8 ms·

Firefox profiles are so underrated and (seemingly) underused. I create shortcuts for every profile, with the command to launch being `firefox --no-remote -P pro

Firefox profiles are so underrated and (seemingly) underused. I create shortcuts for every profile, with the command to launch being `firefox --no-remote -P profilenamehere`. After that, I barely ever see the profile management dialogue, I just use each profile like it's a different browser. It's convenient to isolate work and personal browsing, convenient to try out different extensions (eg. I have Treestyletabs in one and Sidebery in another, just to evaluate both and see for myself), and the memory usage of running two Firefox profiles is much less than if I ran Firefox and a Chromium browser instead.

mjfisher 3y ago
That's a useful tip. I need access to several Microsoft live/AD/teams accounts, and they just don't work well in the same browser session. I've been using chrome profiles to separate these because the Firefox ones were a little clunky; for some reason it never occurred to me to create shortcuts per profile. Thanks!
- remedan 3y ago
  Have you tried the Multi-Account Containers? It sounds like they might work even better for your use case. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account...
  - happymellon 3y ago
    Yeah, I used to have the same issue with AWS because they kept your account in your session. Having containers for these things is much better than multiple profiles. But for other things, profiles are far superior.
    - starfallg 3y ago
      As you mentioned this, there is now a Firefox add-on that automatically creates the containers from the AWS SSO landing page as you click into your various accounts. It removes the need to create them manually with the Multi Account Containers add-on. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/aws-sso-containers/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/aws-sso-conta...
      - happymellon 3y ago
        That's cool, although different to what I was referring to. I could totally have used this in a previous role.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - Lukas_Skywalker 3y ago
    I do this, exactly for the mentioned case. It's even easier than switching profiles, and you can select the container on a per tab basis.
    - ta8903 3y ago
      Containers with a vertical tab manager (like Sidebery) are chef's kiss, you can create separate tab panels for each container (and configure a container to open in a certain tab panel) so you get even more differentiation of context for each container.
yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
In fairness, needing to play with launch arguments is probably exactly why it's so little used.
- numpad0 3y ago
  Can also be launched from about:profiles, which can't be bookmarked, so, yeah.
  - la_oveja 3y ago
    it actually can be bookmarked. i am missing something?
    - ravenstine 3y ago
      I don't think so, unless they mean that the individual profiles themselves can't be bookmarked. I certainly have about:profiles bookmarked only to make it appear in the URL bar slightly faster when I start typing, but it also does open through the bookmarks menu.
      - qiine 3y ago
        > have about:profiles bookmarked only to make it appear in the URL bar slightly faster OH! this is super clever after a decade of me typing about:config and other that I never remember completely ! this is so much easier ;p
        ravenstine 3y ago
        Yeah, that's become my main use for bookmarks. I prefer to treat the URL bar like a CLI as much as I can, and to not have the bookmarks bar take up space. Actually, it would be kind of awesome if the URL bar really could act more like a command line for the browser. Hmmm.
        qiine 3y ago
happymellon 3y ago
It's a shame that the profiles extension requires a local app to be installed. Firefox really needs to integrate it! https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/profile-switcher/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/profile-switc...
- RulerOf 3y ago
  Wait.. does this make the profile switching UX nearly identical to chrome? I abandoned a switch attempt because I found containers inadequate and profile switching too cumbersome.
  - f233f2 3y ago
    Correct.
- amelius 3y ago
  I don't trust extensions, so yes.
- TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
  That is not an extension maintained by Mozilla. Why do you think it’s needed for profiles? Profiles are built into Firefox and don’t need an extension to be used.
  - rk06 3y ago
    it immensely helps in creating and switching profiles. it is like how firefox support tab containers, but multi-container extension improves UX
  - anonymousab 3y ago
    The in-browser support/UX - the ever present menu options and keyboard shortcuts - are what make Profiles so much better to use in Chrome than in Firefox. The extension attempts to bridge that gap. Having to use about:profiles or an external application shortcut is a much worse experience overall.
  - 3y ago
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
molszanski 3y ago
Sadly, chrome does a much better job (for me) with chrome profiles and how well they are integrated. Extensions, shorcuts and everything. This is the ONLY thing that keeps me on chrome. Otherwise I would go FF. Safari added new profiles a few days ago. Will test it, and maybe switch to that
- intothemild 3y ago
  Same.. I would ditch chrome in a heartbeat if Firefox fixed the lowest hanging issues on profiles.
whyoh 3y ago
Does cloning profiles (by copying an existing profile content to a new folder with a new name) work seamlessly? Or does every profile have some unique identifier that can cause problems if just copied over? The reason I ask is because I have some basic setup config that I would rather not have to manually re-do for every profile.
- petemir 3y ago
  I did not try cloning, but I do have several profiles whose settings/plugins are synced by using Firefox Sync (you can select which things to sync).
- depressedpanda 3y ago
  In my experience, just copying an existing profile to a new folder doesn't work -- you're backing up your data, but you're not creating a new profile. So what I typically do is first create a new profile via Firefox' UI, then I just copy the data of the profile I want to clone into the corresponding data folder of the profile I just created.
satysin 3y ago
Firefox profiles are indeed great. Especially as they're so easy to backup and restore across machines, even different OS. Some simple fiddling with installs.ini and profiles.ini then run Firefox with -P as you say and you're good to go. I've used this process for over a decade, probably more than 15 years now I think about it. Hard to remember! Sadly it doesn't work with Firefox on Ubuntu anymore due to that being a snap package. I'm sure there is a simple enough solution to get it working the same with the snap version but I instead prefer to remove the snap version of Firefox on Ubuntu and use the release directly from download.mozilla.org as I have the download, install and restore all automated for Windows, macOS and Linux so why make my life harder with snaps just for Ubuntu? :)
- beebeepka 3y ago
  I just copy the profile directory. I managed to implant a profile from windows to manjaro, then Ubuntu. Though I don't remember what I had to deal with in canonical's case and their snaps, it could not have been that hard given that I did it.
Biganon 3y ago
I don't like profiles, because I find it hard, impossible maybe, to tell Discord to open the funny links my friends send me in the Personal profile, and Slack to open the work related links in the Professional profile. I ended up having one profile configuration file and a keyboard shortcut that toggled between two different symbolic links, plus a Gnome extension to display the currently selected profile in the top bar, so I would use one profile during the work hours and another one during the evening, but it was slow, difficult to export to other computers and just messy altogether. So now I'm using Firefox containers and I'm mostly happy with them. I wish the bookmarks bar would change depending on the currently selected tab however.
- ashirviskas 3y ago
  I use both Slack and Discord webapps in the according profile, why not use that? They already run in sandboxed browser instances (I guess), so there's even less overhead running them in your browser. (I did not do extensive testing, so I might be wrong here)
  - r1cka 3y ago
    You are basically saying "Don't use any native apps, ever". With chrome profiles, links are just opened in whatever profile window was last active (this is on Mac OS, but I think others are the same). It's the one thing keeping me with chrome (brave).
    - folmar 3y ago
      Linux is definitely not the same. The browser instance that was opened first wins, unless you start it with `--no-remote` flag.
- darrenf 3y ago
  I use profiles not containers, and have links opening using the correct profile by wrapping stuff with the `BROWSER` environment variable. For example my Signal.desktop launcher contains this line Exec=env BROWSER='firefox -P personal' signal-desktop -- %u For other apps I use `firefox -P work`, e.g. a shell alias for AWS SSO.
qwerty456127 3y ago
> I have Treestyletabs in one and Sidebery in another, just to evaluate both and see for myself You don't have to put them in separate browsers/profiles, you can just switch which one takes the sidebar, on the fly. I use both Grasshopper[1] and Tab Center Reborn or Sideberry and switch between on the fly them depending on what features I need at any specific moment. [1]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37306058 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37306058
- sundarurfriend 3y ago
  I don't want to consciously remember to switch though. I want to naturally use both in my normal workflow, and see if I feel any difference. (Also, because TST is familiar to me from years of usage, I'd probably end up never switching to Sidebery.)
pagnol 3y ago
Is there a way to suppress the profile selection dialog on startup?
- ano-ny-mouse 3y ago
  goto about:profiles. select one as default
- sundarurfriend 3y ago
  As long as a `-P profilenamehere` argument is specified, that dialog doesn't pop up (that's why I said "I barely ever see the profile management dialogue"). Just edit the default Firefox shortcut to have a `-P default` argument in its command section, and you can avoid the profile selection dialog.
immenselyblank 3y ago
If only there would a user friendly/intuitive way to switch profiles like in every other chromium browser. I tried using the about:profile and created multiple profiles with cli but it is not user friendly at all. Meanwhile, I am a big fan of multi containers in firefox and wish it was in chrome or edge.

mjfisher 3y ago

That's a useful tip. I need access to several Microsoft live/AD/teams accounts, and they just don't work well in the same browser session. I've been using chrome profiles to separate these because the Firefox ones were a little clunky; for some reason it never occurred to me to create shortcuts per profile. Thanks!

remedan 3y ago
Have you tried the Multi-Account Containers? It sounds like they might work even better for your use case. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account...
- happymellon 3y ago
  Yeah, I used to have the same issue with AWS because they kept your account in your session. Having containers for these things is much better than multiple profiles. But for other things, profiles are far superior.
  - starfallg 3y ago
    As you mentioned this, there is now a Firefox add-on that automatically creates the containers from the AWS SSO landing page as you click into your various accounts. It removes the need to create them manually with the Multi Account Containers add-on. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/aws-sso-containers/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/aws-sso-conta...
    - happymellon 3y ago
      That's cool, although different to what I was referring to. I could totally have used this in a previous role.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- Lukas_Skywalker 3y ago
  I do this, exactly for the mentioned case. It's even easier than switching profiles, and you can select the container on a per tab basis.
  - ta8903 3y ago
    Containers with a vertical tab manager (like Sidebery) are chef's kiss, you can create separate tab panels for each container (and configure a container to open in a certain tab panel) so you get even more differentiation of context for each container.

yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago

In fairness, needing to play with launch arguments is probably exactly why it's so little used.

numpad0 3y ago
Can also be launched from about:profiles, which can't be bookmarked, so, yeah.
- la_oveja 3y ago
  it actually can be bookmarked. i am missing something?
  - ravenstine 3y ago
    I don't think so, unless they mean that the individual profiles themselves can't be bookmarked. I certainly have about:profiles bookmarked only to make it appear in the URL bar slightly faster when I start typing, but it also does open through the bookmarks menu.
    - qiine 3y ago
      > have about:profiles bookmarked only to make it appear in the URL bar slightly faster OH! this is super clever after a decade of me typing about:config and other that I never remember completely ! this is so much easier ;p
      - ravenstine 3y ago
        Yeah, that's become my main use for bookmarks. I prefer to treat the URL bar like a CLI as much as I can, and to not have the bookmarks bar take up space. Actually, it would be kind of awesome if the URL bar really could act more like a command line for the browser. Hmmm.
        qiine 3y ago

happymellon 3y ago

It's a shame that the profiles extension requires a local app to be installed. Firefox really needs to integrate it! https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/profile-switcher/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/profile-switc...

RulerOf 3y ago
Wait.. does this make the profile switching UX nearly identical to chrome? I abandoned a switch attempt because I found containers inadequate and profile switching too cumbersome.
- f233f2 3y ago
  Correct.
amelius 3y ago
I don't trust extensions, so yes.
TedDoesntTalk 3y ago
That is not an extension maintained by Mozilla. Why do you think it’s needed for profiles? Profiles are built into Firefox and don’t need an extension to be used.
- rk06 3y ago
  it immensely helps in creating and switching profiles. it is like how firefox support tab containers, but multi-container extension improves UX
- anonymousab 3y ago
  The in-browser support/UX - the ever present menu options and keyboard shortcuts - are what make Profiles so much better to use in Chrome than in Firefox. The extension attempts to bridge that gap. Having to use about:profiles or an external application shortcut is a much worse experience overall.
- 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

molszanski 3y ago

Sadly, chrome does a much better job (for me) with chrome profiles and how well they are integrated. Extensions, shorcuts and everything. This is the ONLY thing that keeps me on chrome. Otherwise I would go FF. Safari added new profiles a few days ago. Will test it, and maybe switch to that

intothemild 3y ago
Same.. I would ditch chrome in a heartbeat if Firefox fixed the lowest hanging issues on profiles.

whyoh 3y ago

Does cloning profiles (by copying an existing profile content to a new folder with a new name) work seamlessly? Or does every profile have some unique identifier that can cause problems if just copied over? The reason I ask is because I have some basic setup config that I would rather not have to manually re-do for every profile.

petemir 3y ago
I did not try cloning, but I do have several profiles whose settings/plugins are synced by using Firefox Sync (you can select which things to sync).
depressedpanda 3y ago
In my experience, just copying an existing profile to a new folder doesn't work -- you're backing up your data, but you're not creating a new profile. So what I typically do is first create a new profile via Firefox' UI, then I just copy the data of the profile I want to clone into the corresponding data folder of the profile I just created.

satysin 3y ago

Firefox profiles are indeed great. Especially as they're so easy to backup and restore across machines, even different OS. Some simple fiddling with installs.ini and profiles.ini then run Firefox with -P as you say and you're good to go. I've used this process for over a decade, probably more than 15 years now I think about it. Hard to remember! Sadly it doesn't work with Firefox on Ubuntu anymore due to that being a snap package. I'm sure there is a simple enough solution to get it working the same with the snap version but I instead prefer to remove the snap version of Firefox on Ubuntu and use the release directly from download.mozilla.org as I have the download, install and restore all automated for Windows, macOS and Linux so why make my life harder with snaps just for Ubuntu? :)

beebeepka 3y ago
I just copy the profile directory. I managed to implant a profile from windows to manjaro, then Ubuntu. Though I don't remember what I had to deal with in canonical's case and their snaps, it could not have been that hard given that I did it.

Biganon 3y ago

I don't like profiles, because I find it hard, impossible maybe, to tell Discord to open the funny links my friends send me in the Personal profile, and Slack to open the work related links in the Professional profile. I ended up having one profile configuration file and a keyboard shortcut that toggled between two different symbolic links, plus a Gnome extension to display the currently selected profile in the top bar, so I would use one profile during the work hours and another one during the evening, but it was slow, difficult to export to other computers and just messy altogether. So now I'm using Firefox containers and I'm mostly happy with them. I wish the bookmarks bar would change depending on the currently selected tab however.

ashirviskas 3y ago
I use both Slack and Discord webapps in the according profile, why not use that? They already run in sandboxed browser instances (I guess), so there's even less overhead running them in your browser. (I did not do extensive testing, so I might be wrong here)
- r1cka 3y ago
  You are basically saying "Don't use any native apps, ever". With chrome profiles, links are just opened in whatever profile window was last active (this is on Mac OS, but I think others are the same). It's the one thing keeping me with chrome (brave).
  - folmar 3y ago
    Linux is definitely not the same. The browser instance that was opened first wins, unless you start it with `--no-remote` flag.
darrenf 3y ago
I use profiles not containers, and have links opening using the correct profile by wrapping stuff with the `BROWSER` environment variable. For example my Signal.desktop launcher contains this line Exec=env BROWSER='firefox -P personal' signal-desktop -- %u For other apps I use `firefox -P work`, e.g. a shell alias for AWS SSO.

qwerty456127 3y ago

> I have Treestyletabs in one and Sidebery in another, just to evaluate both and see for myself You don't have to put them in separate browsers/profiles, you can just switch which one takes the sidebar, on the fly. I use both Grasshopper[1] and Tab Center Reborn or Sideberry and switch between on the fly them depending on what features I need at any specific moment. [1]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37306058 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37306058

sundarurfriend 3y ago
I don't want to consciously remember to switch though. I want to naturally use both in my normal workflow, and see if I feel any difference. (Also, because TST is familiar to me from years of usage, I'd probably end up never switching to Sidebery.)

pagnol 3y ago

Is there a way to suppress the profile selection dialog on startup?

ano-ny-mouse 3y ago
goto about:profiles. select one as default
sundarurfriend 3y ago
As long as a `-P profilenamehere` argument is specified, that dialog doesn't pop up (that's why I said "I barely ever see the profile management dialogue"). Just edit the default Firefox shortcut to have a `-P default` argument in its command section, and you can avoid the profile selection dialog.

immenselyblank 3y ago

If only there would a user friendly/intuitive way to switch profiles like in every other chromium browser. I tried using the about:profile and created multiple profiles with cli but it is not user friendly at all. Meanwhile, I am a big fan of multi containers in firefox and wish it was in chrome or edge.