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I lost my browser session when quitting and accidentally opeinng a new window:

Zippstar
Zippstar
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My battery was running dangerously low, I was needed, physically, at work so, given the circumstances and slowness of my computer, I decided that it would be easiest to quit Firefox, in order to preserve both my battery and my browser session. I had one other programme open, which I went to close but somehow opened another Firefox window, because Firefox had been slow to quit, or something. Now, the browser session appears to be lost. Can it be retrieved and if so, how? I was not able, at the time, to reopen previous windows, or tabs because those options were not highlighted and when I closed the newly opened window, in order to achieve this, the only window that reopened, when retrieving the "last session" was that sole window that I had jut closed. There was a great deal of precious information in the browser session. Can it be retrieved? Obviously, I have had to start another session, in order to send this message.

My battery was running dangerously low, I was needed, physically, at work so, given the circumstances and slowness of my computer, I decided that it would be easiest to quit Firefox, in order to preserve both my battery and my browser session. I had one other programme open, which I went to close but somehow opened another Firefox window, because Firefox had been slow to quit, or something. Now, the browser session appears to be lost. Can it be retrieved and if so, how? I was not able, at the time, to reopen previous windows, or tabs because those options were not highlighted and when I closed the newly opened window, in order to achieve this, the only window that reopened, when retrieving the "last session" was that sole window that I had jut closed. There was a great deal of precious information in the browser session. Can it be retrieved? Obviously, I have had to start another session, in order to send this message.

All Replies (2)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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You can check the files in the sessionstore-backups folder to see if they have data from that session. You can also check for Time Machine backups if you use this feature.

Backup the session files in the sessionstore-backups folder in the Firefox Profile Folder to make sure not to lose possible important session data. You can find these files in the sessionstore-backups folder: 

previous.js (cleanBackup: copy of sessionstore.js from previous session that was loaded successfully)
recovery.js (latest version of the sessionstore written during runtime)
recovery.bak (previous version of the sessionstore written during runtime)
upgrade.js-<build_id> (backup created during an upgrade of Firefox)

You can copy a file from the sessionstore-backups folder to the main profile and rename the file to sessionstore.js to replace the current file (make a backup copy of the current sessionstore.js).

See also: http://www.ghacks.net/2014/06/27/mozilla-launches-improved-session-restore-firefox-33/

You can use this button to go to the current Firefox profile folder:

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Aside from the immediate work of trying to find the missing tabs, you could consider changing your startup setting going forward to restore your previous session automatically. You would set that on the Preferences page: Startup, home page, tabs, and download settings.