708251 - Firefox 8 doesn't auto-restore the previous session after using Private Browsing mode

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(Firefox :: Session Restore, defect)

Description

[Alexander]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:8.0.1) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/8.0.1
Build ID: 20111120135848

Steps to reproduce:

1. Launch Firefox in normal (not private) mode.
2. Open at least one page.
3. Switch to Private browsing mode by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P.
4. Close Firefox by pressing Alt+F4.
5. Launch Firefox in normal mode again.


Actual results:

The session is empty, previously opened site wasn't remembered.
What's more, the History panel is closed. The case is described on support page https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/898039.


Expected results:

Firefox should restore latest normal session when launched after closing in Private mode. It worked fine since Firefox 3 (see Bug #463188) even if restoring previous session on startup was switched off.

This method is very useful for temporary storing the session.

Comment 1

[Alexander]

In other words, it is necessary to switch browser.sessionstore.resume_session_once on before entering Private browsing mode.

Comment 2

[Paul O'Shannessy [:zpao] (not bugmail, email directly)]

In bug 660785, we changed the behavior to respect the startup preferences after quitting while in PB mode. I'm going to assume that since it's not working, your startup pref is not "show my windows & tabs from last time". So there are a couple ways for you make your use work:

* set resume_session_once before quitting - this isn't really an option
* on next startup, use Restore Previous Session (available in the history menu & on the default start page)
* change your startup pref to "show my windows & tabs from last time"

If "show my windows [...]" doesn't work for you & restore previous session isn't enabled, then we should look into this more.

Comment 3

[Alexander]

Both ways - button on the default start page and preference "show my windows & tabs from last time" work fine. But it would be perfect if a variable like resume_session_once_after_private_mode appears in the next version of Firefox.

What's more, I noticed that screen layout depends on the session now. History panel doesn't restore after restarting browser.

1. Launch Firefox in normal (not private) mode.
2. Select "Show blank page" in startup preferences.
3. Open History panel by pressing Ctrl+H.
4. Go to Private mode by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P;
5. Close Firefox by pressing Alt+F4.
6. Launch Firefox in normal mode again.

The window appears without History panel. Is it normal behaviour? It didn't happen in earlier versions of Firefox.

Comment 4

[Paul O'Shannessy [:zpao] (not bugmail, email directly)]

(In reply to Alexander from comment #3)
> Both ways - button on the default start page and preference "show my windows
> & tabs from last time" work fine. But it would be perfect if a variable like
> resume_session_once_after_private_mode appears in the next version of
> Firefox.

That's probably not going to happen. More prefs = more maintenance & potential confusion. We've already changed behavior once. I think an addon could do the job here just fine (if in pb when quitting, set sessionstore.resume_session_once to restore old behavior).

> What's more, I noticed that screen layout depends on the session now.
> History panel doesn't restore after restarting browser.
> 
> 1. Launch Firefox in normal (not private) mode.
> 2. Select "Show blank page" in startup preferences.
> 3. Open History panel by pressing Ctrl+H.
> 4. Go to Private mode by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P;
> 5. Close Firefox by pressing Alt+F4.
> 6. Launch Firefox in normal mode again.
> 
> The window appears without History panel. Is it normal behaviour? It didn't
> happen in earlier versions of Firefox.

If you can confirm that this works in older versions (specifically though, if you clear resume_session_once from prefs.js in your profile), can you file a new bug? It's not directly related to the main idea of this bug. Thanks!

Comment 5

[Ioana (away)]

Verified on:
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:7.0.1) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/7.0.1
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:12.0a1) Gecko/20120108 Firefox/12.0a1

On Firefox 7.0.1:
The page loaded before starting Private Browsing and the History sidebar were loaded when restarting Fx both when "Show my windows and tabs from last time" was selected and when "Show a blank page" was selected.

On Firefox 12.0a1:
The page loaded before starting Private Browsing and the History sidebar were loaded when restarting Fx with "Show my windows and tabs from last time" selected. When "Show a blank page" was selected, neither the web page nor the History sidebar were loaded when restarting Fx.

Alexander, please file a new bug for the behavior regarding the History sidebar and close this one as invalid. Thank you

Comment 6

[Ioana (away)]

Bug 722349 was filed for the History sidebar issue. Closing this bug as invalid...