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.

Avatar for Username

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

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

How can I access an important certificate from an old profile on version 68 without creating a new profile every time I launch Firefox?

Jewelz
Jewelz
more options

I have Firefox version 68 downloaded as per instructions to use a specific government issued certificate yet when I closed Firefox and tried to re-open it later on, I was given a message: "Using an older version of Firefox can corrupt bookmarks and browsing history already saved to an existing Firefox profile. To protect your information, create a new profile for this installation of Firefox." Because I am forced to create a new profile I can´t access the original profile with the certificate I need. I tried going to about:profiles and setting as default to no avail several times. I have tried the firefox.exe -P command as well. I can´t import the cert9.db file to the certificates setting. I also tried moving the cert9 file to another profile while Firefox is closed but I because I must create a new profile when I open it again and can´t switch profiles once its open it doesn´t make a difference. I´m running out of ideas and it was such a hassle to get the certificate in the first place I can´t afford to lose it. Is there another way around creating a new profile? Or anything I´m not considering? Thanks

I have Firefox version 68 downloaded as per instructions to use a specific government issued certificate yet when I closed Firefox and tried to re-open it later on, I was given a message: "Using an older version of Firefox can corrupt bookmarks and browsing history already saved to an existing Firefox profile. To protect your information, create a new profile for this installation of Firefox." Because I am forced to create a new profile I can´t access the original profile with the certificate I need. I tried going to about:profiles and setting as default to no avail several times. I have tried the firefox.exe -P command as well. I can´t import the cert9.db file to the certificates setting. I also tried moving the cert9 file to another profile while Firefox is closed but I because I must create a new profile when I open it again and can´t switch profiles once its open it doesn´t make a difference. I´m running out of ideas and it was such a hassle to get the certificate in the first place I can´t afford to lose it. Is there another way around creating a new profile? Or anything I´m not considering? Thanks

Chosen solution

Hi Jewelz, it sounds as though you are using the same profile with two different versions of Firefox. Due to a feature called "downgrade protection," an older version of Firefox won't want to use a profile after it has been used by a newer version. Does that sound like your situation?

If your profiles are named, for example, Jekyll and Hyde, you can modify your different Firefox shortcuts with that information. For example:

  • "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P "Jekyll"
  • "C:\Program Files\OtherFirefox\firefox.exe" -P "Hyde"

For your profile that needs the certificate, are you able to import it again from the original file, or do you need to copy over cert9.db? If you need to copy over cert9.db, try copying these three files together:

  • cert9.db
  • logins.json (saved logins in Firefox's Password Manager)
  • key4.db
Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (1)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 25 Contributor
more options

Chosen Solution

Hi Jewelz, it sounds as though you are using the same profile with two different versions of Firefox. Due to a feature called "downgrade protection," an older version of Firefox won't want to use a profile after it has been used by a newer version. Does that sound like your situation?

If your profiles are named, for example, Jekyll and Hyde, you can modify your different Firefox shortcuts with that information. For example:

  • "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P "Jekyll"
  • "C:\Program Files\OtherFirefox\firefox.exe" -P "Hyde"

For your profile that needs the certificate, are you able to import it again from the original file, or do you need to copy over cert9.db? If you need to copy over cert9.db, try copying these three files together:

  • cert9.db
  • logins.json (saved logins in Firefox's Password Manager)
  • key4.db