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How can I copy Firefox bookmarks from an old hard drive to another computer? I can't boot up the old hard drive but can read the files. Thanks!

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  • Last reply by gendarmeSF

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How can I copy Firefox bookmarks from an old hard drive to another computer? I can't boot up the old hard drive but can read the files. Thanks! Both drives have Windows 7.

How can I copy Firefox bookmarks from an old hard drive to another computer? I can't boot up the old hard drive but can read the files. Thanks! Both drives have Windows 7.

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You should be able to dig out a file from the old bookmarkbackups folder and use that to restore your bookmarks on your newly set up Firefox.

Step 1: Make sure Windows lets you find hidden files and folders

See: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hidden-files

Step 2: Explore your old hard drive here (your drive letter may vary):

d:\Users\your-username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

Here you may find one semi-randomly-named folder, or more than one. If there is more than one, check each one.

Click into the semi-randomly-named folder and then into the bookmarkbackups folder. I suggest copying the two most recent backups to a more convenient location such as your new Documents folder or the Windows desktop.

Step 3: Restore the backup file

Please note that this will completely replace any existing bookmarks in your newly set up Firefox with the contents of the backup. If there is anything you need to save, you could make a note of it, or add the steps I've marked (optional) on this list:

  1. (Optional) Export recently-added bookmarks: Export Firefox bookmarks to an HTML file to back up or transfer bookmarks
  2. Restore your older backup: Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer -- use the Choose File item to point Firefox to the old file in Documents/Desktop, as the case may be
  3. (Optional) Import the recently-added bookmarks: Import Bookmarks from an HTML file
  4. (Optional) Reorganize the imported bookmarks into logical locations (they might be in an Imported Bookmarks folder on the menu or in Unsorted bookmarks)

Success?

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I should mention that there are other files you might find useful, which are listed in this article: Recovering important data from an old profile.

There also is a somewhat lengthy procedure to import the entire old profile folder, if you find that individual files are not enough. Let us know...

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Thank you for the quick reply!! I will try this this evening.