One possible reason to lose most extensions is if you used the Refresh features. This sometimes is suggested during an update: Firefox will display a message that it is performing slowly and you can speed it up by restoring original settings, or something along those lines. If you allowed this, an Old Firefox Data folder would appear on your desktop with your old settings. Do you see anything like that?

Thanks, jscher! Yes, I do see that folder, and I did do a Refresh, I believe. What should I do with the folder?

Did you have a lot of extensions? It might be simplest to reinstall the two you noticed are missing. But if there are others you can't recall, or the extensions stored valuable data, then you could try rolling back the Refresh.

Due to differences between Windows and Mac, I am not familiar with the details of how to do it on Mac. In other words, I think the following is mostly right, but please translate my Windows-speak to Mac-speak if needed.

Check inside "Old Firefox Data" folder for a folder with a semi-randomized name. If there's only one, that probably has your old settings and add-ons. If there's more than one, you'll want to work with the one that was updated most recently.

Once you have identified the profile folder you want to restore, here is my suggested "old profile resurrection procedure":

Overview

These are the steps detailed below:

1. Create a new Firefox profile
2. Remove everything from that new profile folder
3. Copy in everything from the old profile folder

Create a new Firefox profile

Quit Firefox. Start up in the Profile Manager using the method in this article: Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles.

Notes:

• Do not delete anything here!
• Any time you want to switch profiles, quit Firefox and return to this dialog.

Click the Create Profile button, assign a name like OldSettings, and skip the option to change the folder location. Then select that new profile in the dialog and start Firefox.

Open the New Profile folder in Finder

Firefox in the new profile should look like a factory fresh installation. Open the Troubleshooting Information page using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
• Help menu > Troubleshooting Information
• type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter/Return

In the first table, click the "Show in Finder" button. Firefox will launch an Finder window showing the contents of your brand new profile folder.

Leaving that folder open, switch back to Firefox, and Quit/Exit. When Firefox closes, the new profile folder should be front and center, or you can activate it using the Task bar (?? or Mac equivalent).

Copy Old Data in Place of New

In that new profile folder, select all the contents and delete.

Leaving that window open, open or switch over to your Old Firefox Data folder. Drill down into your old profile folder. At this level you should see a folder named bookmarkbackups among other things.

Select everything and Copy (either right-click > Copy or Command+c).

Switch to the empty new profile folder in other window and Paste (either right-click > Paste or Command+v). This may take a minute since some of the files are large.

Start Firefox

Firefox should start up in that new profile with the resurrected old profile data. Success?

jscher, that is so awesomely helpful! I really appreciate your detailed instructions, and I'll give it a try. I think I can translate into Mac-ese...