You just erased all my data. How do I get it back?
I just logged on to my laptop to be faced by an endless spinning Windows wheel. You and or windows have just erased every last think on my laptop. I have an account with you. How do I get my data back. If you don't help I will never use Firefox or any other Mozilla product ever again.
My brother died a week ago. I don't need this, Noone would ever need this!
Why have you allowed Wondows to erase everything on my Firefox account? There was no warning. I don't want Windows 11 anyway.
WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS?!?!?!? I hate Microsoft. Why have you let them erase everything on Firefox? Where is all my stuff, my bookmarks, my records, my browser, everything?
PLEASE HELP ME GET IT ALL BACK BEFORE MY NOTHER'S FUNERAL NEXT WEEK !!!!!!
All Replies (3)
Sorry to hear about this problem and your loss. I'm not personally familiar with the Windows 11 update process. Do you recall making any choices about what to do with your data, or did Windows not mention that?
Suggestions
(1) If you haven't already, could you close out of Firefox and do a normal Windows shutdown and restart to complete any pending updates and release any file locks.
(2) Start Firefox and check for your data. If you still don't have it, check whether your stuff is available in a different profile, as follows:
Profile Manager Page
Inside Firefox, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it.
This page should list at least one profile and could list many. (Each profile has two folders and one or more buttons. Do not use any Remove buttons!)
The profile that Firefox is currently using will have this:
This is the profile in use and it cannot be deleted.
Do you have any other profile(s) listed on this page? If so, you can check whether it is the one you were using recently by clicking its Launch profile in new browser button.
If it isn't what you want, simply close that new window.
If it IS what you want, back on the about:profiles page, click the Set as default profile button for that profile so Firefox uses it automatically at the next startup.
Any progress so far?
(3) If you don't see any other profiles, check whether Windows moved your data to a temporary folder named
C:\Windows.old
with a copy of most of your application data in there.
Can you find such a folder on your system?
If so:
Before proceeding, please set Windows to show you hidden files and folders: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14201/windows-show-hidden-files
Then check here:
C:\Windows.old\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\
If you find recent data there, please pause and we can suggest how to resurrect your saved files.
Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
Thanks for your reply. Incredibly bizarrely, I was trying to find the registration number of my machine so I could ask the manufacturer how to access all the stuff on the restore disc and had to restart my laptop - and when the machine started up again ALL MY PHOTOS AND BOOKMARKS AND EVERYTHING WERE BACK AGAIN !!!
What an unpleasant hour or so!
A very cautionary tale about making sure everything is backed up up very frequently, well out of the way of Microsoft, Google, Mozilla and every other huge company that can delete all your stuff in an instant.
Anyway, I shall bookmark your advice in case it ever comes in handy. Many, many thanks.
That's great news, and hopefully you'll never need the rest of it.