FF 103.0 delete cookies (only) automatically on exit ...

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sean97
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Joined: December 24th, 2007, 2:45 pm

FF 103.0 delete cookies (only) automatically on exit ...

Post by sean97 »

FF 103.0 ... Is there any way to automatically delete ONLY cookies when FF is closed?

When "Tools / Settings / Privacy & Security / Cookies and Site Data / Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed" box is checked, disk cache files are also deleted. This is unwanted behavior. Disk cache files should not also be deleted.

It is possible to manually delete only cookies in "... / Cookies and Site Data / Clear Data ..." by checking "Cookies and Site Data" and UNCHECKING "Cached Web Content." Cookies can also be deleted manually by clicking "OK" in "History / Clear Recent History .../ Cookies".

This is a near replay of the same issue in FF 102.0 which was then fixed in FF 102.0.1. See post below, "FF 102.0 clearing disk cache ..." (June 28, 2022).
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jscher2000
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Re: FF 103.0 delete cookies (only) automatically on exit ...

Post by jscher2000 »

sean97 wrote:It is possible to manually delete only cookies in "... / Cookies and Site Data / Clear Data ..." by checking "Cookies and Site Data" and UNCHECKING "Cached Web Content."
I believe you answered the question: that is what is currently required.
sean97
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Joined: December 24th, 2007, 2:45 pm

Re: FF 103.0 delete cookies (only) automatically on exit ...

Post by sean97 »

The operative word here is "automatically."

I could be wrong, but since at least 2007, FF has always had a setting allowing users to delete cookies automatically on exit. So now with FF 103.0 that is no longer possible. In its place, FF provides two manual ways to delete cookies. I don't understand how that benefits FF users. Maybe advertisers and trackers, but not users. IMO.

The "Tools / ... / Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed" is seriously misleading. It needs be amended to read "Delete cookies and site data and Cached Web Content" since that is what it's now really doing. Changing that text should be trivially simple for the powers that be.
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therube
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Re: FF 103.0 delete cookies (only) automatically on exit ...

Post by therube »

"Delete cookies and site data and Cached Web Content" since that is what it's now really doing.
When I looked, I couldn't understand just what was or was not going on?

The about:preferences#privacy -> Clear Data dialog (isn't that a mouthful) does have checkboxes, but they don't seem to be able to actually be set?


(Seems FF even did away with Ctrl+Shift+DEL.)


In the good 'ol days (which still exists for some), it was very clear just what was going to happen:

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Fire 750, bring back 250.
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jscher2000
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Re: FF 103.0 delete cookies (only) automatically on exit ...

Post by jscher2000 »

sean97 wrote:The operative word here is "automatically."

I could be wrong, but since at least 2007, FF has always had a setting allowing users to delete cookies automatically on exit. So now with FF 103.0 that is no longer possible.
No longer possible? I think you mean it is no longer possible to delete cookies automatically on exit in Firefox 102+ WITHOUT ALSO either:

* deleting cached web content
* manually unchecking Cache in the Settings dialog

Yes. That would be a true statement.
jwq
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Joined: May 13th, 2004, 3:53 am

Re: FF 103.0 delete cookies (only) automatically on exit ...

Post by jwq »

Would it?

It's not clear from the Settings page, Cookies and Site Data section, that the dialog displayed by the "Clear Data..." button, which has buttons "Cancel" and "Clear" _also_ affects the behaviour selected by the "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed" checkbox. If that is indeed the new behaviour of the UI from 102 then it's a. questionable UI decision to say the least. Implementing a dialog which performs two functions, one of which is explicitly communicated by the button labels "Clear Data...", "Cancel" and "Clear" and another which is to implicitly set the behaviour of a checkbox outside of the dialog and which is not communicated by the checkbox text ensures negative UX.

Edited to add: I just tried unsetting the "Cached Web Content" checkbox in the "Clear Data..." dialog, choosing "Clear" to dismiss the dialog and checking the "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed" checkbox. The result: Firefox 103 crashed when closed. Restarted for a second attempt and found that the Settings page wouldn't show the cookies+cache size nor display the "Clear Data..." dialog. But it did crash again when closed.

What is clear is that the FIrefox devs' war on their users continues apace.
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jscher2000
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Re: FF 103.0 delete cookies (only) automatically on exit ...

Post by jscher2000 »

jwq wrote:It's not clear from the Settings page, Cookies and Site Data section, that the dialog displayed by the "Clear Data..." button, which has buttons "Cancel" and "Clear" _also_ affects the behaviour selected by the "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed" checkbox.
The Clear Data... button is for an immediate flush. It is not related to what Firefox does when it closes. No change to that in Firefox 103.
I just tried unsetting the "Cached Web Content" checkbox in the "Clear Data..." dialog, choosing "Clear" to dismiss the dialog and checking the "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed" checkbox. The result: Firefox 103 crashed when closed. Restarted for a second attempt and found that the Settings page wouldn't show the cookies+cache size nor display the "Clear Data..." dialog. But it did crash again when closed.
Okay, I see the confusion here.

In Firefox 103, selecting "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed" makes changes in the History section of the page. The reason is that clearing stuff at shutdown migrated to the "Clear history when Firefox closes" feature. Use the Settings dialog there to manage what is cleared at shutdown. Currently, it appears that the controls are coordinated as follows:

(1) Check the box for "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed"

In the Settings for "Clear history when Firefox closes", Cookies, Cache, and Offline website data are set to be cleared.

If you customize the selection by unchecking any of those three, the "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed" will lose its checkmark because the checkmark indicates that all 3 are set to be cleared.

(2) If you check and uncheck the box for "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed"

In the Settings for "Clear history when Firefox closes", Cookies, Cache, and Offline website data will be deselected.
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