Tails is a live operating system for private Internet sessions. It starts from removable media and places its working system in memory instead of treating the computer’s installed drive as its normal home. Shutting Tails down clears the temporary session.
Tails blocks supported Internet applications when they attempt a direct connection instead of using Tor. The local network can see a connection to public Tor relays. A Tor bridge supplies another entry path when public relays are blocked or when the user needs to conceal ordinary Tor use from the local network.
The Unsafe Browser has one local-network job
The Unsafe Browser signs in to a Wi-Fi captive portal or opens a trusted page on the local network. It does not use Tor. A website opened there can see the real IP address, which makes the window unsuitable for ordinary browsing.
Tails tells the user to close the Unsafe Browser after network sign-in. Keeping it open weakens the separation on which the rest of the session depends. A page that works only there may be a local access page rather than evidence that Tor Browser is broken.
Persistent Storage keeps only enabled categories
An encrypted Persistent Storage area can keep selected material on the Tails USB stick. The Welcome Screen asks for its passphrase before Tails opens the stored data at startup. Creating the storage does not make the whole live session permanent.
Each persistence category has its own switch. The Persistent folder and Tor Browser bookmarks can remain across sessions when their categories are enabled. Network connections follow another switch, and Additional Software has its own setting. Files saved outside an enabled persistent location disappear when the session ends.
Disabling a persistence category hides its stored data from the normal session but does not necessarily erase it. Delete Data is the action that removes the selected category’s stored material.
Additional Software installs again at startup
The Additional Software feature records selected Debian packages and installs them automatically when Tails starts with Persistent Storage unlocked. It does not transform the live image into a conventional permanently modified system. Startup can take longer while the packages install.
Programs installed this way still follow the Tails network rules. An added package cannot connect directly to the Internet unless its traffic uses Tor. A package that assumes an ordinary direct connection can therefore start correctly yet fail when it attempts network access.
The Dotfiles feature creates links from the persistent dotfiles area into the live home directory. It handles files rather than complete folders, and it ignores empty folders. A setting stored inside a folder therefore needs its actual file in the persistent dotfiles tree.
A backup rewrites the destination USB
The documented Persistent Storage backup process copies the encrypted data to another Tails USB. Preparing that destination erases its existing content. The progress indicator may appear frozen while large files move, so the user must wait for the completion message before disconnecting either USB stick.
Later backups copy files that changed inside Persistent Storage. Files outside Persistent Storage do not enter this backup workflow.
