Multiple Firefox profiles [nice trick]

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[If you want to skip to the trick jump to the second paragraph] I’m somewhat surprised I’ve not seen it here (and I did a search to be sure) but, there’s an interesting trick with firefox to use multiple profiles. Basically each profile holds it’s own copy of bookmarks, addons (plugins/extensions), and any other customization done to firefox. The advantages of multiple profiles include having multiple users on one Windows User Profile (Husband/Wife or Brother/Sister), and/or having multiple profiles for multiple uses. In my case I have a main profile that has all my favorite plugins, a work profile that only has what’s needed (it’s faster and should be more compatible with the more stingy sites), and I have an EverybodyElse profile which is mostly so my sister will stop saving stuff to my folders/firefox setup (hopefully).

To get started open the command line (Win + R to open run then type cmd and hit Enter) and type your firefox installation with the parameter –profilemanager

It should look something like this “C:Program FilesMozilla Firefoxfirefox.exe” –profilemanager

NOTE: You must close Firefox to do this so write the instructions down or just memorize what’s above.

Also Note: the thread description (Have Multiple Browsing Personalities) is a ripoff of a joke from my source.

Source (Speaking of which…): http://lifehacker.com/5406776/favbackup-updates-backs-up-multiple-firefox-profiles

Final Note: If any admins wish to fix this post up a bit (I know I ramble a lot-especially around midnight). Please be more than willing.

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Useful links regarding Firefox profiles:

http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Profiles
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles

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I would favor setting up multiple Windows Standard User Accounts for different people sharing the same computer. That way, no one can accidentally wreck anyone else’s files or settings, as often happens when different users share the same account. Each Standard User Account generates its own Firefox Profile, and these are quite independent of each other.

But being able to have different Firefox Profiles for the same user (say, one for business, one for web surfing, and one for user groups) might be an interesting way of optimizing Firefox for specific types of tasks. Kind of like creating Linux Workspaces. I should try it sometime after I upgrade to a Windows 7 laptop.

-- rc primak

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I have a second one I call PlainVanilla, with no extensions, for testing. So it’s across between my real profile and Safe Mode.

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As far as preferring multiple user accounts over multiple profiles it really is a matter of purpose. For me I’m the primary user of my computer but, my sister and father will sometimes use my computer to access the internet. Since I don’t want them clicking the wrong things in my main profile such as some of my addons which are customized to log into my own online accounts it’s a nice way to give them access without wasting space on a whole other account. It’s also much faster than switching users and I can run things like my torrents in the background while they do what they want. I also have a work only profile which works with the horrible online homework system I have to use in my Calculus class.

I also wanted to mention something else I discovered. You can have multiple firefox profiles open at the same time by creating a shortcut (or you could use the command line each time) the form of (“directory/firefox.exe” -P ProfileName -no-remote). I’m currently running my work only profile at the same time as my primary profile. To try and make it easier for less experienced users go to your desktop, right click, select new, shortcut, enter the firefox command (on x86/32-bit OSes the default is “C:Program FilesMozilla Firefoxfirefox.exe”) then add -P, your profile name, -no-remote. For me the command looks like this: “C:Program FilesMozilla Firefoxfirefox.exe” -P Gregory -no-remote

Using the profile manager can also help with sharing mozilla profiles between linux and windows.

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Here is a ready built firefox extension that allows you to change profiles or load a second one as well

Profile Switcher

I found it while browsing for something else. Talk about serendipity!

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Here is a ready built firefox extension that allows you to change profiles or load a second one as well

Profile Switcher

I found it while browsing for something else. Talk about serendipity!

Excellent. I personally won’t be using it since I just select at start up but, this is nice, especially for the less nerdy people.

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Here is a ready built firefox extension that allows you to change profiles or load a second one as well

Profile Switcher

I found it while browsing for something else. Talk about serendipity!

The Home Page for this site is in Italian, and their English page is barely readable, but otherwise, this looks like a good extension. However, the latest Firefox version this site references is 3.5. I worry about compatibility with Firefox 3.6. And the extension is written up as if it relates only to Linux. I like to stick with extensions from the Firefox official download pages, to avoid possible incompatibilities. I’ve been burned too many times by out of date extensions from outside sources.

The Firefox FEBE Extension backup solution has worked for me quite well through several Firefox upgrades, and it is kept current by its authors. I like the ability to back up only the Profile elements I want to back up, and to restore only whatever I need at the time, item by item if necessary. This helps a lot when an extension breaks or something else very specific goes awry (which is unfortunately not too infrequent in my experience with Firefox updates ). And then there are those times when someone convinces me to mess with the “about:config” File…

FEBE documentation (at the authors’ Home Page) is thorough and up to date, their site includes tutorials, and their English is quite readable. And the Extension is definitely for Windows. The current FEBE version is up to date through the current developer alpha of Firefox 3.7, so their 3.6 version is stable and it works just fine.

-- rc primak

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The Home Page for this site is in Italian, and their English page is barely readable, but otherwise, this looks like a good extension. However, the latest Firefox version this site references is 3.5. I worry about compatibility with Firefox 3.6. And the extension is written up as if it relates only to Linux. I like to stick with extensions from the Firefox official download pages, to avoid possible incompatibilities. I’ve been burned too many times by out of date extensions from outside sources.

The Firefox FEBE Extension backup solution has worked for me quite well through several Firefox upgrades, and it is kept current by its authors. I like the ability to back up only the Profile elements I want to back up, and to restore only whatever I need at the time, item by item if necessary. This helps a lot when an extension breaks or something else very specific goes awry (which is unfortunately not too infrequent in my experience with Firefox updates ). And then there are those times when someone convinces me to mess with the “about:config” File…

FEBE documentation (at the authors’ Home Page) is thorough and up to date, their site includes tutorials, and their English is quite readable. And the Extension is definitely for Windows. The current FEBE version is up to date through the current developer alpha of Firefox 3.7, so their 3.6 version is stable and it works just fine.

This also appears to be excellent software though it may be a bit much for some. Also, I didn’t see anything about having multiple profiles with it, which is the main reason I use the profilemanager function. If I ever get another computer online I’ll have to remember this addon. Since I use one computer the built in profile manager is still more than sufficient for me, plus I don’t actually sync my Ubuntu and Windows Firefox accounts, only my Thunderbird accounts which share a folder. Considering the amount of email I get it wouldn’t make sense to use a backup program like this one for it. In Windows I use profile manager organization and compatibility.

I really wouldn’t advise messing with about: config unless you know exactly what you’re doing. I used to know of a site that actually listed all the functions and gave recommendations for them but, then I found FasterFox could give me an easier reference. (For instance I have a large hard drive and usually poor internet so I use infinite cache (value: -1). Originally I found out about it from that site but, now I just enter the value into Fasterfox.)

Finally, While I don’t synchronize my profiles between OSes I do synchronize my bookmarks and for that I’m currently using XMarks. It seems a bit over the edge for what I’m looking for but, the only other plugin I found to do the job didn’t have as secure of a privacy policy. I wonder, does anyone know which file in the profile folder contains the bookmarks (I’m guessing it’s probably obvious enough but, I’d like to hear from someone with experience)? If I knew the file (assuming it’s one file that’s only for bookmarks) then I should then be able to use XMarks to synchronize my bookmarks then delete the file in the Ubuntu profile folder and replace it with a symbolic link to the my main Windows Firefox profile folder.

Since I may have been a little confusing my profile setup is as follows:

Windows:
Main Bookmarks Synchronized with Ubuntu
Work Completely Stand alone (Ubuntu isn’t fully compatible with the sites I use this for)
Everyone Else This is the profile I set up for the others in my family so as to keep my data separate (I keep a lot of links)
Ubuntu:
Main The only profile set up in Ubuntu, Although my bookmarks are synchronized with it and my family uses this profile I don’t keep nearly as many addons in this profile as I do my Windows Main.

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There is an easy way to open your profiles. Click on “Run”. Type: Firefox.exe -p
Please observe the space after the e in exe

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There is an easy way to open your profiles. Click on “Run”. Type: Firefox.exe -p
Please observe the space after the e in exe

-p is probably the short version of –profilemanager

Most commands after a ‘–‘ are just easier to remember commands for a ‘-‘. For example -h is the same as –help

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