Hi, it might be a good idea to Try Firefox Safe Mode to see if the problem goes away. Firefox Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that temporarily turns off hardware acceleration, resets some settings, and disables add-ons (extensions and themes).

If Firefox is open, you can restart in Firefox Safe Mode from the Help menu:

• Click the menu button , click Help and select Restart with Add-ons Disabled.

If Firefox is not running, you can start Firefox in Safe Mode as follows:

• On Windows: Hold the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
• On Mac: Hold the option key while starting Firefox.
• On Linux: Quit Firefox, go to your Terminal and run firefox -safe-mode
  (you may need to specify the Firefox installation path e.g. /usr/lib/firefox)

When the Firefox Safe Mode window appears, select "Start in Safe Mode".

If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, theme, or hardware acceleration. Please follow the steps in the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article to find the cause.

To exit Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.

If that doesn't help, you can try this for restoring bookmarks: Open bookmarks > Show All Bookmarks > Import and Backup > Restore, and see if you have a backup there.

Or please see-

• Profiles - Where Firefox stores your bookmarks, passwords and other user data.

• Recovering important data from an old profile.

If your question is resolved by this or another answer, please take a minute to let us know. Thank you.

Scribe_uk said

Hi, it might be a good idea to Try Firefox Safe Mode to see if the problem goes away. Firefox Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode that temporarily turns off hardware acceleration, resets some settings, and disables add-ons (extensions and themes). If Firefox is open, you can restart in Firefox Safe Mode from the Help menu:

• Click the menu button , click Help and select Restart with Add-ons Disabled.

If Firefox is not running, you can start Firefox in Safe Mode as follows:

• On Windows: Hold the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
• On Mac: Hold the option key while starting Firefox.
• On Linux: Quit Firefox, go to your Terminal and run firefox -safe-mode
  (you may need to specify the Firefox installation path e.g. /usr/lib/firefox)

When the Firefox Safe Mode window appears, select "Start in Safe Mode".

If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, theme, or hardware acceleration. Please follow the steps in the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article to find the cause. To exit Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.

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If that doesn't help, you can try this for restoring bookmarks: Open bookmarks > Show All Bookmarks > Import and Backup > Restore, and see if you have a backup there.

Or please see-

• Profiles - Where Firefox stores your bookmarks, passwords and other user data.

• Recovering important data from an old profile.

If your question is resolved by this or another answer, please take a minute to let us know. Thank you.

Hi Scribe_Uk, Thanks alot. Everything you suggested is perfect, though I didn't have to do anything because FF restored itself. Like so many other users i love Firefox and I'm ashamed to say my faith was shaken for a couple of hours, I've learned my lesson.

After i posted my question, I downloaded some updates for Windows and restarted my PC this morning 10am NZST and everything was where I last left it. All extensions, addons, history and bookmarks were restored.

Thanks again mate. Catch ya.

I am hesitating to update from 35 to 38 because every single time you guys decide to update ( keeps developers in business ..)it doesn't work well for so many... I am one that has learned to wait, always a problem/bug etc.. but I want to know WHY every stinking time you guys force us to 'safe mode' which really does zero, and then the laborious step by step by step by infinity to decide which if Any of the add ons are causing problems.. geesh. the one thing most of us prefer is to keep all our add ons and bookmarks we spent time collecting and using habitually... you never seem to consider that or may be not care, but either way, why is the safe mode or reset your 'go to' always? can you not cough up something new a repair tool for mozilla to be used after updates that might save lots of time and solve issues lots of updaters have? the other thing, why not allow us to do a go back to old version? NOOOO you claim for security but i think otherwise, I want to see a way to go back easily without having to totally uninstall and then dig up an older version, all time consuming hassles... yeah... I guess I am done griping for now...:(