Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Can I have Firefox ask before closing private windows with multiple tabs?

Grayvee
Grayvee
more options

To better control my browsing history and what sites are allowed to leave behind cookies, I primarily use private windows when I browse. I've used private windows in this manner for years, I find them quite useful, however, this means when I accidentally hit that big X at the top right corner, I have nothing but my horrible memory to rely on in trying to restore some of what was rather suddenly lost.

For years I've had Firefox ask before closing windows with multiple tabs, a feature I've found quite useful. Is there any way I can set Firefox behave the same towards private windows?

Please don't respond with the obvious "just stop using private windows". Were that to be a worthy solution, I wouldn't be asking this. I'm not about to sacrifice the benefits of private windows that motivated me to use them in the first place, I just wanna know if I can prevent the consequential loss of tabs I've experienced from it.

(p.s. I've now twice typed this question out in private windows before accidentally closing them, first trying to open the menu to double check my browser version, and second by hitting CTRL-W)

Thank you all, and I hope you have a wonderful day.

To better control my browsing history and what sites are allowed to leave behind cookies, I primarily use private windows when I browse. I've used private windows in this manner for years, I find them quite useful, however, this means when I accidentally hit that big X at the top right corner, I have nothing but my horrible memory to rely on in trying to restore some of what was rather suddenly lost. For years I've had Firefox ask before closing windows with multiple tabs, a feature I've found quite useful. Is there any way I can set Firefox behave the same towards private windows? Please don't respond with the obvious "just stop using private windows". Were that to be a worthy solution, I wouldn't be asking this. I'm not about to sacrifice the benefits of private windows that motivated me to use them in the first place, I just wanna know if I can prevent the consequential loss of tabs I've experienced from it. (p.s. I've now twice typed this question out in private windows before accidentally closing them, first trying to open the menu to double check my browser version, and second by hitting CTRL-W) Thank you all, and I hope you have a wonderful day.

All Replies (1)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 25 Contributor
more options

Hi Grayvee, there is no feature for that.

The only thing that would prevent the private window from closing immediately is if a page triggered that sometimes annoying dialog about whether you really want to leave the page. You may have seen that on some sites.

I created an extension that lets you set up a page with that dialog in each window you want to protect from closure. If you don't find a better workaround, you could take a look:

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/prevent-closing-window/

Of course, in order to address the specific problem, you need to check the box in the installation confirmation to enable the extension in private windows.

P.S. I know the extension sometimes gets confused and opens extra tabs. Sorry about that.