Check this out; https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1275285 When i log my accout out, Firefox still remembers my bookmarks and passwords, this didnt happen before and it's hurting my privacy and security!

He has the same problem, but no solution yet.. It's so unbelievable that I can't delete my data after sign out...

I noted the same and it's driving me crazy, I wonder if I'm missing something because I can't believe the remove this function!

Yes, this is a change in Firefox 71: when you disconnect Firefox from your Firefox Account, there is no longer a dialog asking if you want to flush all the local data. Probably too many people used that by accident?

Your options are:

(A) Don't connect your Firefox Account to Firefox on a public PC

For example, you could carry about a PortableApps build of Firefox on a USB flash drive. See: https://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable/

(B) On the public PC create a new Firefox profile before connecting to your account, then delete it when you're done

Details below

(C) Use the existing profile and remove data manually after disconnecting

Details below

Temporary Profile Method

Overview of Steps

(1) Create a temporary Firefox profile for yourself and launch it in a new window (2) After using the temp profile, disconnect from your Firefox Account, and close the window with your temporary profile (3) Switch Firefox back to the default profile if needed (4) Delete your temp profile

[i] Identify currently running profile

Inside Firefox, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it.

This page should list at least one profile and could list many. The profile that Firefox is currently using will have this:

This is the profile in use and it cannot be deleted.

** Make a note of that profile name, since that is the one you may need to switch back to later.

[ii] Create new profile

Click the "Create a New Profile" button, then click Next. Assign a name like Hello, ignore the option to relocate the profile folder, and click the Finish button.

After creating the profile, scroll down to it and click the Launch profile in new browser button.

[iii] Use your temporary profile

Note that external links in other applications might launch into the regular profile, but actions internal to the temporary profile should work normally.

Removing Your Temporary Profile

When you are ready to exit and clean up:

[i] Disconnect and Exit

Disconnect the Hello profile from your Firefox Account, and Exit all windows using that profile.

[ii] Switch back to the default profile

The original about:profiles page should still be open. If the default profile got switched you need to switch it back before you can remove the Hello profile.

[iii] Delete your temporary profile

Find your Hello profile and click its Remove button. That will give you the choice whether to leave the profile folder and all the data files, or remove those as well. Click Delete Files to finish the job:

Clearing Data Manually Method

After disconnecting:

[i] Use Clear Recent History (Ctrl+Shift+Delete) to remove History, Active Logins, Cookies, and Cache

[ii] Roll back bookmarks using an older backup (if possible)

See: Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer

[iii] Manually delete files

Open your current Firefox profile folder using either

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Troubleshooting Information
• (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
• type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table on the page, on the Profile Folder row, click the "Open Folder" button. This should launch a new window listing various files and folders in Windows Explorer.

Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Exit, either:

• "3-bar" menu button > Exit
• (menu bar) File > Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then let the file destruction begin:

(A) Bookmark Backups: Double-click into the bookmarkbackups folder. If there are any files here from your time on the computer, select and Shift+Delete (most may be older)

(B) Bookmarks & History: If you weren't able to overwrite bookmarks with a backup:

At the main level of the profile folder, select the places.sqlite file (single left-click it or arrow down to it) and Shift+Delete it (permanently delete it bypassing the Recycle bin)

If you see either places.sqlite-shm or places.sqlite-wal go ahead and Shift+Delete those as well.

(C) Saved Logins: Select the logins.json file and Shift+Delete it

(D) Previous Session Tabs: Select the sessionstore.jsonlz4 file and Shift+Delete it

(E) Session History Backups: Double-click into the sessionstore-backups folder. If there are any files here from your time on the computer, select and Shift+Delete (clearing history would usually flush them)

Note: This does not clear pinned tabs on the new tab page or custom settings or add-ons, but probably you didn't add any.

When you start up Firefox again, it should be completely unfamiliar with you -- or anyone else who used that same profile.

FredMcD said

Also see; Private Browsing - Use Firefox without saving history Firefox Private Browsing is great for viewing websites without saving things like cookies, temp files, and a history of the pages you visit.

If you confirm that this is a change in version 71, for me a good option is to move to another browser, becaue I don't want to go through a hell of options and restore bookmarks using an old backup when BEFORE I could flush all the data with a click after right after sign out. Am I wrong??

pettenello said

... for me a good option is to move to another browser

Is it easier in other browsers, to temporarily load all your personal information onto a strange computer and then remove it in one step?

jscher2000 said

pettenello said

... for me a good option is to move to another browser

Is it easier in other browsers, to temporarily load all your personal information onto a strange computer and then remove it in one step?

If it was possible before with Firefox, I guess that some other browser must have the same option :D

Another option: Switch to Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) for personal use.

I'm just curious to know why susch an important feature has been removed?

pettenello said

I'm just curious to know why susch an important feature has been removed?

To begin with, that was a new feature about a year ago. Five months ago someone filed a Bug report based upon this - https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/cgnz99/when_firefox_deletes_sync_data_it_deletes_your/ - then in Firefox 71.0 that was removed per Bug # 1568357 Disconnecting Sync has hard-to-parse information leading to user deleting own data.

Final comment (#10) is: "Removing the ability to erase your local data was a deliberate product decision. Asking the user to delete local data when they disconnect Sync is not the right question at the right time for enough people. It turned out to be a "foot gun" for too many users, and in retrospect the feature should have gone through user testing before shipping it to begin with. Sometimes small UI changes have big consequences for some users."

So, basically, we lost the ability to delete local data after disconnect because many users didn't understand the question? :D I never had any problem with that function. :D Anyway, I hope this function will come back soon!

Yeah, I scratched my head over the weak reasoning provided in that Bug report.

the-edmeister said

Yeah, I scratched my head over the weak reasoning provided in that Bug report.

Unbelievable :D