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 undo a sync?

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 38 views
  • Last reply by FredMcD

KfwBell
KfwBell
more options

I wiped a drive and re-installed Firefox and it immediately synced my bookmarks. I'm giving the PC to a family member so wanted it clean, so I manually deleted all the bookmarks. Done! But, when I fired up my other PC it instantly synced (removed) all my bookmarks. Oops. Can I roll back the sync somehow? Or, I have a 3rd PC (running Firefox) that hasn't synced yet so my bookmarks are still there. I've disconnected it (in settings). How do I tell the cloud that I want to update the sync using this 3rd PC (which still has my bookmarks).

Thanks!

I wiped a drive and re-installed Firefox and it immediately synced my bookmarks. I'm giving the PC to a family member so wanted it clean, so I manually deleted all the bookmarks. Done! But, when I fired up my other PC it instantly synced (removed) all my bookmarks. Oops. Can I roll back the sync somehow? Or, I have a 3rd PC (running Firefox) that hasn't synced yet so my bookmarks are still there. I've disconnected it (in settings). How do I tell the cloud that I want to update the sync using this 3rd PC (which still has my bookmarks). Thanks!

Chosen solution

You should have disconnected the sync on the computer you were giving away first.

With sync, there is no going back.

Restore Bookmark Backups

Firefox automatically makes backups of the bookmarks. These are stored in the bookmarkbackups folder.

Open the Bookmarks Manager; Press the Alt or F10 key to bring up the toolbar, and select Bookmarks. Hot key is <Control> (Mac=<Command>) <Shift> B.

Once the window is open, at the top of the page, press the button labeled Import and Backup. Select Restore. From the list, pick the file you want and click it.

The backups are stored in a jsonlz4 file named something like this; bookmarks-2016-06-29_1424_enD1GTH ya0JmicnYWg4V4g==.jsonlz4

In this example; 2016-06-29 = date created, 1424 = number of entries.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/restore-bookmarks-from-backup-or-move-them

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recover-lost-or-missing-bookmarks

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (3)

FredMcD
FredMcD
more options

Chosen Solution

You should have disconnected the sync on the computer you were giving away first.

With sync, there is no going back.

Restore Bookmark Backups

Firefox automatically makes backups of the bookmarks. These are stored in the bookmarkbackups folder.

Open the Bookmarks Manager; Press the Alt or F10 key to bring up the toolbar, and select Bookmarks. Hot key is <Control> (Mac=<Command>) <Shift> B.

Once the window is open, at the top of the page, press the button labeled Import and Backup. Select Restore. From the list, pick the file you want and click it.

The backups are stored in a jsonlz4 file named something like this; bookmarks-2016-06-29_1424_enD1GTH ya0JmicnYWg4V4g==.jsonlz4

In this example; 2016-06-29 = date created, 1424 = number of entries.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/restore-bookmarks-from-backup-or-move-them

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recover-lost-or-missing-bookmarks

KfwBell
KfwBell Question owner
more options

Restoring from Bookmarks Backup is exactly what I was looking for. Worked perfectly.

Thanks Fred!

FredMcD
FredMcD
more options

Glad to help. Safe Surfing.