How to start a private session and why it can help.
About Private Sessions
A private session is a feature of modern browsers that makes the browser "live in the present". In this mode, the browser has no memory of how you've used it in the past and won't remember the private browsing session for the future.
In other words, when you open a private session, it's almost like you've never used the browser before, and when you close all the private windows/tabs, it's as if the private browsing session never happened.
This is useful when your browser is having a hard time letting go of the past and keeps showing you out-of-date information or causing other problems due to out-of-date credentials, etc.
Why test in a private session?
After finding out that things run smoothly in a private session, the next step would be to solve it by a reload without Cache (more on that later). So why not start there?
Of course, you may start there if desired and it might fix the issue, but current browsers do a terrible job of informing you of what kind of reload occurred. Private Mode is a magic bullet that guarantees your browser isn't holding on to old data while browsing. We use it internally as well when testing.
When to troubleshoot in a private session
In most cases, a support agent at Crescat will request this step. This is a typical request when the agent suspects old data stored locally in the user's browser may cause the issue. It may also be requested if no one can reproduce the bug internally at Crescat.
However, if you feel like Crescat is showing you old data or if you are getting weird behavior testing out the same thing page in a private session is something you can always try.
Starting a private session
You may want to search the web for this one using keywords for your operating system (windows, macOS, linux), your browser (Safari, Chrome, Opera, etc.), and Private Mode.
However, there are some rather common keyboard shortcuts you can try:
| Windows/Linux | Chrome, Brave, Opera, Several others | Ctrl + Shift + N |
| Firefox | Ctrl + P | |
| MacOS | Safari, Chrome, Opera, Several others | Cmd + Shift + N |
| Firefox | Cmd + P |
The issue disappeared in private mode
Great! We're one step forward and the issue is probably soon resolved. Now that you know the issue is related to old data, you'll want to take one of two steps:
- Return to your regular browsing session and "reload without cache".
- You may need to use a web search to learn how to do this on your current browser.
- Use a different browser.
- There's also a chance that your browser has an update available, or that the most recent update caused the problem and you'll need to wait for a future update to fix it. Either way, an alternate browser should work for the moment.
Private mode didn't help
This is useful information because only two of the usual suspects remain. A good troubleshooting step from here is to try another browser, in case it is still related to your browser or one of its extensions, etc. If the issue persists after that, then it's highly likely that the odd behavior is just a bug that needs to be patched.
Something to be aware of
If you're no stranger to private browsing, make sure you close any private sessions before attempting to test using the private mode.
Some browsers share the private session's temporary cache between all open private windows/tabs. To get a good clean test, close all currently open private tabs or windows before starting your private session for testing.