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Trying to replace Firefox profiles ("refresh" lost them); cannot find "Ff" under App Support ... Help!!!

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  • 2 have this problem
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  • Last reply by cor-el

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Help! Firefox Quantum suggested I "refresh". When I did, FfQ then destroyed my profiles. The message was: "Your Firefox profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible."

Directions from FfQ support say to go to Library/App Support/Firefox/Profiles. Problem is: THERE IS NO FIREFOX FOLDER UNDER APP SUPPORT ANYMORE .... DID THAT GET DESTROYED TOO??!! (BTW, I have all the hidden files exposed, so that's not the solution.)

If any data has been lost, Firefox will need to replace it ... for example, my bookmarks represent years of work. Why are we users wasting so much time trying to fix our computers after installing Quantum and/or refreshing??? This is a total screw up. And guess what Firefox: We all have jobs too that we are missing when we have to trouble shoot YOUR products ... As I write this, I am losing money from my own business ... where should I send the invoice?? Do you think mine and the other users' time is free?

Tell me the fix, and it had better not result in one bit of data lost ... as it is, I can't work with Ff, so you have shut down your own product. If I seem rip-sh*t, I am.

Grateful_Dad

Help! Firefox Quantum suggested I "refresh". When I did, FfQ then destroyed my profiles. The message was: "Your Firefox profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible." Directions from FfQ support say to go to Library/App Support/Firefox/Profiles. Problem is: THERE IS NO FIREFOX FOLDER UNDER APP SUPPORT ANYMORE .... DID THAT GET DESTROYED TOO??!! (BTW, I have all the hidden files exposed, so that's not the solution.) If any data has been lost, Firefox will need to replace it ... for example, my bookmarks represent years of work. Why are we users wasting so much time trying to fix our computers after installing Quantum and/or refreshing??? This is a total screw up. And guess what Firefox: We all have jobs too that we are missing when we have to trouble shoot YOUR products ... As I write this, I am losing money from my own business ... where should I send the invoice?? Do you think mine and the other users' time is free? Tell me the fix, and it had better not result in one bit of data lost ... as it is, I can't work with Ff, so you have shut down your own product. If I seem rip-sh*t, I am. Grateful_Dad

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To create a new profile, please try the steps in this article: How to run Firefox when your profile is missing or inaccessible. In particular, create a new profile so Firefox can get up and running.

Once you have a new profile up and running: to recover data from the Old Firefox Data folder, try the link I gave you a couple years ago in a similar situation:

For Mac, update 46.0 has destroyed bookmarks, add-ons, preset passwords, toolbars, tabs, general formatting. Need Firefox to repair - cannot waste our time.

Or presumably because this happens to you frequently you started making backups to protect yourself?

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To Jscher 2000,

With due respect, if you are keeping and redistributing links sent to me 2 years ago, you have a very boring life. Geez. I spend as little time on this forum as possible, as I have other things to do -- primarily my work for which I get paid, and spending time with my family/friends

As to links to other sections on setting up Profiles, or as to backups ... the point is that users like myself should not have to learn the troubleshooting Finder map and lexicon, nor generally to operate in a defensive posture -- all assuming Firefox is going to screw up in with "upgrade" or "refresh" commands. Am I supposed to be on guard for my data getting lost in those circumstances? Huh? Here's an idea: how about Mozilla fix its software BEFORE it releases it to users .. so all of this incredible waste of time is eliminated. How about that?

My suggestion for Mozilla/Firefox: if you plan to release buggy software that destroys user data ... you better have an army of software consultants prepared to do all of the fixits so that no more than a minute of a user's time is used unnecessarily. At the risk of repetition, Mozilla, seems to think our time is free ... when they create hours of fixit time for a user, that's hours of revenue lost at our jobs -- DON'T THEY GET THAT?? Don't you -- Jscher -- get that?

Lastly, as to the "frequency' of these problems affecting me, I resent your patronizing comment .... if you want to see thousands of other examples of the same problems, just do a Google or other search and you'll see a plenty. Your objective? ... are you trying to piss me off more than I already am? That you could possibly defend Mozilla in this situation (we should all be trumpeting these failures to get action), and question my diligence as an affected user is beyond me.

So, I'm done here ... I'll chat w/ you in 2 years to review old links. Don't let my sign-off stop you though ... I am looking forward to your smug response. Fire away.

Grateful_Dad

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Hi Grateful_Dad, I'm not stalking you, anyone can see your post history by clicking your username next to one of your posts and you can do the same using the link at the top of the page when you're logged in.

No one wants Firefox users to lose data. Support volunteers are here to help if it happens. And sometimes when users put in the extra effort to help track down the source of a feature not behaving as designed, it leads to a bug report.

If you only want to provide feedback and not get suggestions for fixing a current problem, there are better avenues for that. For example:

My final word of advice is, if Firefox suggests doing a Refresh, DON'T DO IT.

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The Refresh option is not a new feature in Firefox as it has been around for some six years now. Personally I prefer People get familiar with the ProfileManager for creating a new Profile.

Scroll down to What does the refresh feature do? https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings

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Note that you need to access ~/Library/Application Support/ in your home directory and not the global /Library/Application Support/ folder in case you got confused.

  • /Users/<user>/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/<profile>/

In Mac OS X v10.7 and later, the ~/Library folder in the Home directory is a hidden folder.