Force firefox to use a specfic profile

I have setup 2 profiles, 1 for work and 1 for private at home and I have this issue when clicking on links outside firefox as for example apps like MS outlook and shortcuts and such firefox profile manager pops up and ask me to chose a profile to show the link in, and I cannot chose the already running profile but must then chose the work profile if Im currently using "private".
So my question is how do I force FF from stop asking which profile to open an external link in and set the default profile?

First, have separate desktop shortcuts for each of those Profiles, to avoid having to use the Profile Manager all the time. 
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Manager#Shortcut_to_a_specific_profile
2nd, external links will only open the '''Default=1''' Profile as labeled in the profiles.ini file. 
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profiles.ini_file 
No way around that without changing the "default" Profile all the time.
3rd, it is possible to launch a 2nd simultaneous Profile without getting that "running process" message by using the '''-no-remote''' command in the desktop shortcut target path, like before or after the "Profile_Name". But doing that with the '''default''' Profile can be unpredictable when being opened from an external link.
And the -no-remote command that I just mentioned isn't sanctioned by Mozilla for non-developer type users, which is one reason why I provided links to a non-official KnowledgeBase. The official 'line' is - "We do not wish to expose the profile at all. It's supposed to be a hidden
implementation detail" from one of the Mozilla lead developers.

Similar Messages

How to run 2 different Firefox versions using the same profile

Is it possible to run 2 different Firefox versions using the same profile and still have browsing history saved? I used to be able to do that up until a week ago. What happened was I was using Firefox version 3.6.28(a very old version of Firefox) which I need to use sometimes and then the current version, 36.01. Earlier I would use both my versions of Firefox and the history would be saved if I used both versions but now when version 36.01 came out, its not saving for some reason. Is this a bug? The history is saving during the current session, but say I close out of Firefox and then go back to Firefox, it will still be saved but when I go to my old version of Firefox, the history is saved but then after I close out of that the history on my new current version is all gone and it starts me all fresh, is there a way to get rid of this so that the history will always be saved even if i switch between versions? I could do that before up until Firefox 35.01 but Firefox 36 isnt saving the history from the old version, is this a bug or not? Now I have to create a separate profile for each Firefox so the history I use on the old version is only saved on that version and the history I have on the new Firefox is another profile so that history from the 2nd profile remains but I dont want that. I want to be able to use the same profile so that the same browsing history can be saved using both versions like it was before, I hope people can understand my problem. If not I can further explain, thanks.

@ the-edmeister, I understand that the 2 versions are completely different, however how come the history was saving fine when I switched between firefox 3.6.28 to the current one which was Firefox 32, 33, 34, 35 etc? Like I'm surprised how come now at Firefox 36 this problem started, Firefox 36 isnt that much different from Firefox 35 but yet Firefox 35 was still saving my browser history from the old 3.6.28 version, my 3.6.28 version never upgrades but the new Firefox keeps upgrading whenever there is a new release out automatically and then all of a sudden when the new version of 36.01 came out all my history was gone, so isnt Firefox 35.01 also very much different from 3.6.28 as much as 36.01 is? I hope you got what I meant, thank you for helping.

Adobe plugin removed. Defaults set to Adobe Standard. I get Firefox demand to install plugin. How can I force Adobe to use Standard?

Adobe Reader won't open certain (large) Adobe files.
> I set all Firefox defaults to Adobe Standard. Firefox still uses Adobe Reader.
> Uninstalled Adobe Reader. Uninstalled Firefox Adobe plugin.
> When I try to open an Adobe File, Firefox now says to install Adobe Plugin.
... catch - 22.
What can I do to force Firefox to use Adobe Standard? (none of the moderator solutions appear to work)

RESOLUTION (seems not logical, but this worked):
Firefox would do nothing other than ask me to install the Firefox plugin for Adobe, which I accepted. This process leads to re-installing Adobe Reader. After installing Adobe Reader, all of the defaults that I previously had set to use Adobe Standard were re-set during the Adobe Reader installation to use Adobe Reader interally in Firefox.
After re-installing, I was able to load the document that previously I was unable to load (using Adobe Reader inside Firefox). I changed all of the Adobe defaults (under TOOLS/OPTIONS) to "always use Adobe Standard" instead of "Use Adobe Reader (default)". I was then able to open the document using Adobe Standard.
It appears that the following process solved the problem:
> uninstall Adobe Reader
> reinstall Adobe Reader (and the Firefox Adobe plugin)
> change the defaults from "Use Adobe Reader (default)" to "Adobe Standard [release number]"
Note: I have Firefox 21.0 installed, and Adobe Reader XI 11.0.3 installed prior to, and after, this issue.

Itunes and proxy settings. Itunes keeps the proxy setting from IE and I can't adapt it due to company policy. How can I force itunes to use firefox?

itunes can not connect to server and I can't find its proxy settings.
So I think it uses these from IE and those are blocked by company policy.
So, how can I force itunes to use the firefox settings

I fixed this issue (with help from tech support) and it involved several things.
After adding a song to iTunes, right-click on the song in iTunes and select "Update iTunes Match."
OR go to the iTunes menu-->Store-->Update iTunes Match.
Maybe that's the reason, it just hadn't updated to the cloud.
OR maybe it's not a high-enough bitrate file. This happens to me because most of my tunes are home-recorded.
Sometimes converting to .mp3 or Create AAC version might work. (You do this with a right-click in iTunes, and then you will want to remove the original file from iTunes.)
There is an iTunes Preferences setting, under General Preferences called Import Settings. Try setting it to AAC Encoder and iTunes Plus. That (I think) causes imports to be slightly better quality.
Good luck! The tech support person at Apple is requesting that a knowlege-base article be written about this.

[SOLVED]Ugly firefox again (cannot force FF to use gtk theme)

For some reasons, my firefox is pretty ugly with default theme and I cannot force it to use gtk theme for scroll bar and other components ...
yeah, kinda hard to understand what i meant :/. here is the screenshot (take a look closer on the right scroll bar)
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j209/ … _scrot.png
i wonder if we have anyway to force firefox use gtk like with Openoffice??
thanks a lot:)
Last edited by vlearner (2009-04-20 14:05:42)

solved , i installed firefox with su before and everytime i run i have sudo firefox, but then for su, there is no gtkrc there lol
Thanks , i haven never thought that my gtkrc s not in su acc, where i run ff:D
Last edited by vlearner (2009-04-20 14:06:58)

How do I use the same profile for two users on the same computer

I use my laptop both at home and at work. And in each venue I use a different user log on. But I wish to have firefox use the same profile for each user log on. How can I get firefox to point to the same profile for each user?

Note that only one user (Firefox instance) can use a profile folder at the time, so if you would switch the Windows user to another account then you would first have to close Firefox.
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Creating_a_new_Firefox_profile_on_Windows
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Shortcut_to_a_specific_profile
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Using_multiple_profiles_-_Firefox
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bypassing_the_Profile_Manager

I'd like to find out how to use the same profile in a dual boot between Win7 and XP Pro.

Both are at ver. 25.0.1.
Win7 is on C:
XP Pro is on D:
It won't let me add the profile on D: because the profile manager won't allow the : Colin
Thank you,
Docfxit

Note that sharing a folder between different OS that use different file paths is not recommended as some files can have an absolute path or other OS specific data.
You can click the Choose Folder button if you want to create or use a folder in a different location. 
Make sure to select an empty folder (you need to create this folder in advance) and not a folder that already has files as Firefox will use the specified location in this case.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Manager
You can also create a new profile via the command line.
*https://developer.mozilla.org/Command_Line_Options
You can consider to use Sync to sync the two profiles

How can I force Firefox to override javascript when opening links with ctrl+click?

There are certain sites that always open up a link in the active window despite said links being opened by ctrl+clicking it. Basically what happens is that a java script on the site forces the active window to load the link while at the same time Firefox follows the ctrl+click command and loads it in a new tab. You end up with two tabs with the same information and always have to go back in your original tab to be able to open other links.
Usually you can open the link the way you want by right-clicking and selecting 'Open Link in New Tab' but for some reason ctrl+click is treated as if it was a regular click. How can I stop this from happening and force Firefox to ONLY load the new tab?
This problem is not specific to the version of Firefox I'm using or the operating system, but seems to be caused by java script on the site. Disabling java scripts makes the problem go away but sometimes it also disables the sites.

If you're trying to protect your browser from hackers, I'd recommend setting up a master password for your saved passwords. Other than that, your anti-virus and firewall are responsible for keeping your computer safe.
If you're trying to protect your browser from someone else (i.e. somebody who can physically use the computer) just lock your entire computer with a password. If someone else has to use it, you could try letting them use the guest account.

Force firefox to open links in a new window

How can I force firefox to open a link in a new window? Right now it opens the link in the same window, no matter how I configure the settings. Frustrating.
Thanks

Firefox does not have a built-in setting to open all links in a new window. Normally, you would need to hold down the Shift key when clicking the link (Shift+click) or use right-click > Open Link in New Window.
You may be able to find an add-on that adds this feature. I know there are various add-ons to open links in a ''new tab'', but I don't know about a new window.
If the problem is particular to Google search results, there is a setting in Google itself to switch the links from same window to new window. That can be found on the search preferences page:
https://www.google.com/preferences#nwc
This preference is saved in a cookie, so if you clear cookies often, then you would need to revisit that page often.

Firefox doesn't open with profile even after creating a profile through Profile Manager.

I created a profile of Firefox yesterday using Profile Manager. And placed it in a virtual encrypted drive created by TrueCrypt. But Firefox didn't open with the profile. Instead it opened in default setting that Firefox usually gets when newly installed. I tried to select the profile through Profile Manager and open Firefox but to no avail. Even tried placing the profile in the Profile folder in Firefox pathway in AppData. Still same thing. At last reset Firefox and the profile was deleted. Now I'm with newly default setting. Luckily I had saved my bookmarks from Bookmark Manager.
I just wanted to save a profile so that only I can only access my profile and any other person would just had to use default setting. Also to restore my settings in case I install a fresh Firefox or reset Firefox to solve a problem.
Please help me fulfill my wants as stated above and why did it not work yesterday with the Profile Manager?

Hello ams963, i think the problem is with TrueCrypt because it is not support your win 8 yet. see: http://www.truecrypt.org/
http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/version-history
see if can find a method in the next link, not too useful i think for your win 8 : [http://kb.mozillazine.org/Protect_the_profiles_contents Protecting the contents of the profile]
thank you

I have been having a issue with getting the colors on my monitor to match the colors fro my print lab. I now have the monitor calibrated to match the prints but when I open elements it doesn't use the same colors. If i have it use the calibrated profile b

I have been having a issue with getting the colors on my monitor to match the colors fro my print lab. I now have the monitor calibrated to match the prints but when I open elements it doesn't use the same colors. If i have it use the calibrated profile by changing the color management settings, the color picker no longer shows true white or black. How do I get elements 12 to honor the new calibrated settings?

Ok so I've done what you said and this is what it's come back ....
I don't know that these are the errors , but they're the things which don't look right ...
Throughout the shut down there is a recurring line ;
It says ;
Com.apple.launchd 1 0x100600e70.anonymous.unmount 301 PID still valid
Then there are 2 more which I think are related ;
Com.apple.securityd 29 PID job has I overstayed its welcome , forcing removal.
Then the same with fseventd 48 and diskarbitrationd 13
Oh and on Launchd1 : System : stray anonymous job at shut down : PID 301 PPID13 PGID 13 unmount...
Then the last process says "about to call: reboot (RB_AUTOBOOT).
Continuing...
And stops ...
Hope this means something to you ... Thanks again for your help so far :-)

Developing a 2 page form, username on the 1st page, password on 2nd how can i force FF to use the username from previous page when it asks to remember acct info?

I am developing a 2 page signup form, where the person enters their username on the 1st page and password on the 2nd.
When I test the form, FF asks to remember my password for the site - however it thinks the zipcode (field above the password) is the username on the account.
I have tried to put their username/email in a hidden field on the 2nd page, just above the password field - and that did not work.
How can i force FF to use the username from previous page when it asks to remember acct info?

This website is using autocomplete=off to prevent Firefox from saving and filling the name and password.
You can remove autocomplete=off with a bookmarklet to make Firefox save names and passwords and other form data.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/User_name_and_password_not_remembered

How to enable private mode from commandline, with an URL. I am a software dev and I wish to have my application open links in Firefox. Using ShellExecute(), i c

How to enable private mode from commandline, with an URL.
I am a software dev and I wish to have my application open links in Firefox.
Using ShellExecute(), i can do with with commandlines like:
firefox.exe http://support.mozilla.org
But I also want the option to open the link in private mode.
I am able to start firefox in private mode by doing this:
firefox.exe -private
However, if I add a link to the command line
firefox.exe -private http://support.mozilla.org
I get strange results.
If firefox is not running, it launches 2 copies of the application.
One that opens in private mode and the other opens in normal mode and goes to the URL specified.
If firefox is already running, it just opens the URL in a new tab.
No private mode instance is launched.
Am I using the command-line syntax incorrectly?

It will never work if Firefox is already running as Firefox will use the already opened Firefox instance. 
In that case only using a separate profile will work.
You can try to specify the -url switch as well.
*firefox.exe -private -url http://support.mozilla.org
You can also look at the -new-tab switch.
*firefox.exe -private -new-tab http://support.mozilla.org
*https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Command_Line_Options

Although Firefox is used by P-02E of DoCoMo, there are too many web pages which crash in the middle of drawing.

Although Firefox is used by P-02E of DoCoMo, many problems are troubled recently.
If it is going to see specific URL, it will force to terminate certainly.
(Example)
The logo of Yahoo Japan (and all other graphics file)
http://k.yimg.jp/images/top/sp2/cmn/logo-ns-131205.png
Support page
https://support.mozilla.org/ja/home
In addition to this, many web pages.

Thank you for your reply.
I paste clipboard of "about:support" below.
"application": {
"name": "Fennec",
"version": "30.0",
"userAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Android; Mobile; rv:30.0) Gecko/30.0 Firefox/30.0",
"supportURL": "http://support.mozilla.org/1/mobile/30.0/Android/ja/"
"crashes": {
"submitted": [],
"pending": 0
"modifiedPreferences": {
"browser.cache.disk.capacity": 204800,
"browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run": false,
"browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max": false,
"browser.search.suggest.enabled": true,
"browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone": "30.0",
"extensions.lastAppVersion": "30.0",
"network.cookie.prefsMigrated": true,
"storage.vacuum.last.index": 0
"graphics": {
"numTotalWindows": 1,
"numAcceleratedWindows": 1,
"windowLayerManagerType": "OpenGL",
"windowLayerManagerRemote": true,
"adapterDescription": "Model: P-02E, Product: P_02E, Manufacturer: PANASONIC, Hardware: pana3_2, OpenGL: Qualcomm -- Adreno (TM) 320 -- OpenGL ES 2.0 [email protected] AU@ (CL@)",
"adapterVendorID": "Qualcomm",
"adapterDeviceID": "Adreno (TM) 320",
"adapterRAM": "",
"adapterDrivers": "",
"driverVersion": "OpenGL ES 2.0 [email protected] AU@ (CL@)",
"driverDate": "",
"webglRenderer": "Qualcomm -- Adreno (TM) 320",
"info": {
"AzureCanvasBackend": "skia",
"AzureSkiaAccelerated": 1,
"AzureFallbackCanvasBackend": "none",
"AzureContentBackend": "cairo"
"javaScript": {
"incrementalGCEnabled": true
"accessibility": {
"isActive": false,
"forceDisabled": 0
"libraryVersions": {
"NSPR": {
"minVersion": "4.10.6",
"version": "4.10.6"
"NSS": {
"minVersion": "3.16 Basic ECC",
"version": "3.16 Basic ECC"
"NSSUTIL": {
"minVersion": "3.16",
"version": "3.16"
"NSSSSL": {
"minVersion": "3.16 Basic ECC",
"version": "3.16 Basic ECC"
"NSSSMIME": {
"minVersion": "3.16 Basic ECC",
"version": "3.16 Basic ECC"
"userJS": {
"exists": false
"extensions": []
}

Is it possible to force Firefox to load a url in a tab when opening a new page (before the page has loaded)?

Recently when using a rather unreliable internet connection I'm often get dropped connections that prevent pages from loading.
In the past this used to result in an "Unable to connect to server page" when the timeout happened, which was fine as I could just refresh the page.
These days however the page is timing out when the page is still on the about:blank stage (or stuck on the current page), before the url has been updated, so I'm losing the address.
Is there any way to force firefox to update the url as soon as the page load request is made, as opposed to when it recieves a response from the server (which is how it seems to work at the moment)?

If you click a link then Firefox may only be showing the URL on the location bar if at least there is a connection to the server.
If you are on Linux then it should take minutes before the connection times out, at least that is what I see (on Windows it is only 20 seconds). This might be different in case the connection drops.
There should be a try again button of the net error page to reload this link.
Don't you see such a button?
You can start Firefox in [[Safe Mode|Safe Mode]] to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance).
*Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window.
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes

Force firefox to use a specfic profile

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