This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Restore my passwords from Sync

  • 6 cavab
  • 7 have this problem
  • 11 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

more options

I formatted my computer 30th April and started all over to get my Mozilla working and have all of my bookmarks and passwords. As always I tried to log into Sync and have my info back but, as soon as I entered both email/pass and recover key none of my 'personal bookmarks' and /or passwords were visible. I tried to get a new recovery key in case it was wrong and now I finally synced it but I only have 2-3 passwords that I saved till today. So I would like you to somehow restore my account 3-4 days ago were I actually hadn't formatted and had all of my passwords(MOST important actually). Thank you for your time .

I formatted my computer 30th April and started all over to get my Mozilla working and have all of my bookmarks and passwords. As always I tried to log into Sync and have my info back but, as soon as I entered both email/pass and recover key none of my 'personal bookmarks' and /or passwords were visible. I tried to get a new recovery key in case it was wrong and now I finally synced it but I only have 2-3 passwords that I saved till today. So I would like you to somehow restore my account 3-4 days ago were I actually hadn't formatted and had all of my passwords(MOST important actually). Thank you for your time .

All Replies (6)

more options

hello, by resetting your recovery key, all prior data stored in the account got deleted (there are also warning messages that explain this in advance). this cannot be undone unfortunately...

more options

You should never generate a new sync (recovery) key if you want to retrieve data from the sync server because this involves removing all data stored on the sync server.
If you did generate a new sync key for the account that you used previously then unfortunately your password and other data is lost.

Note that the email address is the user name, so if there is a slight possibility that you've created a new sync account (you my have made a typo) because the sync key didn't work then check that out.

more options

I did generate a new key because I thought the first one was not working. I read that I will lose all of my data but I thought all data that are saved AFTER formatting. Since I generated the new key , can't there be a solution with the old recover key to 'draw' my passwords form there? I was looking for direct communication with the mozilla support but it seems I haven't found the way to get their support in case they can work it out

more options

This is Mozilla support - as "direct" as it gets.

Sorry, the old recovery key is useless now. Plus, Sync was never intended to act as a backup service. The central part of the concept is that if the user screws up and deletes their data on the server by getting as new recovery key, their data will still be on one of the other devices that they have connected to the same Sync account.

That said, we'll have to see what changes with Sync will come about in the near future, as Mozilla is planning some major changes.

more options

So the server is actually located into my computer and I can have access to it via original Recover key right anywhere anytime?(Concerning I didn't request for a new recovery key)

more options

The sync key is used locally to encrypt your personal data before uploading that data to the Mozilla sync servers.
So if the sync key has changed because a new sync key was generated then that data is useless and thus removed from the sync server.