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Cannot bookmark at all

  • 12 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 4 views
  • Last reply by Dutchie

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I cannot make any new bookmarks, period. Neither the button in the address bar, nor the button in the menu, nor the keyboard shortcut will make a new bookmark. all previously added bookmarks still work fine, and still show up in the manager screen.

When I try to add a bookmark, nothing happens, no menu pops up, nothing changes, it just has no response for that input for some odd reason.

as far as I remember, an addon didn't cause this issue, as ive had this current set of addons for about a year, and only began to experience this issue a month or two ago, and disabling all of them doesn't fix the issue.

Would appreciate any help, as I am getting quite sick of dumping all of my bookmarks into a text file,

Ill be happy to provide any info needed, but may need a bit of help accessing it, since i haven't done virtually any in depth tinkering with firefox's inner workings

I cannot make any new bookmarks, period. Neither the button in the address bar, nor the button in the menu, nor the keyboard shortcut will make a new bookmark. all previously added bookmarks still work fine, and still show up in the manager screen. When I try to add a bookmark, nothing happens, no menu pops up, nothing changes, it just has no response for that input for some odd reason. as far as I remember, an addon didn't cause this issue, as ive had this current set of addons for about a year, and only began to experience this issue a month or two ago, and disabling all of them doesn't fix the issue. Would appreciate any help, as I am getting quite sick of dumping all of my bookmarks into a text file, Ill be happy to provide any info needed, but may need a bit of help accessing it, since i haven't done virtually any in depth tinkering with firefox's inner workings

Chosen solution

Sometimes the problem is in the icons file, at least for bookmarks. See: Fix "The bookmarks and history system will not be functional" error message.

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All Replies (12)

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[v57+] Places Maintenance is built into Firefox.

Type about:support<enter> in the address bar.

You will find Places Database near the bottom. Press the Verify Integrity button.

When done, copy and post the results here.

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uhm... im assuming that the button's supposed to do something when its pressed? I clicked it and nothing happened, nothing popped up, no redirect, Nothing.... Imma go out on a limb here and assume that this is probably not good?

Modified by Dutchie

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Hi Dutchie, usually it's quiet for about 10 seconds and then starts listing stuff on new rows below the button. Nothing?

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Nothing, I clicked it, let it sit for a good 30 ish seconds, nothing happened, tried again after refreshing, and still nothing.

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Usually if there is a problem with the Places database, it affects not just bookmarks but also history. Does history seem to be accumulating normally?

Are you able to export or backup your bookmarks:

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Dutchie said

I clicked it and nothing happened

Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link}

A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?

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Yep, issue still persists in safe mode

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jscher2000 said

Usually if there is a problem with the Places database, it affects not just bookmarks but also history. Does history seem to be accumulating normally? Are you able to export or backup your bookmarks:

Just checked, there arent any new entries in history either

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The places.sqlite file contains your History and Bookmarks. And it looks like it is corrupted.

Type about:support<enter> in the address bar.

Under the page logo on the left side, you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Folder. To its right press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Now Close Firefox.

Locate the above file. Then rename or delete it. Restart Firefox.

The browser should then create a new place.sqlite and recover your bookmarks from the backup files. Note: Your history is not backed up and will be lost.

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Chosen Solution

Sometimes the problem is in the icons file, at least for bookmarks. See: Fix "The bookmarks and history system will not be functional" error message.

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You can create a new profile to test if your current profile is causing the problem.

See "Creating a profile":

If the new profile works then you can transfer files from a previously used profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over problems.


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

  • bookmarks and history: places.sqlite
  • bookmark backups: compressed .jsonlz4 JSON backups in the bookmarkbackups folder
  • cookies.sqlite for the Cookies
  • formhistory.sqlite for saved autocomplete Form Data
  • logins.json (passwords) and key4.db (58+) or key3.db (57 and older) (decryption key) for Passwords saved in the Password Manager
    if you only have key3.db then make sure to remove an existing key4.db
  • cert9.db (58+) or cert8.db (57 and older) for (intermediate) certificates stored in the Certificate Manager
    if you only have cert8.db then make sure to remove an existing cert9.db
  • persdict.dat for words you added to the spelling checker dictionary
  • permissions.sqlite for Permissions and possibly content-prefs.sqlite for other website specific data (Site Preferences)
  • sessionstore.jsonlz4 for open tabs and pinned tabs (see also the sessionstore-backups folder)

See also:

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jscher2000 said

Sometimes the problem is in the icons file, at least for bookmarks. See: Fix "The bookmarks and history system will not be functional" error message.

Deleting the Famicons.sqlite and places.sqlite files worked, now everything works as it should