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.

I signed into Mozilla on an older computer and watched as all of my bookmark folders disappeared. I want them back

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by cor-el

wojoku
wojoku
more options

Hi.

I got a new computer recently. In figuring out how to transfer my bookmarks (which many are saved in various folders on the bookmark toolbar menu), I signed up for a Mozilla account in thinking that I could sync them over the cloud. Today I signed into that Mozilla account on my old computer. As soon as I did, my bookmark toolbar menu started changing folders, removing them. About 5 seconds later, I am left with only those that are currently on my new computer; they seemed to sync themselves.

I wanted them to sync, but in the opposite direction! Is there any way to restore them? Resetting them all will take me half a day.

Thank you!

Hi. I got a new computer recently. In figuring out how to transfer my bookmarks (which many are saved in various folders on the bookmark toolbar menu), I signed up for a Mozilla account in thinking that I could sync them over the cloud. Today I signed into that Mozilla account on my old computer. As soon as I did, my bookmark toolbar menu started changing folders, removing them. About 5 seconds later, I am left with only those that are currently on my new computer; they seemed to sync themselves. I wanted them to sync, but in the opposite direction! Is there any way to restore them? Resetting them all will take me half a day. Thank you!

All Replies (2)

FredMcD
FredMcD
more options

Restore Bookmark Backups

Firefox automatically makes backups of the bookmarks. These are stored in the bookmarkbackups folder.

Open the Bookmarks Manager; Press the Alt or F10 key to bring up the toolbar, and select Bookmarks. Hot key is <Control> (Mac=<Command>) <Shift> B.

Once the window is open, at the top of the page, press the button labeled Import and Backup. Select Restore. From the list, pick the file you want and click it.

The backups are stored in a jsonlz4 file named something like this; bookmarks-2016-06-29_1424_enD1GTH ya0JmicnYWg4V4g==.jsonlz4

In this example; 2016-06-29 = date created, 1424 = number of entries.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/restore-bookmarks-from-backup-or-move-them

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recover-lost-or-missing-bookmarks

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

If necessary then you can use this utility to browse Windows System Restore points and possibly recover lost data.

See also: