you could try:

1. Open Firefox with a blank homepage (no preloaded website):

Go to Settings → Home → Homepage and new windows → set to “Blank Page”.


2. Start Firefox in Private Mode by default:

This disables some autocomplete and tracking functions on startup.


3. Create a feature request:

You can post it here: https://connect.mozilla.org

Your concern is a good candidate for future security-related UX improvements.



Until Firefox adds that control, a manual workaround would be:

Wait 2–3 seconds after launch before typing anything.

Or press Esc once Firefox starts – this removes focus from the address bar until the password prompt pops up.


Hope this helps a bit! Sebastian

Modified by Sebastian Becker

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