To protect privacy and enhance productivity, people often recommend using different browsers for different tasks — or at least using different profiles on a browser. But it can be tricky to keep track of which accounts are linked to which sites and profiles.

That's where Firefox's Multi-Account Containers come in. Whether you want to keep cookies and account logins separate for productivity purposes or you want to limit tracking across various sites, the privacy-focused extension makes this compartmentalization more user-friendly.

What are Firefox Multi-Account Containers?

A useful extension for compartmentalization

Multi-Account Containers, a free extension for Firefox, allows you to practice browser compartmentalization without the need to use different browsers. It achieves this by separating your browsing experience into distinct groups, with each group maintaining its own cookies. This allows you to separate different logins, as well as minimize tracking across different accounts. You can even log onto the same site with different credentials if you open it up in two different containers.

While the extension is developed by Mozilla, you will need to install it through the Mozilla add-ons store, rather than it being a pre-installed feature of the browser. Once you have installed the add-on, you can click on its logo, followed by the Get Started option to set up your containers.

Multi-Account Containers are slightly different from the built-in containers feature as they incorporate a few additional features. This includes setting certain sites to always open in a specific container, as well as only allowing a container to access certain sites. For example, when I set Facebook to only open in my personal container, I could then toggle on the Limit to designated sites option to make the container only opens those links.

Both tools create a set of default containers, including Personal, Work, Shopping, and Banking, but you can also create your own containers based on your specific needs. Each container is color-coded, with a colored line appearing above tabs belonging to a specific container. In the URL bar, you will also see a container label.

The benefits of Firefox Multi-Account Containers

More convenient compartmentalization

Multi-Account Containers make browser compartmentalization much easier to practice without requiring you to remember to switch between profiles or different browsers. A long time ago, I set up a separate Chrome account for my work-related tasks, but I simply stopped using the secondary profile due to my own forgetfulness. Likewise, Firefox has a profiles feature, but this complete isolation of different profiles can be less convenient to use.

While the default container tool makes compartmentalization easier, I find that the extension adds additional features that are useful if you don't want to constantly focus on what container you have selected. The color-coding and labels, available in both tools, make it easier to distinguish which container you're using at a given moment. But if you're forgetful like me, the extension lets you adjust your settings to limit containers to certain sites. This is a useful bit of automation that helps prevent cross-contamination of cookies.

If you don't want to set up your containers repeatedly across different devices, you can also enable syncing. This makes it so that you only have to set up these different profiles once. For those with a subscription, containers can also be integrated with Mozilla VPN — though the extension will require additional permissions for this.

Another benefit of the tool is that it allows you to have different accounts signed in for the same website across different containers. This can be useful if your work involves managing and posting to different social media accounts, for example. If you want easy compartmentalization, the extension may be one of many reasons to switch to Firefox.

Are there any drawbacks to containers?

You'll still need to limit other forms of tracking

While the extension is extremely handy, it's not a silver bullet when it comes to online tracking. Cookies are no longer the main way that companies track you online, with browser fingerprinting proving to be a powerful tracking method. You shouldn't let these containers give you a false sense of security.

For some of its benefits, like syncing, you will need to sign up for a Mozilla account, which can somewhat detract from the privacy benefits of using the tool. It also takes some time to set up your containers, so while it adds convenience to compartmentalization, you'll need to invest some time in getting the containers working the way you want them to.

Use Firefox Multi-Account Containers as part of a well-rounded approach

I currently use Firefox for streaming, Chrome for shopping, and Brave for many daily tasks, but the Multi-Account Containers extension means that I will be able to apply compartmentalization more consistently when using Firefox.

That said, these containers are definitely a tool you should implement with other privacy-focused features if you want to limit tracking significantly. But the convenience definitely makes compartmentalization much more user-friendly.