We had to get a new computer and I want to copy the bookmarks . Where were they stored?
Our old computer, Desktop with Windows XP, would not start so we bought a new one (Windows 7). Data was retrieved from the hard drive of the old computer.
Is there any way that I can retrieve the Firefox bookmarks? Any information that I found had to do with finding the bookmarks in a computer that is running now.
Thanks. Leah
Chosen solution
On Windows XP, your Firefox data was stored under this path:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
Because Application Data is a hidden folder, in order to browse that path, you usually need to change a Windows setting to show hidden files and folders. This article describes how to do that on Windows 7: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hidden-files
Once you get down into your Firefox data, you will find one or more semi-randomly-named profile folders. If there are more than one, find the most recent.
At that point, you have two options:
- Copy over the places.sqlite database which stores bookmarks and history from your old profile folder to your new one
- Restore a backup file from the bookmarkbackups folder in your old profile, and forget about the history
These articles have more information on the available files and methods:
- Recovering important data from an old profile
- Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer
Success?
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Chosen Solution
On Windows XP, your Firefox data was stored under this path:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
Because Application Data is a hidden folder, in order to browse that path, you usually need to change a Windows setting to show hidden files and folders. This article describes how to do that on Windows 7: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hidden-files
Once you get down into your Firefox data, you will find one or more semi-randomly-named profile folders. If there are more than one, find the most recent.
At that point, you have two options:
- Copy over the places.sqlite database which stores bookmarks and history from your old profile folder to your new one
- Restore a backup file from the bookmarkbackups folder in your old profile, and forget about the history
These articles have more information on the available files and methods:
- Recovering important data from an old profile
- Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer
Success?
Oops, forgot to mention one important point: either replacing the places.sqlite file OR restoring a bookmark backup will completely replace any new bookmarks you might have saved since you set up Firefox on your new computer.
If you want to keep some new bookmarks, export them first, then after you've done the transplant from your old system, you can re-import them.
Thank you very, very much. Clear explanation and it worked perfectly. Leah