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The Firefox start button that I pinned to my desktop taskbar started launching 5 instances of Firefox and the one that displayed was not responsive

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  • Last reply by Boris

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So I unpinned the shortcut from the task bar and pinned the Firefox start button (from the Start menu) to the task bar. Now Firefox is responsive but my bookmarks are missing. I went to "about:profiles" and saw that there are two profiles now. If I select the original profile I again get the 5 faulty instances of Firebox. I can't figure out how to import my bookmarks into the new profile. Any help?

So I unpinned the shortcut from the task bar and pinned the Firefox start button (from the Start menu) to the task bar. Now Firefox is responsive but my bookmarks are missing. I went to "about:profiles" and saw that there are two profiles now. If I select the original profile I again get the 5 faulty instances of Firebox. I can't figure out how to import my bookmarks into the new profile. Any help?

Chosen solution

Thanks. I used the info you provided to eventually find the files here:

C:\Users\<windows-user-name>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

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I take it the new profile is working without a problem, yes?

When you are ready, we can start moving parts of your old data and Copy it to the new profile.


First; open your file browser to the New profile;

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.

Windows: Show Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder

Linux: Under the page logo on the left side, you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Directory. To its right press the button Open Directory.


Second, open another file browser to the Old profile. You should see it on the directory "tree" in the first file browser. Right-click on that folder and select Open In New Window.


Warning ! ! Only Copy the files you are told. We will avoid anything that might cause problems. Here is the list of files;

cookies: cookies.sqlite Do not bother. Cookies will be created when you return to the website. However, you will have to log in everywhere. And you may lose any settings that websites store on your computer.

extensions(add-ons, themes): it would be better to download them fresh. If you need to remember what add-ons you had, open the extensions sub-folder and look at the .xpi files ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ logins.json and key3.db [v58+]key4.db : These are the password files. Copy Both !

persdict.dat : custom dictionary - words you added to the dictionary

mimeTypes.rdf [v55+]handlers.json : What to do with what type of file.

places.sqlite : History and Bookmarks.

prefs.js : Your settings. Note: If you were having problems, this could be contaminated.

cert8.db [v58+]cert9.db and possibly cert_override.txt : Stores all your security certificate settings and any SSL certificates you have imported into Firefox. If removed, the cert8.db, cert9.db file will be replaced.

search.json.mozlz4 : file stores the user-installed search engines that are available in the Firefox v47+

search.sqlite file and searchplugins folder store the search engines that are available in the Firefox Search bar before Firefox v47 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Copy these files from the old to the new. You may get a message that the files already exist. Choose to over-write for each file.

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I found cert9.db and places.sqlite but I don't know the location that you seem to mean in "old to new". Which folder is the "new"?

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'New' refers to the new profile.

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Chosen Solution

Thanks. I used the info you provided to eventually find the files here:

C:\Users\<windows-user-name>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles