Can't change bookmarks, won't save history, since Big Sur upgrade
Since I upgrade MacOS to Big Sur, a couple basic Firefox functions have stopped working. 1) History is not being saved. I can restore deleted tabs, but there is nothing in the History menu, nor is there any record (for example, in the form of auto-complete) of websites I have visited in the past. 2) My bookmarks file appears to be mostly read-only. Clicking on the star icon to save a new bookmark does nothing. Selecting Bookmarks > Bookmark Current Tab does nothing. In the Manage Bookmarks environment, selecting Add Bookmark from the gear icon brings up a dialog box in which the only content is a Cancel button. In the Manage Bookmarks environment, I can change the Name of a current bookmark but cannot change its URL. If I try, it reverts to the old URL as soon as I click away from it.
The current help page that most closely describes my symptoms is https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/changes-toolbars-and-window-sizes-are-not-saved. I tried both remedies, including refreshing Firefox and deleting xulstore.json, but no change in symptoms.
Chosen solution
There are several possibilities.
If you have sync, and there is a problem anywhere, Shut Down Sync Immediately On All Devices to prevent the problem from spreading. Type https://accounts.firefox.com/settings<enter> in the address bar. Once the problem is fixed, perform the same repair on all computers/profiles before using sync again.
[v57+] Places Maintenance is built into Firefox.
Type about:support<enter> in the address bar.
You will find Places Database near the bottom. Press the Verify Integrity button.
If any errors are reported: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/fix-bookmarks-and-history-will-not-be-functional
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.
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Chosen Solution
There are several possibilities.
If you have sync, and there is a problem anywhere, Shut Down Sync Immediately On All Devices to prevent the problem from spreading. Type https://accounts.firefox.com/settings<enter> in the address bar. Once the problem is fixed, perform the same repair on all computers/profiles before using sync again.
[v57+] Places Maintenance is built into Firefox.
Type about:support<enter> in the address bar.
You will find Places Database near the bottom. Press the Verify Integrity button.
If any errors are reported: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/fix-bookmarks-and-history-will-not-be-functional
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.
Sometimes when the browser thinks there is a problem with the profile, it will create a new one.
Look on your desktop. Do you see a folder called; Old Firefox? Look inside. Look for the folder with the latest creation date.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-run-firefox-when-profile-missing-inaccessible
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recover-user-data-missing-after-firefox-update
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-run-firefox-when-profile-missing-inaccessible
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox#Navigating_to_the_profile_folder
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles
Type about:profiles<enter> in the address bar.
How many profiles are listed?
How many should be there?
Also, open the profile folder in your file explorer.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recover-user-data-missing-after-firefox-update
Thank you, FredMcD. Replacing the places.sqlite file appears to have done the trick.
Glad to help. Safe Surfing.