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.

Avatar for Username

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

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Transferring profile to a new computer

  • 1 reply
  • 1 has this problem
  • 19 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

Jay Simkin
Jay Simkin
more options

I need to transfer my profile to a new computer (Win 10/11). Unfortunately, the guidance provided - find %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles and copy it to a flashdrive - is inadequate.

This location has multiple files. Perhaps for a Firefox designer or programmer, that's not an issue. I'm neither. I need a precise list - with exact names - of the file or files that I need to copy.

Does a "profile" consist of one file or several files? Whichever the answer, what is/are the specific names of those files?

I need to transfer my profile to a new computer (Win 10/11). Unfortunately, the guidance provided - find %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles and copy it to a flashdrive - is inadequate. This location has multiple files. Perhaps for a Firefox designer or programmer, that's not an issue. I'm neither. I need a precise list - with exact names - of the file or files that I need to copy. Does a "profile" consist of one file or several files? Whichever the answer, what is/are the specific names of those files?

All Replies (1)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

You can copy certain files with Firefox closed from a profile folder to the profile folder on a new device to transfer important personal data. Note that best is to avoid restoring a full profile folder and only restore important files that are safe to restore/transfer.

  • 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) and key4.db (encryption key and primary password) for logins saved in the Password Manager
  • cert9.db for 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)