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.

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

Setting up new computer tomorrow.

  • 2 replies
  • 0 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

more options

Setting up my new computer tomorrow, this one will not be used, nor the hard drive. If i stay signed in, will my new computer have all of my settings, passwords, and bookmarks for Firefox be there when i download Firefox on the new computer? There will be no way for me to activate a new device, because this computer and drive will no longer be used.

Setting up my new computer tomorrow, this one will not be used, nor the hard drive. If i stay signed in, will my new computer have all of my settings, passwords, and bookmarks for Firefox be there when i download Firefox on the new computer? There will be no way for me to activate a new device, because this computer and drive will no longer be used.

All Replies (2)

more options

Rather you should really do this instead. What you talking is sync and will not work once the other original computer is gone so will all the data will go with it. Sync isn't a backup for this.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/966133

more options

You can copy certain files with Firefox closed from the old device to the new device to transfer or recover personal data. Note that best is to avoid copying a full profile folder.

You can use the button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page (Root directory).


  • bookmarks and history: places.sqlite
  • favicons: favicons.sqlite
  • bookmark backups: compressed .jsonlz4 JSON backups in the bookmarkbackups folder
  • cookies.sqlite for the Cookies
  • formhistory.sqlite for saved autocomplete Form Data
  • logins.json (encrypted logins;32+) and key4.db (decryption key;58+) for Passwords saved in the Password Manager
  • cert9.db (58+) for (intermediate) certificates stored in the Certificate Manager
  • persdict.dat for words added to the spell checker dictionary
  • permissions.sqlite for Permissions and possibly content-prefs.sqlite for other website specific data (Site Preferences)
  • sessionstore.jsonlz4 for open tabs and pinned tabs (see also the sessionstore-backups folder)

Modified by cor-el