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Private Mode

  • 7 cavab
  • 1 has this problem
  • 23 views
  • Last reply by les25

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When I access certain web sites in Private Mode, the browser delays about 4 seconds before loading the web site, but when using Firefox in regular mode, the web site loads normally. I notice this only with some non-https web sites (http).

This does not happen with other browsers; for example, Incognito Mode in Chrome does not have this issue.

I have tested Firefox on numerous installations both old and new on numerous PCs, and it always does this.

What is the problem? Is it a bug in Firefox or an anomaly with the way some non-https web sites interact with Firefox?

When I access certain web sites in Private Mode, the browser delays about 4 seconds before loading the web site, but when using Firefox in regular mode, the web site loads normally. I notice this only with some non-https web sites (http). This does not happen with other browsers; for example, Incognito Mode in Chrome does not have this issue. I have tested Firefox on numerous installations both old and new on numerous PCs, and it always does this. What is the problem? Is it a bug in Firefox or an anomaly with the way some non-https web sites interact with Firefox?

All Replies (7)

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You can check the timing in the Network Monitor.


Start Firefox in Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration or userChrome.css is causing the problem.

  • switch to the DEFAULT theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
  • do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Troubleshoot Mode start window
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Problem still happens in troubleshoot mode. Have also tried this on another PC with a fresh install, and still has the problem.

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Can you post a link to a publicly accessible page (i.e. no authentication or signing on required)?

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Are those websites possibly using local storage (indexedDB) as that might be disabled in PB mode ?

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Here are the sites. These sites are all mine, so I can answer any questions about them.

Load these in Firefox Private Mode to see the loading delay.

This site loads quickly, no problem: https://gator1.tech/

This is the same web site content as above, but has the 4 second delay problem: http://damondb.org/

Here are 2 more test sites that also have the delay problem: http://fortunadb.org/ and http://fortunadb.net/

both of these have about 4 second delay when accessing with Firefox in Private Mode.

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The above web sites are just HTML/CSS no databases, content management systems, etc.

fortunadb.org and fortunadb.net are just simple single-HTML page sites.

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The other thing I notice is that I have never seen the delay problem with https sites, only http sites (no secure server).