Open Firefox in Private Mode from Windows 8 Desktop

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Video: Open Firefox in Private Mode from Windows 8 Desktop

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You're watching VisiHow. In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to open Firefox directly into private mode from the Windows 8 desktop.

1. 1
   To get started, the first thing we need to do is go down to the taskbar at the bottom of the screen

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   We are going to be adding the Firefox icon to the taskbar.

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2. 2
   Scroll to the far left until the cursor is over the Windows icon in the bottom left corner

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   We could also press the Windows key, which is directly to the left of the space bar.

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3. 3
   Press that key now or click the Windows icon in the bottom left-hand corner to open the Start page

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   We may or may not have Firefox pinned to this page.

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4. 4
   If we don't, go to the bottom of the screen and click on the down arrow

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5. 5
   The Firefox icon should be located under "M", for "Mozilla Firefox"

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6. 6
   If Firefox can't be found easily, we can use the search bar in the top right-hand corner of the screen

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7. 7
   Left click once in the search bar, and then type in Firefox

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   "Mozilla Firefox" appears on the left under "Apps".

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8. 8
   Put the cursor over "Mozilla Firefox" and right click one time to bring up a menu

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9. 9
   Select the second option, which is "Pin to taskbar"

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   Left click on this option, and this will pin the Mozilla Firefox browser to our taskbar.

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10. 10
    Now, we can press the Esc key at the top left corner of the keyboard to go back to the "Apps" menu

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11. 11
    Press Esc once more to return to the desktop

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12. 12
    Now, move the mouse back down to the taskbar, where we will see the newly added Firefox icon

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13. 13
    A single right click on Firefox will open the Firefox menu

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14. 14
    Under the "Tasks" section, the option at the very bottom is "New private window"

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    Clicking on this option will "Open a new window in private browsing mode".

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15. 15
    A single left click on this option will open Firefox into the private browsing mode

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    We will know this because it will say "You're browsing privately" at the top, and it has a little masquerade mask off to the left. In this mode, Firefox will not remember anything. There's also a purple private mode icon in the upper right area near the options to minimize, maximize or close the window.

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16. 16
    When we're done browsing, we can press the white "x" in the red box to close the window

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17. 17
    This concludes our tutorial on how to open Firefox into private browsing mode without opening the regular browser on your Windows 8 desktop

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    For additional help with this or other tutorials, or for any suggestions or comments you may have, please use the section below, and we will get back to you.

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How to pin the Firefox private browser to the tray?

How to pin the Firefox private browser to the taskbar?

1. 1
   Press the Windows key.

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2. 2
   Type "firefox".

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3. 3
   Right-click "Mozilla Firefox" above.

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4. 4
   Select "Open file location".

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5. 5
   Right-click the "Mozilla Firefox" shortcut.

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6. 6
   Select "Copy".

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7. 7
   Minimize Windows.

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8. 8
   Right-click an empty space on the desktop.

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9. 9
   Select "Paste".

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10. 10
    Right-click the new shortcut on the desktop.

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11. 11
    Select "Properties".

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12. 12
    In the "Target:" field, enter " -private" after the line

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    Ascertain that you put a space between the quotation mark and the dash. Your line may look like this:

    • D:\Program Files (x86)\Firefox\firefox.exe" -private

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13. 13
    Click and drag the icon to the taskbar

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    This will pin the private browser to your taskbar.

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If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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