You expect your browser settings to carry over
WeTheNorth addresses
hn2paw7zadwkcra3qzv5e4q547i7e5lvxm62cfxqftuqdu7moiu2ceyd.onionhn2paw7zfvndw3dovycegeqmvvnf4pl67b3g2p7pohjlzavloosh73id.onionhn2paw7zrgujyhnt6mgxlt2q6uhgbke4itpqitxhyfbumq3wtnckbuyd.onionPrinted as supplied, in no order. Nothing here is checked or timed, so an address that opens is not proof of anything. more about the set
I set it up once. It stays set up, like any other browser.
A lot of state is thrown away deliberately, and the pieces that do persist are the pieces that make you recognisable. The forgetting is the product.
The gap: you are optimising for convenience in a tool designed to refuse it.
Two different jobs
An ordinary browser exists to remember. Logins, tabs, autofill, history, the lot. Its whole design is about making the second visit easier than the first. Tor Browser inherits the interface of a browser like that and then removes most of the memory, which is why it feels broken to anyone expecting the usual behaviour.
The removal is the point. Anything remembered between sessions is something that can link one session to another, and linking sessions is the entire problem this tool exists to prevent.
What persists and what does not
| Kept | Cleared or reset |
|---|---|
| Bookmarks | Cookies and site data |
| Security level setting | Session tabs and history |
| Bridge configuration | Circuits, so a new identity means new relays |
| Downloads on disk, if you saved them | Anything a site stored on you |
That left column deserves a second look. Bookmarks persist, which is convenient, and a saved wethenorth market link ages exactly as described in bookmark is a safe copy. Downloads persist, on your disk, under your ordinary filesystem, outside any protection the browser offers.
The changes people make that hurt
- Turning the security level down because a page looked wrong. The level is one of the few settings that does real work.
- Installing extensions. Each one changes how the browser presents itself and makes it easier to pick out.
- Resizing the window and keeping it that way. Window size is a signal and the default letterboxing exists to hide it.
- Signing into anything personal in the same browser. One login is enough to attach a name to everything else in that session.
- Keeping a session open for days so that unrelated activity shares one identity.
What to do about setup fatigue
The honest answer is that setup should be small enough that repeating it does not bother you. Store your address set outside the browser, in a plain file you control. Keep the security level where you put it. Do not accumulate settings you would be annoyed to lose, because the loss is scheduled and it is on purpose.
People who fight the design end up rebuilding an ordinary browser with a slow network attached, which has all the inconvenience and none of the protection. The version that works is a browser you can throw away without caring.
There is one more thing worth separating out. The browser protects the connection. It does not protect the machine it runs on, the account you are logged into on that machine, or the files you save. A downloaded document opened in an ordinary application is outside the browser entirely and behaves like any other file on your computer. That boundary catches people who assumed the whole session was covered by the same thing.
Questions people send about this
Is it safe to keep bookmarks in Tor Browser?
They persist and they are a list of your interests stored under your ordinary user account. Convenient, and not private.
Should I raise the security level?
Higher levels disable features that attacks lean on. Pages break more often. That trade is the one real setting worth thinking about.