my private browsing no longer is in my tools menu ??
is this feature no longer available or can it be added back to my tools .. i like this feature why did you take it out thank you
All Replies (12)
no it has not been removed. see Private Browsing - Browse the web without saving information about the sites you visit
Look in the File menu for New Private Window.
This happened to me too. I don't want to open a new private window, I just want to be able to switch to private mode and back in the same window, and that option under Tools has disappeared. If I wanted my desktop to have multiple browser windows I wouldn't use tabs!
Same problem on my computer... the Private Browsing option is no longer listed under the Tools menu. Can't seem to find a solution.
Firefox 20 has new features for Private Browsing, which differ from previous versions of Firefox.
Please read this support article - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-browse-web-without-saving-info
@the-edmeister, did you not even read our queries?
The option has disappeared from our tools menu. We want to be able to switch back-and-forth to private mode without opening a new window. We used to be able to do that, and now we are not. Stop referring us to something that doesn't answer or explain our problem.
Please READ what we are writing before giving us the "read the manual" response, and giving us a link that doesn't answer our questions. Or, if you're trying to avoid responding with, "yeah, it doesn't do that anymore," just be honest and SAY IT. A reason why it's been changed would be nice, too.
Don't treat us like idiots for asking about "minor" UI changes: subtle changes affect how we optimize EVERYTHING. Rich toolbar/plus superficial customization, and ESPECIALLY in-window behavior change (incognito/private) kept FF my primary browser over Chrome's lightness and speed, even if FF could be a little clunky with my options and customization.
Please, answer our one question instead of referring to a stock non-answer about how to do something similar, but not the same, of what we want to do.
@amitshree You also did not answer the question. We want to switch in the same window. Sorry I didn't address your response earlier, my bad.
Minor UI changes??
The entire Private Browsing mode has been changed in Firefox 20, as you would have found out yourself if you had read the support article that two of us had posted.
Sorry edmeister, you are missing the point. The article you have referred us to, does not answer the issue. The private browsing option in tools, is a feature a lot of firefox users appreciate having. I would like to know how to get it back. The way it is now, there's no real good way to tell if private browsing is on or not. If this cannot be corrected, I will have no choice but change my browser and remove firefox as my browser. Even explorer has the option on the toolbar. This is a confusing issue, and trying to solve the problem is becoming even more confusing. It just needs to be corrected or firefox will lose a lot of users.
Future Firefox versions will support Private Browsing per tab, this is already available as an extension.
The Firefox menu button gets purple or you get a purple PB mask on the menu bar or tab bar (Linux) if you are in a PB tab and all Private Browsing mode tabs get a dashed underlining unless you are in permanent PB mode.
edmeister, jimjohn84 is right, you missed the point entirely. It nowhere mentions that particular change, or that old options have been removed and you are no longer able to privately browse in individual tabs (I'm just guessing here, neither you nor the document you refer to actually said "you can no longer browse privately in individual tabs." And really, that's all you or the document needed to say to answer the question).
cor-el: you provided a solution to the original question, thank you! And I think the last bit of your answer helps jimjohn's problem. I'd add that for me, when you're using a private window, the border with the toolbars may turn translucent, so instead of your usual theme it shows that part of your desktop (which can make the tools/icons awful hard to read/identify sometimes)
jimjohn84, adding screenshots of my regular window with it's border theme at the top, and the new private window that shows my desktop wallpaper on the border at the top and the purple mask top-right.
(I had to drag/drop each individual link from my regular browser window into new tabs in a new private window I had to open just to print these screens, which illustrates perfectly the extra steps that could have been avoided with keeping private tabs within the same window, accessible from the tools menu or a right-click.)
Again, thanks edmiester for basically blowing us off by saying "read the manual, stupid!" when the manual did not, in fact, answer our question at all; and thanks cor-el for both answering the original question and another tangential but related one in a few simple lines of text and a link.
