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Bookmark recovery after a new windows install

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  • Last reply by januskrug

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I recently installed windows on a new solid state hard drive, and did a fresh install of firefox, but I forgot to manually backup my bookmarks. The old install is still on the old windows hard drive, is there a way for me to move them onto the new install? I'd prefer to not have to rebuild the whole list from scratch!

I recently installed windows on a new solid state hard drive, and did a fresh install of firefox, but I forgot to manually backup my bookmarks. The old install is still on the old windows hard drive, is there a way for me to move them onto the new install? I'd prefer to not have to rebuild the whole list from scratch!

Chosen solution

You can copy certain files with Firefox closed to the current profile folder to transfer or recover personal data. Note that best is to avoid copying a full profile folder.

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).


  • bookmarks and history: places.sqlite
  • favicons: favicons.sqlite
  • bookmark backups: compressed .jsonlz4 JSON backups in the bookmarkbackups folder
  • cookies.sqlite for the Cookies
  • formhistory.sqlite for saved autocomplete Form Data
  • logins.json (encrypted logins;32+) and key4.db (decryption key;58+) for Passwords saved in the Password Manager
    key3.db support ended in 73+; to use key3.db in 58-72, make sure to remove key4.db
  • cert9.db (58+) for (intermediate) certificates stored in the Certificate Manager
  • persdict.dat for words added to the spell checker dictionary
  • permissions.sqlite for Permissions and possibly content-prefs.sqlite for other website specific data (Site Preferences)
  • sessionstore.jsonlz4 for open tabs and pinned tabs (see also the sessionstore-backups folder)
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All Replies (4)

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Hey there!

I recommend you see the following: https://mzl.la/3vUrcpU and http://mzl.la/1BAQGUu.

Hope that helps!

Bithiah

Bithiah

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Hi there! I gave those a look and try, but they weren't quite enough to solve the issue. Previous firefox install is on drive H, which is my former windows drive. New firefox install is on drive C. I cannot seem to get the firefox install to import data from drive H, hence my desire to know where the data is in case I might be able to move it manually?

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Seçilmiş Həll

You can copy certain files with Firefox closed to the current profile folder to transfer or recover personal data. Note that best is to avoid copying a full profile folder.

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).


  • bookmarks and history: places.sqlite
  • favicons: favicons.sqlite
  • bookmark backups: compressed .jsonlz4 JSON backups in the bookmarkbackups folder
  • cookies.sqlite for the Cookies
  • formhistory.sqlite for saved autocomplete Form Data
  • logins.json (encrypted logins;32+) and key4.db (decryption key;58+) for Passwords saved in the Password Manager
    key3.db support ended in 73+; to use key3.db in 58-72, make sure to remove key4.db
  • cert9.db (58+) for (intermediate) certificates stored in the Certificate Manager
  • persdict.dat for words added to the spell checker dictionary
  • permissions.sqlite for Permissions and possibly content-prefs.sqlite for other website specific data (Site Preferences)
  • sessionstore.jsonlz4 for open tabs and pinned tabs (see also the sessionstore-backups folder)
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This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you very much, I am back up and running fully!