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Firefox isn't clearing cookies for a website in my exception list after closing the browser

  • 8 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 6 views
  • Last reply by Adam H.

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I put twitter.com into the Preferences->Cookies&Site Data->Manage Permissions list, with "Allow for Session" as the option.

I left "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed" unchecked, because we're not worried about most of the websites.

However, it didn't have the desired effect!

I'm using the FF password manager to keep all my passwords under one master password, sync'd across all my devices which is great, but our family computer is causing problems: I want some important websites to have its session cookies cleared down when anyone exits the browser, so that I have to re-enter the master password before anyone's passwords are available.

So it seems that the Manage Permissions list isn't working. The only effect I saw is that twitter now askes me to approve the use of cookies every time!

After trying it out several times, my logged-in session on twitter.com is still active and I can see with an add-on that all the twitter cookies are still there. In fact there must be about 50 cookies there, loads of them!

After experimenting a bit more, I realised that it's because I kept the twitter tab open when I closed FF, and FF opens up twitter again straight away when restarted.

So do I have to close the tab before I close FF? What happens if it's the only or last tab open?

I put twitter.com into the Preferences->Cookies&Site Data->Manage Permissions list, with "Allow for Session" as the option. I left "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed" unchecked, because we're not worried about most of the websites. However, it didn't have the desired effect! I'm using the FF password manager to keep all my passwords under one master password, sync'd across all my devices which is great, but our family computer is causing problems: I want some important websites to have its session cookies cleared down when anyone exits the browser, so that I have to re-enter the master password before anyone's passwords are available. So it seems that the Manage Permissions list isn't working. The only effect I saw is that twitter now askes me to approve the use of cookies every time! After trying it out several times, my logged-in session on twitter.com is still active and I can see with an add-on that all the twitter cookies are still there. In fact there must be about 50 cookies there, loads of them! After experimenting a bit more, I realised that it's because I kept the twitter tab open when I closed FF, and FF opens up twitter again straight away when restarted. So do I have to close the tab before I close FF? What happens if it's the only or last tab open?

All Replies (8)

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Hi Adam H., Just to be clear - are you saying that Twitter is keeping you logged in? If that is the case, you might want to try Forget About This Site: Delete browsing, search and download history on Firefox Scroll down to 'Remove a single website from your history.'

Note that All history items (browsing and download history, cookies, cache, active logins, passwords, saved form data, exceptions for cookies, images, pop-ups) for that site will be removed.

This will allow you to start from scratch for that site. Be sure to uncheck the "Remember Me" checkbox when you log in.

Hope this helps!

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Hello Mr My-Cheese-is-Slippin

that's not what I'm reporting - the last 2 paragraphs make it clear enough I think. Try it for yourself. I'm pretty sure the functionality implied by "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed" should do what I want without the extra steps you're suggesting.

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It is possible that Twitter uses local storage to store data and this isn't available with "allow for session".

You can exclude the cookies from being saved as part of session data. You can modify this pref on the about:config page.

  • browser.sessionstore.privacy_level = 2

You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I accept the risk!" to continue.

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I'd rather not configure FF's internal workings unless I know it is really never going to work the way it says it should. Do you actually appreciate the problem? When I exit FF with twitter open in a tab, this cookie-purging stuff doesn't work. If I want to log out, I have to make sure I close the tab that twitter is in and then I can close FF and it works as expected.

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Hi Adam H., The 'cookie-purging stuff' is not what you think it is. Preferences->Cookies&Site Data->Manage Permissions list, with "Allow for Session" overrides any limitations which are set in the Content Blocking section above it. Notice that they are Exceptions. There is no auto-delete of Cookies & Site Data.

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Adam H. said

When I exit FF with twitter open in a tab, this cookie-purging stuff doesn't work. If I want to log out, I have to make sure I close the tab that twitter is in and then I can close FF and it works as expected.

Are you using Restore Previous Session? The session history files stores session cookies so that restored tabs pick up where you left off. This extends the definition of "session" from the original session to the restored/continued session.

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OK, I see it's a lot more complicated than I thought. Thanks for the info.