Recovering back button history
Is there any way?
I Just wanted to delete history from the past few hours, but it ended up graying out the back button on every tab I had open. It also completely deleted all site preferences and cookies despite my time-frame wishes.
Sessionstore backup didn't help, system restore didn't help. I downloaded a data recovery program but have no clue what I'm supposed to be looking for. I have no idea if this is even possible.
Any help would be much appreciated.
All Replies (3)
You would need an older copy of the sessionstore file that keeps this data. If you haven't closed Firefox yet then do not do this, but read the rest of my reply.
You can use the button on the "Help -> Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page.
- Help -> Troubleshooting Information -> Profile Directory: Show Folder
- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
Firefox uses the sessionstore.jsonlz4 file in the profile folder to store session data. The sessionstore.jsonlz4 file is only present when Firefox is closed. The sessionstore.jsonlz4 file is created from recovery.jsonlz4 when you close Firefox and is removed and copied to previous.jsonlz4 when you start Firefox to make is possible to restore the session at any time.
Backup the session files in the sessionstore-backups folder in the Firefox Profile Folder to make sure not to lose possible important session data. Do NOT close Firefox when Firefox is already running.
You will normally find these files in the sessionstore-backups folder:
- previous.jsonlz4 (cleanBackup: copy of sessionstore.jsonlz4 from previous session that was loaded successfully)
- recovery.jsonlz4 (latest version of sessionstore.jsonlz4 written during runtime)
- recovery.baklz4 (previous version of sessionstore.jsonlz4 written during runtime)
- upgrade.jsonlz4-<build_id> (backup created during an upgrade of Firefox)
You can copy a file from the sessionstore-backups folder to the main profile and rename the file to sessionstore.jsonlz4 to replace the current file (make sure to backup the current sessionstore.jsonlz4).
Firefox 56+ releases compress the files in the sessionstore-backups folder and sessionstore.jsonlz4 with LZ4 (.jsonlz4 instead of .js).
See this web page created by contributor jscher2000 to inspect sessionstore files.
You can copy a file from the sessionstore-backups folder to the main profile and rename the file to sessionstore.jsonlz4 to replace the current file to recover the tabs stored in this file.
- make sure to backup the current sessionstore.jsonlz4
I've seen that answer before and was about to say it wouldn't help me, but I inadvertently figured out my problem.
I couldn't restore to a previous version of the backup file so long as it was moved or copied. I had to do it to the original file, in its original folder, in its original directory, and then place it in the profile proper. Turns out the one time most people say to make a backup is what was stopping me from actually solving my problem, because I was too busy trying to keep the original files safe.
I lost four days worth of tabs, but thankfully I should be able to able to backtrack through my history.
Thank you anyway.
I am glad to hear that your problem has been resolved. If you haven't already, *Please select the answer that solves the problem* YOURS. This will help other users with similar problems find the solution more easily. Thank you for contacting Mozilla Support.