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When opening a private window, firefox will occasionally switch back over to the non-private windows; how do I prevent this?

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This reproducibly happens when I open a private window, then log in to Gmail. It will automatically switch back to the non-private windows about 5 seconds after pressing the sign in button (and I'm not pressing any other buttons or moving the mouse). But it doesn't only happen with gmail; it happens with any normal website (but I can't pinpoint exactly when).

This reproducibly happens when I open a private window, then log in to Gmail. It will automatically switch back to the non-private windows about 5 seconds after pressing the sign in button (and I'm not pressing any other buttons or moving the mouse). But it doesn't only happen with gmail; it happens with any normal website (but I can't pinpoint exactly when).

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There's a good chance this is related to a bug that kicks in when you do not have Flash running in any tab and you open a new window to a page that does use Flash. The details are in this recent thread: Opening New Windows and Shockwave Flash.

I don't know whether opening a Flash site in a private window makes this problem occur more frequently. Maybe it does because the new window is more isolated from the previous one???

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I think you're on the right track. If I disable Shockwave plug-in, it will not do the focus switch. Also, if I have the plug-in enabled and have a webpage open with flash, then it will not do the focus switch when opening a private window and logging into Gmail.

I've updated Shockwave Flash, but I still have the problem. And, if it's relevant, I'm using Firefox 21.0 on Windows 7.

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Unfortunately, there's no near-term cure for this from either Adobe or Mozilla. The other thread lists the known workarounds. If you think of something new, please let us know.