Firefox is my default browser because of containers. I use them every single day.
There are 2 main extensions for Firefox containers: Firefox Multi-Account Containers and Temporary Containers.
This allows you to create containers for accounts that you use frequently. At least that’s what I do.
Single containers for single websites
I have exclusive containers for Twitter, Reddit, BlueSky. That means I have a single container for each of those sites. I also lock those containers.
To do that, go to the container icon > Manager Containers > Select container > Enable "Limit to Designated Sites"
When a container is locked, that means only a Reddit link can be opened in the Reddit container. If I click on a PG link that someone posted on Reddit, it will open a new tab, which for me is the container I have for PG.
One container for multiple websites
I have a container for news subscriptions I have. That means that The Verge, New York Times, and 404 Media all open in my news container because I need to be logged in to read the articles.
Almost all of my containers for grouped sites are also locked. If I click on a YouTube link in a Verge article, it will open in my Google Account container.
Containers that are not locked
I have a container for my Google account, specifically for when I am logged into YouTube and Gmail, which have different domains.
When you create a container for a website, the first time you go to that website after your container is created it, Firefox will ask you if you always want to open that URL in that container. For YouTube.com, I choose yes. For Google.com as in the search engine, I choose no.
Although I almost never use Google search, the rare times that I do, I don’t want to do it in the same container where I am logged into my Google account. That way, my Google searches are not linked to it. Sometimes I do Google searches on Firefox, but I also often do it on Mullvad Browser.
If I want to watch a YouTube video anonymously, or search for a video anonymously, I do it on FreeTube or Mullvad Browser. It’s quite common that YouTube won’t let you watch certain videos unless you are logged into an account and/or your VPN is on. Whenever I encounter that situation, I just download the YouTube video with Stacher, which is an open sourced YouTube downloader.
Temporary Containers is a popular extension that is not made by Firefox, but it is based on FF Containers. It’s a fork of it that allows more customizability. It’s not useful to use it without FF containers installed.
Temporary containers opens every URL that is not assigned to a specific container into a unique Temporary container. They get deleted when you close your browser or when you close a temporary container tab.
If you only use FF container without Temporary containers, FF will behave differently.
I don’t have a container for CNN’s website. If I open a CNN link in a Verge article which is assigned to my News Container, Firefox will open it in a new tab that is not assigned to any container. That means that CNN’s cookies are running loose, and I don’t want that, which is why I use Temporary containers.
With Temporary containers, every tab you open, even an empty one, will create a new temporary container for whatever website you are about to visit. If that website is assigned to a FF container (eg: The Verge), FF will open it in that container (News).
Automatic Mode
By default, when you visit any website in a Temporary container, any URL you click on that website will open in the same temporary container. The means that if I visit CNN’s website in Temporary Container 105, and I click on a BBC News link inside the CNN article, that BBC news link will open in the same temporary container, i.e. Temporary Container 105.
However, I use Temporary Containers in automatic mode, which you can enable in the settings.
In automatic mode, every single URL that is not assigned to a FF container, will open a unique Temporary container. This means that if I visit CNN’s website in Temporary Container 105, and I click on a BBC News link inside the CNN article, that BBC news link will open in a new temporary container, i.e. Temporary Container 106. And if I click on a CNN article inside that BBC article, it will not open in Temporary Container 105, but a new temporary container, ie Temporary Container 107
THINGS I LEARNED FROM MY EXPERIENCE WITH CONTAINERS:
Some accounts don’t require assigned containers.
Amazon and most online shops
I used to have an Amazon container, but I don’t shop on Amazon frequently enough for it to be useful, so I deleted it. Now every time I visit an Amazon website site it’s in a Temporary container, and I am never logged in. If I see something I want to add to my wishlist, I just bookmark it with Raindrop. It’s not linked to my Amazon account.
If I actually need to make a purchase on Amazon, I can log in my account via a Temporary container, but I usually just open an incognito window in Brave.
Banking
It’s the same for my bank accounts. I used to have a banking container for all my banks, but I realized I didn’t need it. Every time I log into a bank account, it’s in a temporary container.
Logging into multiple accounts in the same browser is not that useful for privacy.
Containers allow you to log into 2 Google accounts in the same browser. But is it really that useful if they both use the same IP address? You don’t want any website to know that the same person owns different accounts. It’s better for privacy.