1206436 - Document cases in which Firefox may not successfully clear data on shutdown on SUMO

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(support.mozilla.org :: Knowledge Base Content, task, P2)

Description

[Nick Levinson]

The phrasing "When I quit Firefox, it should automatically clear all" is conditional. That implies an exception. The associated Help does not. If there is no exception, "should" should be replaced with "must".

This is in Edit menu > Preferences > Privacy > History when Firefox Will menu is set to Use Custom Settings For History, Clear History When Firefox Closes is checkmarked, Settings > Settings for Clearing History.

Comment 1

[YF (Yang)]

I don't think it needs to be changed. This can not be guaranteed to always be reached, such as the program/computer be shutdown unexpectedly.

What do you think?

Comment 2

[Nick Levinson]

That's a good point, and, if it's still true, it should be in the Help. It's not now (<https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/settings-privacy-browsing-history-do-not-track?redirectlocale=en-US&as=u&redirectslug=Options+window+-+Privacy+panel&utm_source=inproduct#w_use-custom-settings-for-history>, as accessed Dec. 17, 2015).

But I wonder if it's still true, since it's apparently impossible to have Clear History When Firefox Closes when Always Use Private Browsing Mode is turned on. That's as of FF 42.0.

So, either the Help needs updating or the "should" needs to be replaced with "must", but I don't know which.

Comment 3

[YF (Yang)]

I have tested, the "Always Use Private Browsing Mode" will not save history to the local files, so it is not under the influence of closed unexpectedly.
The "Clear history when Firefox closes" option I guess it affected under the closed unexpectedly.

I don't see the description are inconsistencies, can you add some your thinking?

Comment 4

[Nick Levinson]

FF does keep some browsing history when it shouldn't, such as in private browsing mode and from before Never Remember History without deleting it during Never Remember History. Those are bugs (see, for example, bug 1228686), but they may not get fixed soon. So, a way to delete the history by a user's separate choice is needed. We have that. You say that maybe sometimes the system should refuse to delete, although I doubt it. Unexpected shutdown should only affect deletions that are not by the user's choice. If the user wants to delete, the system should delete. But, either way, whatever exception there is, the exception should be written up in the Help.

Comment 5

[jscher2000]

I added a "Note" to both

* Current: https://support.mozilla.org/kb/delete-browsing-search-download-history-firefox
* Pre-Fx56: https://support.mozilla.org/kb/settings-privacy-browsing-history-do-not-track

Note: Under certain circumstances, this function will not run:
* ''Firefox did not shut down normally.'' If Firefox crashes, you will need to start Firefox and exit/quit normally to ensure that this function runs.
* ''Firefox is set to use automatic private browsing.'' History retained from regular sessions can only be cleared from a regular window. To change between regular mode and automatic private browsing, see: [[Private Browsing - Use Firefox without saving history]].

It's a bit rough, but I believe that's the information needed.

Comment 6

[Alice Wyman]

To Joni: I approved the two pending revisions.  Can this bug be closed?

Comment 7

[Joni Chan]

Thanks, Jscher for making the revisions and to Alice, thanks for approving them. Yes, I'm closing this bug.