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Importing non-csv passwords

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  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by cor-el

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Hello. My laptop died and according to IT is "gone". My hard disk however can still be accessed. I was able to access my firefox profile data from the old hard disk, and I was able to find the two firefox password files (key4.db and logins.json), as described in https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data. However, when I use the procedure described in https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1416465 to import the passwords on my new firefox on my new laptop, it does not work: firefox tries to look for a csv file, but there is none: I only have the "raw" db and json files, because i never had the opportunity to "export" my pwds as a csv file. Is there a way to import pwds from one version of firefox (the one running on my dead machine) to another copy of firefox (the one running on my new machine), if those pwds have not been previously "exported" as csv files by the "original" firefox/machine? thank you!

Hello. My laptop died and according to IT is "gone". My hard disk however can still be accessed. I was able to access my firefox profile data from the old hard disk, and I was able to find the two firefox password files (key4.db and logins.json), as described in https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data. However, when I use the procedure described in https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1416465 to import the passwords on my new firefox on my new laptop, it does not work: firefox tries to look for a csv file, but there is none: I only have the "raw" db and json files, because i never had the opportunity to "export" my pwds as a csv file. Is there a way to import pwds from one version of firefox (the one running on my dead machine) to another copy of firefox (the one running on my new machine), if those pwds have not been previously "exported" as csv files by the "original" firefox/machine? thank you!

Chosen solution

The actual profile folder is the xxxxxxxx.default-release folder with the random name in the location you posted above in case you placed the files in Profiles.

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).

  • C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>
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You can simply copy logins.json and key4.db with Firefox closed from the old hard drive to your current profile folder to transfer the logins. If you already have created logins then export beforehand to CSV and import afterward.


You can copy certain files with Firefox closed from another profile folder to the current profile folder to transfer your personal data. Note that best is to avoid restoring a full profile folder and only restore important files that are safe to restore/transfer.


  • 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) and key4.db (encryption key/primary password) for logins saved in the Password Manager
  • cert9.db for 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)
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first of all: wow, thank you so much for helping me out! and second: I must have done something wrong, because that unfortunately did not work. What i did was:

- i closed the "new" firefox on the new computer - then, i copied my "old" logins.json and key4.db from the old computer to the new one, and I pasted both of them into the C:\Users\[MY NAME]\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ folder (btw, in case it's relevant: I noticed that in the new computer's roaming profiles folder, there was already a key4 file - which i replaced with the "old" key4 file - but there was no logins.json file yet) - I opened firefox, and went to Passwords - but when i do that, i see (on the top left side of the screen):

"No logins found When you save a password in Firefox, it will show up here"

Any guess what may have gone wrong? thank you again

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Chosen Solution

The actual profile folder is the xxxxxxxx.default-release folder with the random name in the location you posted above in case you placed the files in Profiles.

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).

  • C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>
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many thanks! it worked! Your help was truly appreciated.

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You're welcome.