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Sync didn't sync anything

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 8 views
  • Paskiausią atsakymą parašė user1673847

brian.leflem
brian.leflem
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One of our staff was using Edge and needed to have her Windows Profile deleted; we had backed up her info onto a pen drive, but I suggested she use Firefox, as this syncs bookmarks, passwords, etc. So, she did this. Created all her bookmarks, signed in and got Firefox to remember her passwords, etc. We completely wiped her PC and set it up again, but once she signed back into Firefox and chose Restore, nothing got restored, even though she was able to select the date last week when it last synchronized. This seems to make having a Firefox account completely pointless! If you get a new PC, or your PC dies, you expect that everything that's associated with your Firefox account is safe, but it appears to serve no purpose? Have we missed something?

One of our staff was using Edge and needed to have her Windows Profile deleted; we had backed up her info onto a pen drive, but I suggested she use Firefox, as this syncs bookmarks, passwords, etc. So, she did this. Created all her bookmarks, signed in and got Firefox to remember her passwords, etc. We completely wiped her PC and set it up again, but once she signed back into Firefox and chose Restore, nothing got restored, even though she was able to select the date last week when it last synchronized. This seems to make having a Firefox account completely pointless! If you get a new PC, or your PC dies, you expect that everything that's associated with your Firefox account is safe, but it appears to serve no purpose? Have we missed something?

All Replies (3)

user1673847
user1673847
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Hi

Thank you for your question about the Firefox Sync service.

It appears from your question, that you are using Firefox Sync as a back up service. This is not what Sync is designed to do. The Firefox Sync service takes a copy of the data you wish to include and transfers it to a second device (typically a mobile device such as a tablet or a telephone) running a copy of Firefox. The storage in between all attached devices is both temporary and fragile and is not stable enough to be (and is not designed as) a reliable backup service.

If you have a copy of your Firefox profile for desktop Firefox, you may be able to recover your bookmarks and other data. Please have a read of this article.

If you have a copy of your data on a mobile version of Firefox, please follow these instructions to connect it to Firefox Sync to copy your data.

brian.leflem
brian.leflem Klausimą uždavęs asmuo
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Thanks for taking the time to respond. It's obviously disappointing that it's not a stable or reliable, as you say. I was hoping this was going to be real selling point for Firefox, as most people don't perceive that many differences between Browsers. Unfortunately, the data is lost, so the user will just have to recreate it all again. Anyway, thanks again for replying.

user1673847
user1673847
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You're very welcome.

I'm really sorry to hear that - it's good that there was a backup on hand. There is a way of backing up and restoring information in Firefox profiles as well as a way to recover lost or missing bookmarks for any future use but, the former isn't very straightforward or intuitive.

Thank you for reaching out and I hope you have a great day.

Modified by user1673847