This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Unused Tags Can't Be Deleted in the Bookmark Library

chesstauren
chesstauren
more options

I have imported my bookmarks from Firefox 56 and everything seemed fine until I noticed that there are some tags which aren't assigned to any bookmark. I tried to delete them manually but they don't respond to any manipulation. And there's a lot of them, gunking up the database.

I've heard that such tags are supposed to disappear on their own after I exit Firefox, but it doesn't seem to work. The problem persists in the Safe Mode too.

I have imported my bookmarks from Firefox 56 and everything seemed fine until I noticed that there are some tags which aren't assigned to any bookmark. I tried to delete them manually but they don't respond to any manipulation. And there's a lot of them, gunking up the database. I've heard that such tags are supposed to disappear on their own after I exit Firefox, but it doesn't seem to work. The problem persists in the Safe Mode too.

Chosen solution

Thanks for your reply. Yes, the non-linked tags were in the expanded box on on the left side. I couldn't delete them, probably because they had no bookmarks associated with them.

I fixed this problem manually by first making a backup of the bookmarks, then deleting places.sqlite. The first time I tried it, it didn't fix the problem because the bookmarks were automatically restored from Firefox backups. I had to delete the automatic backups and places.sqlite, and that finally killed the unused tags. Then I restored the bookmarks from my backup and the problem seems to be fixed.

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (3)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

Hmm, as a test, I opened the Library window (Ctrl+Shift+b) and expanded Tags in the left column.

I found a tag called deadsites where I had put a non-working bookmark. When I deleted the bookmark using right-click > Delete, the tag was deleted, too.

Is that the area where you see tags that don't have any matching bookmarks, or do you see them somewhere else?

chesstauren
chesstauren Question owner
more options

Chosen Solution

Thanks for your reply. Yes, the non-linked tags were in the expanded box on on the left side. I couldn't delete them, probably because they had no bookmarks associated with them.

I fixed this problem manually by first making a backup of the bookmarks, then deleting places.sqlite. The first time I tried it, it didn't fix the problem because the bookmarks were automatically restored from Firefox backups. I had to delete the automatic backups and places.sqlite, and that finally killed the unused tags. Then I restored the bookmarks from my backup and the problem seems to be fixed.

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

Oh, I was going to suggest trying to create a bookmark, tagging it, then removing the bookmark, but your method probably was more thorough.