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Did a Firefox Refresh and lost everything

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  • Last reply by cor-el

babecki.technology
babecki.technology
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While troubleshooting internet connectivity issues I did a refresh of Firefox. I didn't back up my bookmarks or onetab links because it said no information would be lost, but I lost it all. There is an old Firefox data folder on my desktop but when I copied those files into firefox to use in this new profile there is still nothing there. I even tried a Windows system restore which was a colossal waste of time.

Are there any system files hidden somewhere that would contain my bookmark and onetab data or is it just gone?

While troubleshooting internet connectivity issues I did a refresh of Firefox. I didn't back up my bookmarks or onetab links because it said no information would be lost, but I lost it all. There is an old Firefox data folder on my desktop but when I copied those files into firefox to use in this new profile there is still nothing there. I even tried a Windows system restore which was a colossal waste of time. Are there any system files hidden somewhere that would contain my bookmark and onetab data or is it just gone?

Modified by babecki.technology

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cor-el
cor-el
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Are the compressed .jsonlz4 backup in the backup in the bookmarkbackups folder in the profile stored in the "Old Firefox Data" folder on the desktop ?

You can use the button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page (Root directory).

You can copy certain files with Firefox closed to the current profile folder to transfer or recover personal data. Note that best is to avoid copying a full profile folder.

  • bookmarks and history: places.sqlite
  • favicons: favicons.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 (encrypted logins;32+) and key4.db (decryption key;58+) for Passwords saved in the Password Manager
    key3.db support ended in 73+; to use key3.db in 58-72, make sure to remove key4.db
  • cert9.db (58+) for (intermediate) certificates stored in the Certificate Manager
  • persdict.dat for words added to the spell 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)