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.

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

Deleted corrupt places.sqlite and it deleted all bookmarks, restore not working

more options

Hi - I followed other threads to try to resolve the problem of not being able to delete old bookmarks.

I used about:support and ran verify integrity to discover places.sqlite was corrupt. So I closed down Firefox and deleted it based on advice. Reran it and it states:

> Task: checkIntegrity + The places.sqlite database is sane + The favicons.sqlite database is sane > Task: invalidateCaches + The caches have been invalidated > Task: checkCoherence + The database is coherent > Task: expire + Database cleaned up > Task: originFrecencyStats + Recalculated origin frecency stats > Task: vacuum + Initial database size is 5120KiB + The database has been vacuumed + Final database size is 5120KiB > Task: stats + Places.sqlite size is 5120KiB + Favicons.sqlite size is 77312KiB + pragma_user_version is 66 + pragma_page_size is 32768 + pragma_cache_size is -2048 + pragma_journal_mode is wal + pragma_synchronous is 1 + History can store a maximum of 37810 unique pages + Table moz_origins has 179 records + Table moz_places has 1056 records + Table moz_historyvisits has 2574 records + Table moz_inputhistory has 0 records + Table moz_bookmarks has 100 records + Table moz_bookmarks_deleted has 0 records + Table moz_keywords has 0 records + Table sqlite_sequence has 1 records + Table moz_anno_attributes has 0 records + Table moz_annos has 0 records + Table moz_items_annos has 0 records + Table moz_meta has 6 records + Table moz_places_metadata has 0 records + Table moz_places_metadata_search_queries has 0 records + Table moz_places_metadata_snapshots has 0 records + Table moz_places_metadata_snapshots_extra has 0 records + Table moz_places_metadata_snapshots_groups has 0 records + Table moz_places_metadata_groups_to_snapshots has 0 records + Table moz_session_metadata has 0 records + Table moz_session_to_places has 0 records + Table moz_previews_tombstones has 0 records + Table sqlite_stat1 has 15 records + Pages sequentiality: 87.9 + sqlite_schema: 32KiB (1.5%), 30.1% eff. + moz_origins: 32KiB (1.5%), 20% eff. + sqlite_autoindex_moz_origins_1: 32KiB (1.5%), 18.8% eff. + moz_inputhistory: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + sqlite_autoindex_moz_inputhistory_1: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_bookmarks: 32KiB (1.5%), 19.1% eff. + moz_bookmarks_deleted: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + sqlite_autoindex_moz_bookmarks_deleted_1: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_keywords: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + sqlite_autoindex_moz_keywords_1: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + sqlite_sequence: 32KiB (1.5%), 0.1% eff. + moz_anno_attributes: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + sqlite_autoindex_moz_anno_attributes_1: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_annos: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_items_annos: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_meta: 32KiB (1.5%), 0.7% eff. + moz_places_metadata: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_search_queries: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + sqlite_autoindex_moz_places_metadata_search_queries_1: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_snapshots: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_snapshots_extra: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_snapshots_groups: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_groups_to_snapshots: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_session_metadata: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + sqlite_autoindex_moz_session_metadata_1: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_session_to_places: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_previews_tombstones: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + sqlite_stat1: 32KiB (1.5%), 2.5% eff. + moz_places_url_hashindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 45.1% eff. + moz_places_hostindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 78.2% eff. + moz_places_visitcount: 32KiB (1.5%), 28% eff. + moz_places_frecencyindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 29.3% eff. + moz_places_lastvisitdateindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 51.5% eff. + moz_places_guid_uniqueindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 64.4% eff. + moz_places_originidindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 31.9% eff. + moz_historyvisits_fromindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 62.8% eff. + moz_bookmarks_itemindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 2.8% eff. + moz_bookmarks_parentindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 2.9% eff. + moz_bookmarks_itemlastmodifiedindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 4.9% eff. + moz_bookmarks_dateaddedindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 4.6% eff. + moz_bookmarks_guid_uniqueindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 5.8% eff. + moz_keywords_placepostdata_uniqueindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_annos_placeattributeindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_items_annos_itemattributeindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_placecreated_uniqueindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_referrerindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_snapshots_pinnedindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_snapshots_extra_typeindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_historyvisits: 96KiB (4.5%), 57.7% eff. + moz_historyvisits_placedateindex: 96KiB (4.5%), 49.6% eff. + moz_historyvisits_dateindex: 96KiB (4.5%), 41.8% eff. + moz_places: 320KiB (14.9%), 84.4% eff. > Task: _refreshUI

Accessibility Activated false

All my bookmarks are gone, but the folders are still there. I tried to use the restore from several dates and it still shows only folders, no bookmarks. I checked my phone - I had made sure to turn off sync for bookmarks, etc, but didn't sign out of sync. Bookmarks were still there. So I turned on sync to try to get them back on my browser. Even though sync had been on, it hadn't synced every bookmark from the browser though. (?!) So it seems very weird that I wouldn't be able to delete some bookmarks that weren't even synced in the first place. So I didn't get back all my bookmarks. I turned off sync on my phone and tried again from the browser, this time signing out completely from sync. It gave me only the folders. I should also mention, I restarted my computer and then Firefox several times during this process. I'm scared to delete any more system files as it seems that it will further remove necessary information. I'm not a coder, but it seems my bookmarks are still there? I tried exporting them and importing in Chrome - only the folders showed up there.

Any ideas? Thanks - your help is appreciated!

Hi - I followed other threads to try to resolve the problem of not being able to delete old bookmarks. I used about:support and ran verify integrity to discover places.sqlite was corrupt. So I closed down Firefox and deleted it based on advice. Reran it and it states: > Task: checkIntegrity + The places.sqlite database is sane + The favicons.sqlite database is sane > Task: invalidateCaches + The caches have been invalidated > Task: checkCoherence + The database is coherent > Task: expire + Database cleaned up > Task: originFrecencyStats + Recalculated origin frecency stats > Task: vacuum + Initial database size is 5120KiB + The database has been vacuumed + Final database size is 5120KiB > Task: stats + Places.sqlite size is 5120KiB + Favicons.sqlite size is 77312KiB + pragma_user_version is 66 + pragma_page_size is 32768 + pragma_cache_size is -2048 + pragma_journal_mode is wal + pragma_synchronous is 1 + History can store a maximum of 37810 unique pages + Table moz_origins has 179 records + Table moz_places has 1056 records + Table moz_historyvisits has 2574 records + Table moz_inputhistory has 0 records + Table moz_bookmarks has 100 records + Table moz_bookmarks_deleted has 0 records + Table moz_keywords has 0 records + Table sqlite_sequence has 1 records + Table moz_anno_attributes has 0 records + Table moz_annos has 0 records + Table moz_items_annos has 0 records + Table moz_meta has 6 records + Table moz_places_metadata has 0 records + Table moz_places_metadata_search_queries has 0 records + Table moz_places_metadata_snapshots has 0 records + Table moz_places_metadata_snapshots_extra has 0 records + Table moz_places_metadata_snapshots_groups has 0 records + Table moz_places_metadata_groups_to_snapshots has 0 records + Table moz_session_metadata has 0 records + Table moz_session_to_places has 0 records + Table moz_previews_tombstones has 0 records + Table sqlite_stat1 has 15 records + Pages sequentiality: 87.9 + sqlite_schema: 32KiB (1.5%), 30.1% eff. + moz_origins: 32KiB (1.5%), 20% eff. + sqlite_autoindex_moz_origins_1: 32KiB (1.5%), 18.8% eff. + moz_inputhistory: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + sqlite_autoindex_moz_inputhistory_1: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_bookmarks: 32KiB (1.5%), 19.1% eff. + moz_bookmarks_deleted: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + sqlite_autoindex_moz_bookmarks_deleted_1: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_keywords: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + sqlite_autoindex_moz_keywords_1: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + sqlite_sequence: 32KiB (1.5%), 0.1% eff. + moz_anno_attributes: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + sqlite_autoindex_moz_anno_attributes_1: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_annos: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_items_annos: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_meta: 32KiB (1.5%), 0.7% eff. + moz_places_metadata: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_search_queries: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + sqlite_autoindex_moz_places_metadata_search_queries_1: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_snapshots: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_snapshots_extra: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_snapshots_groups: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_groups_to_snapshots: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_session_metadata: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + sqlite_autoindex_moz_session_metadata_1: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_session_to_places: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_previews_tombstones: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + sqlite_stat1: 32KiB (1.5%), 2.5% eff. + moz_places_url_hashindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 45.1% eff. + moz_places_hostindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 78.2% eff. + moz_places_visitcount: 32KiB (1.5%), 28% eff. + moz_places_frecencyindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 29.3% eff. + moz_places_lastvisitdateindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 51.5% eff. + moz_places_guid_uniqueindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 64.4% eff. + moz_places_originidindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 31.9% eff. + moz_historyvisits_fromindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 62.8% eff. + moz_bookmarks_itemindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 2.8% eff. + moz_bookmarks_parentindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 2.9% eff. + moz_bookmarks_itemlastmodifiedindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 4.9% eff. + moz_bookmarks_dateaddedindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 4.6% eff. + moz_bookmarks_guid_uniqueindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 5.8% eff. + moz_keywords_placepostdata_uniqueindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_annos_placeattributeindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_items_annos_itemattributeindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_placecreated_uniqueindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_referrerindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_snapshots_pinnedindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_places_metadata_snapshots_extra_typeindex: 32KiB (1.5%), 0% eff. + moz_historyvisits: 96KiB (4.5%), 57.7% eff. + moz_historyvisits_placedateindex: 96KiB (4.5%), 49.6% eff. + moz_historyvisits_dateindex: 96KiB (4.5%), 41.8% eff. + moz_places: 320KiB (14.9%), 84.4% eff. > Task: _refreshUI Accessibility Activated false All my bookmarks are gone, but the folders are still there. I tried to use the restore from several dates and it still shows only folders, no bookmarks. I checked my phone - I had made sure to turn off sync for bookmarks, etc, but didn't sign out of sync. Bookmarks were still there. So I turned on sync to try to get them back on my browser. Even though sync had been on, it hadn't synced every bookmark from the browser though. (?!) So it seems very weird that I wouldn't be able to delete some bookmarks that weren't even synced in the first place. So I didn't get back all my bookmarks. I turned off sync on my phone and tried again from the browser, this time signing out completely from sync. It gave me only the folders. I should also mention, I restarted my computer and then Firefox several times during this process. I'm scared to delete any more system files as it seems that it will further remove necessary information. I'm not a coder, but it seems my bookmarks are still there? I tried exporting them and importing in Chrome - only the folders showed up there. Any ideas? Thanks - your help is appreciated!

All Replies (4)

more options

Do you still have backups in the bookmarkbackups folder that have a item count indicating they have your lost bookmarks that you can use to recover the lost bookmarks ?

The name of an automatically created JSON bookmarks backup in the bookmarkbackups folder includes a total item count (folders and separators included) and an hash value to prevent saving the same backup more than once. You also see this count in the Restore menu drop-down list.

  • bookmarks-YYYY-MM-DD_<item count>_<hash>.jsonlz4.
more options

There are still backups showing up in the Bookmarks manager with dates listed. Each shows 99 items. I'm not sure where to go to find the actual json files. My concern now is that may be how many folders I had in my bookmarks? I counted 91 folders showing up currently.

Should I be looking in a particular place for the json files? I did a search for bookmarks and found an exported list from April this year when I first started trying to work on this. Maybe I can use that to restore them?

more options

Actually, I just tried to import the April bookmarks file into Chrome to check. It also only had folders... so seems that was corrupted back then too?

more options

Sorry for the multiple responses... I did find the bookmarks backup folder from your links. They are the same ones under the Restore option in Bookmarks manager. Latest: bookmarks-2022-05-30-99_IRT3qhvXyvPDvL+LjPsVLw==.jsonlz4

It goes back to 2022-02-08 with same bookmark count. They all have 99 items. I'm certain I had more bookmarks than this. Is it possible the corrupted places.sqlite made the bookmark backups corrupt also?