Permanent Private Browsing on Mozilla Firefox

So, all of us have been in that situation when we had to share a computer with quiet a number of people, and didn't want them snooping around on our browsing history ;) Modern browsers have 'private' modes which allow you to browse the web without leaving any traces on your web browser.

Google Chrome has its Incognito mode, and Mozilla Firefox has its Private Browsing mode. But instead of having to open a new private window every time, its possible in Firefox to always use Private Browsing mode. Here's how:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox. If you need help with that, close this window and forget that we even talked :P

2. Open the 'Options' panel. You can do by clicking on the 'Firefox' button on the top-left corner and selecting 'Options', or by pressing Alt + T and selecting 'Options' from the drop-down menu.

3. In the Options panel, go to the 'Privacy' tab.

4. In the 'History' section, select 'Use custom settings for history' from the drop-down list labelled 'Firefox will:'.

5. Check (tick) the 'Always use private browsing mode' option.

6. You will be asked to restart Firefox for the settings to take effect. Click 'OK'.

7. Voila! Firefox will restart, and you will be in permanent private browsing mode :)

Notes:

1. I have used Firefox 21.0 here. The procedure for the latest version should be similar.

2. The value for the drop-down labelled 'Firefox will:' (in the 'Private' tab of the 'Options' window) changes to 'Never remember history' after Firefox is restarted.

3. To disable permanent private browsing, just follow the same steps and uncheck (take the tick off) the 'Always use private browsing mode' option.