can't delete bookmarks
I am unable to delete bookmarks. Not with the Delete function on any menu, and not by dragging off the Bookmarks Menu list in Library to the sidebar (which used to work). I have used Cookie5 (now disabled), which bloggers say corrupts places.sqlite. I have tried these things: I deleted the places file and restarted. This wiped bookmarks but not their folders. 2. I went to Time Machine and replaced current places file with older ones. Bookmarks returned but still no delete option. 3. I tried to restore bookmarks from backups. All JSON backups must be corrupted, because none will open. And the Export and Backup functions do not work either. 4. I checked Places Database to Verify Integrity. No solution there, but readout is below. 5. I tried to create a new profile, set up an account and tried to sync. No luck. So I copied an older places.sqlite file into the new Profile: the bookmarks were there, but in the new profile the problem of deleting them remained. I am stumped.
Readout: > Task: checkIntegrity - Unable to check places.sqlite integrity: Error: Error(s) encountered during statement execution: database disk image is malformed > Task: invalidateCaches - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task. > Task: checkCoherence - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task. > Task: expire - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task. > Task: originFrecencyStats - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task. > Task: vacuum - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task. > Task: stats - The task queue was cleared by an error in another task. > Task: _refreshUI
Chosen solution
Hi Mark, not to sounds like a cliche, but have you already done a normal shutdown and restart of your Mac? That would potentially free up locked files, complete any deferred updates, and hopefully resolve any privilege issues when you log back in.
It's understandable that bookmark backups can't be restored to a locked or damaged places.sqlite file, but it's troubling that it didn't work when you let Firefox create a new file. Hopefully you have some backup.
I have a page to convert the compressed (.jsonlz4) bookmark backup files to the HTML "export" format which also can be imported. You could use that to test whether the backup file actually contains bookmarks or only folders.
https://www.jeffersonscher.com/ffu/bookbackreader.html
If the backup is convertible, you could try a new places.sqlite and use Import (Import Bookmarks from an HTML file).
favicons.sqlite
A few versions back, Firefox started storing site icons in this separate database file which also can occasionally become corrupted or locked, and also stop bookmarks and history from working normally. So you might try renaming that one to see whether it makes any difference.
More info: Fix "The bookmarks and history system will not be functional" error message
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The places.sqlite file contains your History and Bookmarks. And it looks like it is corrupted.
Type about:support<enter> in the address bar.
Under the page logo on the left side, you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Folder. To its right press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Now Close Firefox.
Locate the above file. Then rename or delete it. Restart Firefox.
The browser should then create a new place.sqlite and recover your bookmarks from the backup files. Note: Your history is not backed up and will be lost.
As I said, that is the first thing I tried. Sorry, that did not help. I am guessing that all the backup files are also corrupted. But deleting the backup folder would not help, probably. The problem is that I can't delete any bookmarks, and just finding an old places.sqlite file in Time Machine and replacing the one in the current folder did not cure the problem (of course it restores older bookmarks, but they remain frozen and undeletable).
Mark
Chosen Solution
Hi Mark, not to sounds like a cliche, but have you already done a normal shutdown and restart of your Mac? That would potentially free up locked files, complete any deferred updates, and hopefully resolve any privilege issues when you log back in.
It's understandable that bookmark backups can't be restored to a locked or damaged places.sqlite file, but it's troubling that it didn't work when you let Firefox create a new file. Hopefully you have some backup.
I have a page to convert the compressed (.jsonlz4) bookmark backup files to the HTML "export" format which also can be imported. You could use that to test whether the backup file actually contains bookmarks or only folders.
https://www.jeffersonscher.com/ffu/bookbackreader.html
If the backup is convertible, you could try a new places.sqlite and use Import (Import Bookmarks from an HTML file).
favicons.sqlite
A few versions back, Firefox started storing site icons in this separate database file which also can occasionally become corrupted or locked, and also stop bookmarks and history from working normally. So you might try renaming that one to see whether it makes any difference.
More info: Fix "The bookmarks and history system will not be functional" error message
Thank you! Your app allowed me to export an older Json file from the summer as html. That was openable in the Library. And now I seem to be able to delete bookmarks again, as well as export them to json files.
I guess the problem really was corrupted backup files, from which FF could not restore the bookmarks when the places.sqlite was deleted. Using a much older json, converting it with your software to html and importing it seems to have worked.
Very grateful to you,
Best, Mark