How to use 'Firefox Multi-Account Containers' for multiple accounts of the same service?
I've read through 'Firefox Multi-Account Containers' at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/ . In particular, "Sign in to two different accounts on the same site (for example, you could sign in to work email and home email in two different Container tabs." - but it does not instruct us on how to make it work.
What I am trying to get working is two separate accounts at Amazon... A container for a personal account, to shop at amazon. Another container to access the affiliate store account, a completely different amazon account. And without having to log in/out manually all the time.
I have installed the Amazon Container ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/amazon-container/?src=search ) and it works just fine. However it traps both the shopping site and the affiliate site into the same container. When I log into my affiliate account, it remembers that account when I go to the shopping site.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
All Replies (8)
You don't need an extension for "multi account containers" now. That feature was added to Firefox recently. Unless I misunderstand what you are trying to do.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/containers#firefox:mac:fx66
I'll try to better explain what I am trying to do.
I have two amazon accounts. As a family, we use one for shopping. But the other I use solely as an affiliate.
As of right now I use firefox for the family account and safari for the affiliate account. This way I don't have to constantly log out+in to switch uses. Frankly, my family wouldn't be able to handle that anyway.
I thought with Containers I'd get that same "different browser" isolation of accounts (session, cookies, etc). But I can't seem to get it working. I'm hoping it's something I am not doing right, so that I can be corrected and have it working.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/containers#firefox:mac:fx66 states that the MAC extensions is not necessary, but it add some GUI pleasantries...
For advanced users: You can also enable Containers without the Multi-Account Containers extension, by changing some preferences in the Configuration Editor (about:config page). Note that you will get a better user experience by installing the extension but, if you choose not to, you can set privacy.userContext.enabled to true, privacy.userContext.ui.enabled to true and privacy.userContext.longPressBehavior to 2 in about:config.
If the Amazon container extension only allows one account, you may need to disable that one. You can create a new Amazon2 container through the Multi-Account Containers add-on, and then if you are logged into one Amazon account in a regular window, you can open the container to access your other Amazon account in isolation.
I think I'm asking for what MAC doesn't offer.
Basically like these explicitly promise... but don't work: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multiple-accounts-to-any-websi/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/manage-multiple-accounts/
What is the problem with using MAC the way I described?
First disable the Amazon container extension.
Next, for testing, open a new tab in one of the default containers like "Shopping" and log into your Affiliate account there. The cookies from regular Firefox should not cross over into the Shopping container and you should be able to keep your activity in the two accounts separate. No?
The problem is, someone simply browsing to amazon will not automatically create that container. That's what is really nice about the containers published as extensions - automatic container initialization. I can handle starting a container before browsing. But the humans that surround me won't be able to.
Anyway... I tried your suggestion. I disabled the Amazon extension. Then deleted the Amazon container (which had a rule to always include amazon sites). I then clicked the Shopping container. A new tab was created. It's purple. I enter "ama" and firefox fills in the rest of the domain name. I press enter. The shopping tab closes instantly.
This didn't feel right. I restarted firefox and the extension was somehow enabled again. I disabled it. restarted again. This time it was disabled for sure. And then your instructions did work - thank you. Still, the auto-contain function is missed.
I think I found the solution, somewhat. 1) Add the Amazon Container extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/amazon-container/ 2) Add the CookieSwap extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/cookieswap-q/
It's now possible to have Amazon automatically locked to a container, and use the CookieSwap tool to switch between accounts easily.
I think my problem was misreading. "Firefox Multi-Account Containers" is a misleading name for me. I think they put the hyphen in the wrong place. And also think it has nothing to do with accounts. It's just a temporary domain cookie container.
Especially since I came across the Facebook container first. In which case it is not a multiple account container. It's an auto locking Single-Account Container. It doesn't allow swapping of accounts. And it doesn't allow that service (like amazon or facebook) into a duplicate container for a different account session/cookies.
Hopefully in the future MAC can truly be Multi-Accounts. Such that we can have multiple profiles per service and have them in separate auto-enabling containers, even at the same time. For example I select "amazon shopping" and it goes to my shopping account in a new tab/container. And then I select "amazon affiliate" and it goes to my affiliate account in a new tab/container. Someone going directly to amazon.com would auto-enable the amazon container. Same could go for gmail, etc.