how can i delete all duplicate bookmarks on one mac, and have those changes sync to my other mac?
Hi all :)
Can anyone tell me how can i delete all duplicate bookmarks on one mac, and have those changes sync to my other mac?
I have over 14,000 bookmarks on both my macs, and many of them have around 5 or 6 duplicates! It seems that somehow maybe i asked it to import and/or export my bookmarks to the other mac and/or to my other browser (safari) ,and caused so many accidental bookmarks like that(?). In any case, i wish to delete all those extras across both macs. But i am afraid if i try to delete them from one mac, they will just reappear upon the next sync. Similarly, i'd like to go through and carefully delete any bookmarks i don't need, and have those deletion changes sync to my other mac (to delete them there as well).
How can i best do this? I was thinking maybe disconnect sync on both macs, make the duplicate deletions by some kind of quick and easy tool(?), then hand-delete certain bookmarks i don't want, then delete all the bookmarks off the other mac, then re-connect the first mac to sync so the bookmarks all load up, then connect the other mac so it can download all those bookmarks onto its clean bookmarks list?
Thanks in advance for your knowledgeable help!
All Replies (5)
First thing to do is to Disconnect ... from Sync on both devices before proceeding.
Then you could try using this extension on both devices and see if it still works in Firefox 56.0.1. One user Review on the day that Firefox 56 was released saying it "Does the job" - but no mention of whether that was with 55 or 56. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bookmark-deduplicator/
If that extension doesn't work any longer, you'll need to delete the duplicates manually. And IMO it may be best to do the deletions on each device and to not rely upon Sync to delete the duplicates.
Also, before connecting back to Sync, you should change your Sync password so that your data is wiped from the Sync server to start with a "fresh load" of data from the first device that you connect. That may save you some grief if Sync tries to merge the "fixed" bookmarks and you have to repeat your efforts again, and again and ...
many thanks!!!
your help is invaluable, and i deeply appreciate it! :)
updates: Checking back in to share some updates and notes— the extension you mentioned does work with my FF 56! (even though it turned out to be a “legacy”, it worked great!) It removed 13106 duplicates, leaving me 1825— wow!
And, i found this alternative extension:
Bookmarks Organizer — which is Compatible with Firefox 57+: “The Bookmarks Organizer finds no longer working bookmarks, redirects, duplicates and more”— just in case it benefits people if/when the first extension stops working!
I also found the 404 Bookmarks ext, which finds and deletes expired bookmarks, which was also great and removed an additional 135 of mine!
So thanks also edmeister for pointing me in the right direction!
one question remains: i signed out of both mac's syncing, but now i can't find out:
how to change my syncing password before signing back in to sync? Is this a different password than my firefox account's?
thanks!
Athraithe ag z. ixa ar
hi again edmeister et al :)
please-- i still need to know how to change my syncing password before signing back in to sync? Is this a different password than my firefox account's?
Also, two more related questions concerning this issue please!:
1. is there a reason why the bookmark deduplicator app works on my mac laptop but not my desktop? i have the same firefox version and the same OS version on both macs! when i tried multiple times to use it on my desktop, it crashed every time, running a script that would not complete! i did go through the firefox help about script issues ("Warning Unresponsive script - What it means and how to fix it") with no success. So on my desktop, i ran the 404 bookmarks app, and still need to run the bookmark deduplicator to make the two macs have the same bookmarks as suggested.
and:
2. it has occurred to me to wonder why i would want to manually delete all these unwanted bookmarks separately on both macs? Couldn’t i just do it on my macbook, then, before i re-sync them, delete all the bookmarks on my desktop, then export the bookmarks from macbook and import them into desktop? (wouldn't this make it so i didn't have to worry about using the problematic bookmark deduplicator on the desktop, and would still have the same bookmarks desired from macbook?)
Thanks in advance for your help!
Athraithe ag z. ixa ar
Firefox Accounts is used for Sync.
You can manage your Sync account from here: https://accounts.firefox.com/settings
1. Never used the Deduplicator extension. Can't offer an opinion about why it wouldn't in one Profile while it works in another. As far as the "Unresponsive script-" issue, could be lack of RAM for that extension to "do its thing" or the extension is "getting long in the tooth" (IOW, compatibility issues) due to changes in Firefox over time and needs to be re-written for efficiency.
2. IMO, if Sync has the bookmarks screwed up on both devices you are better off fixing them on both devices rather than relying upon Sync to do it on the 2nd device. But that is dependent upon how many bookmarks you have. The reason I recommend fixing both is that too many users have reported having problems getting it done and wasting their time repeatedly in an attempt to get it done via Sync.
awesome, thanks again so much for helping me clarify things! :)