If you use the restore from the bookmarks window, does that not work? You should be able to browse to any directory you want to get the file you want.

If you tried to replace the fie while FF was open then it will always fail. Try with FF closed.

Bill

I tried that and it does not allow that file type. It wants a HTML or from Internet Explorer !!

I did and its like nothing changed so I'm guessing that the profile has a code attached to it and the old file has the old code? I don't know but when I did work with explorer that was the way it worked. I quit using explorer because of so many problems and changed to Firefox but don't know how to do this type stuff.

"It wants a HTML or from Internet Explorer !!" You're trying to Import a bookmarks file. You need to Restore [using Choose File ...] the backup JSON file.

Better yet, you might be better off restoring your entire Firefox Profile from that backup [if it was backed up].

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile

Bookmark Backups

Type about:support in the address bar and press enter.

Under the page logo on the left side you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Folder. To it’s right press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Now Close Firefox.

Enter the bookmarkbackups folder. This is where Firefox makes backups of your bookmarks. Look for the jsonlz4 file you want to restore (check the time / date / size). Right click on that file and select Copy. Now go back to the profile folder where you started. Rename the file places.sqlite by adding .old to it. Now right click in the folder and select Paste. The file you just pasted here, rename it to places.sqlite. After you are done, restart Firefox.

Edited to correct file name error.

These can't get your data back, but will help in the future.

These add-ons can be a great help by backing up and restoring Firefox

FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) {web link} FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions, history, passwords, and more. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your saved files individually into installable .xpi files. It will also make backup of files that you choose.

OPIE {web link} Import/Export extension preferences

Why was the extension for the backups changed to .jsonlz4 if that is not usable to restore?

We're getting off topic here. Why don't we concentrate on helping the Owner of this thread and once his problem is fixed, discuss the parallel issues that have come up.

We're trying to help this user recover / restore his bookmarks from a backup drive --- not from a working Firefox installation.

The file I read to use is the places.sqlite

I'm kind of confused....again very small tech knowledge...I read the places sqlite is the file with the bookmarks? I read what you told me but got lost at the bookmarkbackups folder. There is only the one file in it named bookmarks-etc and is a JSONLZ4 file ? The old file I thought that had my bookmarks was suppose to be a places.sqlite? That I have. I'm trying to locate the old JSONLZ4 file...but I'm kind of lost...I understand you want that file copied but is that the file I'm suppose to rename the logins.json? So far the only old file I found is the places.sqlite but on my backup drive I can't use the about:support to get to all the files? Sorry but I really want to understand so if I can't get it done this time I'll be able to do so next time. I've had my computer mess up and had to return it to factory defaults more than once.... Again thanks

JSONLZ4 is a new format for automatic bookmarks JSON backups in the bookmarkbackups folder. This is a compressed format to save disk space. Previously the uncompressed .json file format was used for the automatic backups (this format is still used for manual backups). You normally restore the bookmarks from a JSON or JSONLZ4 file, but a places.sqlite file should work as well. If you do not have any such backups then you might be out of luck.

Make sure to restore the file(s) to the correct location.

You can use this button to go to the currently used Firefox profile folder:

• Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)

places.sqlite is where bookmarks are "stored".

There is no restore feature for that file type. You need to replace the "same" file in the new Profile folder with the clickfree backup copy of that file, as explained here. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile#w_copying-files-between-profile-folders

You have locate or find your backed up Profile "manually" in that Clickfree Backup - there's no user interface to locate the Profile folder that is in that backup.