Firefox updates are losing my passwords!
The last two updates to Firefox have lost my passwords and I have to reenter them! I have "auto updates" turned off, but somehow it ends up ON again!!! Do the updates change this?
Is anyone else having this? Been with Firefox since the beginning, but every update seems to make a lesser product. Google Chrome is calling louder and louder by the day.
All Replies (5)
You could try SeaMonkey. It is a Mozilla browser and more like what Firefox used to be. First, I would try disabling automatic updates to Firefox by going into about:config and changing these settings:
- app.update.auto - set to false
- app.update.enabled - set to false
- app.update.silent - set to false
Also, I think there is some kind of Maintenance Service that comes with Windows Firefox. You could see if you could turn that off.
Also, see this page:
These can't get your data back, but will help in the future.
These add-ons can be a great help by backing up and restoring Firefox
FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) {web link} FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions, history, passwords, and more. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your saved files individually into installable .xpi files. It will also make backup of files that you choose.
OPIE {web link} Import/Export extension preferences
Firefox 32 and later builds store the passwords in the logins.json file in the profile folder and no longer use the signons.sqlite file. You can force Firefox to reimport the passwords from the signons.sqlite file. • reset the signon.importedFromSqlite pref on the about:config page to the default value via the right-click context menu • delete the logins.json file in the Firefox profile folder with Firefox closed
When you restart Firefox then you should have the signon.importedFromSqlite pref with the value set to true and you should have the passwords imported in the Password Manager unless there may have been errors.
You can use this button to go to the currently used Firefox profile folder: Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)
>>no longer use the signons.sqlite file.
WHAT!?!?!?!
They change the method of storing passwords and did NOT have an upgrade routine to move the old passwords into the new system?!?!! That's programming 101!!!
Well, the answer for me is obvious and I'll already implemented it. I've downgrading to Firefox 29.0 and WILL STAY THERE UNTIL IT DOESN'T WORK ANYMORE.
And then... I'M GOING TO MOVE TO CHROME. HOPEFULLY THEIR PROGRAMMERS AREN'T AS STUPID AS THE ONES WHO MADE FIREFOX 32.0!!!!
Importing the passwords saved in the signons.sqlite file should work under normal conditions and you shouldn't lose the passwords. Sometimes this goes wrong and you need to reset the signon.importedFromSqlite and delete the corrupted logins.json file to force Firefox to reimport the signons.sqlite file.