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re bookmarks: I switched to a new macbook (old one gone). safari bookmarks synced from icloud. firefox bookmarks did not sync. are they lost?

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  • Last reply by thx8

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Re bookmarks: I switched to a new macbook (old one gone). safari bookmarks synced from icloud. firefox bookmarks did not sync. are they lost? thanks!

Re bookmarks: I switched to a new macbook (old one gone). safari bookmarks synced from icloud. firefox bookmarks did not sync. are they lost? thanks!

All Replies (14)

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Did you have any problem when trying connect to Sync on that new device?

Like did you need to create a new Password for your Firefox Account?

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thanks. although I had (and still have) the same Firefox account, I had not synced it with any other device previously. I just assumed the Firefox bookmarks were on a Mozilla cloud somewhere and would re-populate on my new macbook once I logged in to my Firefox account. It is okay if they are gone, I was just hoping I could recover all my Firefox bookmarks.

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Note that Sync isn't meant to be used as a backup device, but merely to sync data between multiple devices. So it is not guaranteed that you can restore data from the Sync server.

Best is to backup your personal data locally to be sure to be able to recover from issues.

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thanks. I do backup regularly to my LaCie hard drive backup. would that have my Firefox bookmarks on it somewhere?

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Only if you have included the (hidden) location that Firefox uses for the Firefox profile folder.

  • ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/<profile>/

In Mac OS X v10.7 and later, the ~/Library folder is a hidden folder.


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thanks a bunch!

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You're welcome.

Did you manage to recover the bookmarks?

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I am closer. I followed the steps to locate the hidden folder in finder, although it seems to be the "new" (current) bookmarksbackup folder. I am still not sure how to open the hidden folder in my "old" LaCie backup. I think once I locate that I can copy and paste.

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Note that you can either use the places.sqlite file that stores the bookmarks and the browsing history or you can restore a compressed .jsonlz4 backup (bookmarkbackups folder) in the Bookmarks Manager (Library).

  • Bookmarks > Show All Bookmarks > Import & Backup > Restore > Choose

Modified by cor-el

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thanks I am just having trouble the file when I am about to choose from the restore as you mentioned above. the hidden Firefox profile is not showing up. When I follow the previous directions that helped me find the hidden folder in finder it appears to be the current profile from today.

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Are you able to locate the ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles folder in the LaCie backup?

The actual profile folder name is likely different as that is a random name.

You can copy the bookmarkbackups folder and possibly places.sqlite in that backup to the desktop.

If you replace places.sqlite then make sure to remove existing places.sqlite-shm and places.sqlite-wal temp files.

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unfortunately no I have not been able to locate the profiled older in the LaCie. I cannot see the (hidden) Firefox folder in the Applications Support folder. it is not there. it is ok I do not want to take up too much of your time. I appreciate the help.

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You're welcome.

If the folder isn't in the backup then your bookmarks are lost. At least now you know what to include in the backup to save your personal Firefox data.

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ok thank you kindly!