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Can't find synced data after reinstalling Windows

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  • Last reply by Paul

seviflood
seviflood
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Hello,

I recently did a clean install of my Windows 10. I was signed in to Firefox before formatting and had sync enabled for all fields, so I thought that once Windows was reinstalled and I installed Firefox I would get all of my history/password/bookmarks back.

Unfortunately, I've now signed into to Firefox and see none of my history/passwords/bookmarks. Is there anything I can do?

It would be quite devastating as I don't have any of that information anywhere else. I should've done a backup, but again, I assumed Firefox Sync would do that just like Google Chrome does.

Thank you

Hello, I recently did a clean install of my Windows 10. I was signed in to Firefox before formatting and had sync enabled for all fields, so I thought that once Windows was reinstalled and I installed Firefox I would get all of my history/password/bookmarks back. Unfortunately, I've now signed into to Firefox and see none of my history/passwords/bookmarks. Is there anything I can do? It would be quite devastating as I don't have any of that information anywhere else. I should've done a backup, but again, I assumed Firefox Sync would do that just like Google Chrome does. Thank you

All Replies (1)

Paul
Paul
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  • Top 10 Contributor
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Hi

Thank you for your question about the Firefox Sync service.

It appears from your question, that you are using Firefox Sync as a back up service. This is not what Sync is designed to do. The Firefox Sync service takes a copy of the data you wish to include and transfers it to a second device (typically a mobile device such as a tablet or a telephone) running a copy of Firefox. The storage in between all attached devices is both temporary and fragile and is not stable enough to be (and is not designed as) a reliable backup service.

If you have a copy of your Firefox profile for desktop Firefox, you may be able to recover your bookmarks and other data. Please have a read of this article.

If you have a copy of your data on a mobile version of Firefox, please follow these instructions to connect it to Firefox Sync to copy your data.