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.

if Firefox update replaced profile with default, where on my computer did old profile go, it can't just disappear

jkinney51
jkinney51
more options

I was notified of new Firefox update. At last restart of computer, Firefox updated. Old profile was deleted and default profile created . I was NOT asked, but was not at the computer during entire process. I have followed many different suggestion for fixing problem. Profile folder under troubleshooting only shows default profile. Where did the file with my old profile go - it can't just disappear if it was a file on my computer. It must be somewhere. The bookmarks in the old profile are a collection I have found over 3-4 years. Help me!

I was notified of new Firefox update. At last restart of computer, Firefox updated. Old profile was deleted and default profile created . I was NOT asked, but was not at the computer during entire process. I have followed many different suggestion for fixing problem. Profile folder under troubleshooting only shows default profile. Where did the file with my old profile go - it can't just disappear if it was a file on my computer. It must be somewhere. The bookmarks in the old profile are a collection I have found over 3-4 years. Help me!

All Replies (1)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

Could you check your desktop for a folder named Old Firefox Data? If that exists, Firefox's Reset feature ran. Reset is designed to retain bookmarks, but let's check inside anyway.

Check inside for one or more profile folders, and within those, for any recent files in a bookmarkbackups folder.

There was a bug in some earlier versions of Firefox that could lead to a blank backup file, so please do not restore the file without confirming that it lists the number of bookmarks in the file name (it's after the date) and the file size is reasonably large.

If your backup files are empty, then you probably were affected by the bug. The recovery for that will involve copying your places.sqlite database to your new profile to replace any new bookmarks/history you've added since the update, but please post back for more specific directions.

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer