You can open about:sync-log via the location bar to see if recent Sync logs are available. You can upload the file to a website like Pastebin if you can't post the content of the file in a reply.

• https://pastebin.com/

If you use Sync then best is to disconnect Sync temporarily during troubleshooting.

This could be a problem with the places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder.

• use the "Places Database" -> "Verify Integrity" button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page

If errors are reported with "Verify Integrity", close and restart Firefox or reboot and retry.

If "Verify Integrity" cannot repair places.sqlite, rename/remove all places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder with Firefox closed. Firefox will rebuild places.sqlite and restore the bookmarks from the most recent JSON backup in the bookmarkbackups folder.

• keep a backup copy of places.sqlite in case a new places.sqlite database has to be created
• you lose the history when a new places.sqlite is created

You may have to restore an older bookmarks backup in the bookmarkbackups folder via the Bookmarks Manager (Library).

• Bookmarks -> Show All Bookmarks -> Import & Backup -> Restore
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/restore-bookmarks-from-backup-or-move-them

See also:

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/fix-bookmarks-and-history-will-not-be-functional
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/cant-add-change-or-save-bookmarks

You can use the button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page (Root directory).

• Help -> More Troubleshooting Information -> Profile Folder/Directory:
  Windows: Open Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data

The log folder is empty, and after trying to verify the integrity and replacing both files in the folder, Firefox still isn't downloading the older bookmarks from sync. Unfortunately I have no file to restore from, as the bookmarks I want are from another computer that is now wiped.

You can check if the bookmarks are still present on the Sync server as they might have been removed (Sync isn't meant to be used for backup).

You can install the About Sync extension in Firefox 72 and newer on desktop to check what data is stored on the Sync server via the about:sync page provided by this extension.

• About Sync https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/about-sync/

Close and restart Firefox to access the about:sync page added by this extension (see the about:about page for possible about pages).

They seem to be entirely gone. I guess that's my bad for misunderstanding what Sync was for. Thank you for the help.