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restoring saved passwords from XP to Win 10 Firefox

  • 5 replies
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  • Last reply by cor-el

wildrice
wildrice
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I have searched Firefox form for answers on how to restore saved passwords from Firefox under XP SP3 to Firefox win 10. I have moved signons.sqlite, logins.json, and logins.json from the backup disk to my win 10 drive profile. my bookmarks moved but the passwords did not. Both firefox versons were current but when I go into Firefox Tools => options=>security and click on saved passwords, the password screen is empty.

Does XP keep it in a different format? What am I missing?

I have searched Firefox form for answers on how to restore saved passwords from Firefox under XP SP3 to Firefox win 10. I have moved signons.sqlite, logins.json, and logins.json from the backup disk to my win 10 drive profile. my bookmarks moved but the passwords did not. Both firefox versons were current but when I go into Firefox Tools => options=>security and click on saved passwords, the password screen is empty. Does XP keep it in a different format? What am I missing?

Chosen solution

As I already stated, I have already moved these 3 files (signons.sqlite, logins.json, and logins.json ) to my new win 10 laptop and IT FAILED. The Firefox password screen was empty.

Based on the above comments, I moved the WHOLE PROFILE to the win 10 Firefox "Roaming" Profiles folder. Now there are 2 profiles in the folder (Old and the newer profile) I then moved to the Firefox folder and renamed profiles.ini to profiles.bac while my firefox browser was closed. From my backup drive, I moved the Old Profiles.ini which pointed to my old profile. I then opened my win 10 Firefox browser and went to the Tools=>Options=>Security=>saved logins SUCCESS! It was a bit of a brute force method but it worked.

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All Replies (5)

cor-el
cor-el
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You need the logins.json and key3.db files. The key3.db file stores the encryption key needed to decrypt the user names and passwords stored in the logins.json file.

You can copy files like these to the current Firefox profile folder to recover specific data.

  • bookmarks and history: places.sqlite
  • bookmark backups: JSON backups in the bookmarkbackups folder
  • SQLite files like cookies.sqlite (cookies) and formhistory.sqlite (saved form data)
  • logins.json and key3.db (decryption key) for Passwords saved in the Password Manager
  • cert8.db and possibly cert_override.txt for (intermediate) certificates stored in the Certificate Manager
  • persdict.dat for words you added to the spelling checker dictionary
  • permissions.sqlite for Permissions and possibly content-prefs.sqlite for other Site Preferences
  • sessionstore.js for open tabs and pinned tabs and tab groups
ideato
ideato
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Hi, you must moved the key3.db also, except the logins.json. (the key3.db stores your key database for your passwords).

thank you

EDIT: cor-el is faster :-):-):-)

Modified by ideato

cor-el
cor-el
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See also:

wildrice
wildrice Question owner
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Chosen Solution

As I already stated, I have already moved these 3 files (signons.sqlite, logins.json, and logins.json ) to my new win 10 laptop and IT FAILED. The Firefox password screen was empty.

Based on the above comments, I moved the WHOLE PROFILE to the win 10 Firefox "Roaming" Profiles folder. Now there are 2 profiles in the folder (Old and the newer profile) I then moved to the Firefox folder and renamed profiles.ini to profiles.bac while my firefox browser was closed. From my backup drive, I moved the Old Profiles.ini which pointed to my old profile. I then opened my win 10 Firefox browser and went to the Tools=>Options=>Security=>saved logins SUCCESS! It was a bit of a brute force method but it worked.

cor-el
cor-el
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  • Top 10 Contributor
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You need the matching key3.db file (master password) that is in the same profile where you got the logins.json file. If you do not have the correct key3.db file then your passwords are lost. signons.sqlite is no longer used although Firefox can still import the passwords stored in this file (signon.importedFromSqlite).