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Bookmarks, history, recently visited....everything gone after random 20.0.1 update i didnt even agree to???

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Opened firefox this morning and it would appear it has updated itself, this is irritating because i didnt want to update and liked it just the way it was. Even worst its screwed up everything during the update, everything lost preferences, history, bookmarks......all gone! Tried to restore my bookmarks from the import/backup tab but this doesnt work either. I would really appreciate some help as i have hundreds of bookmarks i need back, i would also like to know how to stop firefox from updating itself without permission.

Opened firefox this morning and it would appear it has updated itself, this is irritating because i didnt want to update and liked it just the way it was. Even worst its screwed up everything during the update, everything lost preferences, history, bookmarks......all gone! Tried to restore my bookmarks from the import/backup tab but this doesnt work either. I would really appreciate some help as i have hundreds of bookmarks i need back, i would also like to know how to stop firefox from updating itself without permission.

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Sorry you are having problems. Something has gone badly wrong.No idea why, but that is not intended to happen. (IIRC There may have been other similar reports recently but I do not have time to look now)

First of all lets say it is unwise to stop Firefox updating because there are security risks with running unsupported insecure old versions. Secondly the automated upgrades are intended to retain bookmarks and other things.

The import option should be used with caution it will overwrite the existing bookmarks. It is good practice to


Now to the problem of missing bookmarks. As I do not know exactly what occurred i am not certain they can be recovered, but lets make sure we have whatever is available, and put it somewhere safe.

These are stored in

  1. places.sqlite a database within your Firefox settings folder ( profile )
  2. some separate backup files again within the profile, and in a sub folder with a name something like bookmarkbackups with files that will include a date and end with (possibly hidden) file extension.json

You need to

  1. Find the existing files, and back them up by making copies
    • an easy method of finding the profile is to use
      Firefox Button -> Help -> Troubleshooting
      or key in about:support
      then use [open folder] or whatever the wording
    • place the copies somewehre safe. Outside of Fifrefox program or profile paths. (Your Windows Desktop is suitable)
  2. it is also worth looking to see if there are previous versions of the files available

Please now
Read the linked articles.
Find the files mentioned and and back them up.
See if previous copies exist.

Post back with how you get on, and I or someone else will help with the next steps.

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Did you try to reboot the computer?