For anyone using multiple profiles, what do they give you over just using container tabs?
this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2025
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On a shared computer, profiles are the solution to keep histories separated. Same for bookmarks, extensions, sync, etc
Are people really using a single login on a shared computer? Why?
I did this precisely once for a couple who were not tech savvy but other than that I would think it would be rare.
I have a computer plugged to the tv in my house, it's easier to manage this way for us and not having to change account every 10 minutes.
You could also imagine using profiles for work/personal sessions. For the same reasons I mentioned, to isolate extensions, history, etc.
Nice, this is literally the one thing that's been keeping me from switching from a chromium based browser!
Is this an update to the UI for profiles that have existed since before Firefox was Firefox? I use them a lot, but it’s a little tricky to get them set up and be able to use them concurrently. It’s awesome if they’re getting some love.
If it’s not that, then how does it compare, and will the old profiles be depreciated?
I perceive the new profile system more as a extended capability of the old profiles than completely new and different thing. Although for a typical user it probably seems like a new feature since previously the profiles were quite invisible.
With new profiles, each profile will have a profile group they belong to, which means roughly "these profiles are linked". Profile data is stored in separate directories just as before, but the linked profiles can open browser instances of each other and they can have some information shared between them, such as shared preferences, which is stored separately from the profiles themselves. I don't think it's there yet, but I believe you could then also have a profile-1 to open new tab in profile-2 etc.
Different Firefox versions can't share profiles in the same group, so release Firefox has its own group, Developer Edition has its own group etc. In addition, I believe this new profiles capability is limited to "standard" profiles only, i.e. those that are stored in the default location and/or are reachable via profile-manager. They cannot be used with profiles loaded from arbitrary directories via command-line flags.
nice! Long time coming but I'm glad it's here