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Importing bookmarks via a Firefox account

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 51 views
  • Last reply by Blazingfox

Blazingfox
Blazingfox
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Hi,

I've recently moved PCs and I'm trying to import all my previous bookmarks to the new PC. The old PC was wiped completely to re-use the components in the new PC, however it was fully backed-up.

Previous to re-formatting everything, I made a Firefox account for easy bookmark transfer.

When I logged into the Firefox account on the new PC, no bookmarks synced. However, website history did sync.

In 'Settings > Sync > Manage Account', scrolling to the bottom of the page displays the name of my old PC, so Firefox does know that it exists. If all my bookmarks are stored in the cloud and not on my own hardware, why aren't they syncing?

Thanks for any help.

Hi, I've recently moved PCs and I'm trying to import all my previous bookmarks to the new PC. The old PC was wiped completely to re-use the components in the new PC, however it was fully backed-up. Previous to re-formatting everything, I made a Firefox account for easy bookmark transfer. When I logged into the Firefox account on the new PC, no bookmarks synced. However, website history did sync. In 'Settings > Sync > Manage Account', scrolling to the bottom of the page displays the name of my old PC, so Firefox does know that it exists. If all my bookmarks are stored in the cloud and not on my own hardware, why aren't they syncing? Thanks for any help.

All Replies (4)

Bithiah
Bithiah
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Hey there!

Please see the following links on how to do so. It is different for each browser:

Import bookmarks from Google Chrome: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/import-bookmarks-google-chrome

Import bookmarks from Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/import-bookmarks-internet-explorer-or-microsoft-edge

Import bookmarks from an HTML file: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/import-bookmarks-html-file

General info on how to import bookmarks and data from another browser to Firefox : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/import-data-another-browser

If you were using Firefox on your old computer, you can simply sync your bookmarks and transfer them to your new computer. See the link for more info on syncing: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-set-sync-my-computer

Hope I helped!

Kind regards,

Bithiah

Blazingfox
Blazingfox Question owner
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Hello,

Yes, that's what I did before wiping the old rig: Sync the bookmarks on Firefox. Just that appears not to have worked. As I said, browsing history and perhaps a few other things I haven't checked have synced as intended.

Thanks anyway :)

Modified by Blazingfox

Paul
Paul
  • Top 25 Contributor
  • Moderator
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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.

Blazingfox
Blazingfox Question owner
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I feared that would be the case. I've already had a look at my backup and everything possibly bookmark related.

All JSON bookmark files I could find were just stock Firefox bookmarks from when you first install the browser. I found some weird JSON files with strange extensions (eg. file.json1234xyz), but Firefox wouldn't recognise those. I'm assuming they're not bookmark files at all, but maybe it's a Windows (old PC) to Linux (new PC) thing?