hello, maybe the places.sqlite file you're trying to restore to is corrupted. please try renaming it to something like oldplaces.sqlite and then import the json file or the compressed jsonlz4 bookmarkbackups to the freshly generated database (this procedure will get rid of the browsing history though).

Bookmark Backups

Type about:support in the address bar and press enter.

Under the page logo on the left side you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Folder. To it’s right press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Now Close Firefox.

Enter the bookmarkbackups folder. This is where Firefox makes backups of your bookmarks. Look for the jsonlz4 file you want to restore (check the time / date / size). Right click on that file and select Copy. Now go back to the profile folder where you started. Rename the file places.sqlite by adding .old to it. Now right click in the folder and select Paste. The file you just pasted here, rename it to places.sqlite. After you are done, restart Firefox.

Edited to correct file error

These can't get your data back, but will help in the future.

These add-ons can be a great help by backing up and restoring Firefox

FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) {web link} FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions, history, passwords, and more. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your saved files individually into installable .xpi files. It will also make backup of files that you choose.

OPIE {web link} Import/Export extension preferences

I had not tested this before, so in a new profile, I restored a .jsonlz4 file (using a file from my regular profile) and it appeared to work. Not sure this addresses the exact problem you're experiencing, since I hadn't created any bookmarks in that new profile beforehand.

FredMcD,

What has logins.json got to do with bookmarks? The information in there is about email and newsgroup accounts. It does not contain bookmarks.

philipp,

I tried forcing the application to make a new places.sqlite file. It did not help. The error message I get when trying to restore a .json copy is, "Unable to process the backup file." When trying to restore a .jsonlz4 file, I get, "Unsupported file type."

I repeat my question: why make backups that cannot be restored?

It should work if you use a browser that supports the compressed jsonlz4 format.

The compressed format will only be used for automatically created JSON backups. JSON backups that you create manually are always normal uncompressed backups.

If there is a problem with restoring a manually created JSON backup then make sure that its file extension is .json

What has logins.json got to do with bookmarks?

Ouch, sorry about that. I corrected the file names.

As I said, neither .json nor .jsonlz4 works now. I think it is easier just to wipe out the bookmarks and import the .html version if the bookmarks get damaged.

If restoring a JSON backup (compressed or not) isn't working then it is likely that there is either a problem with the places.sqlite file or the backups were created from a corrupted database or got otherwise corrupted.

Did you try all older JSON backups and deleted the places.sqlite file?

I did try deleting places.sqlite and also backed up a .json file after importing the bookmarks from .html then tried to restore from both .json and .jsonlz4 backups. That did not work. I have had no problems with bookmarks before, and I am not having any now with the bookmarks themselves. I can restore them from an .html file, which I create routinely.

Here is a thought. Create a new profile. Upload your html to the new. Then take the new bookmarks and copy them to the old profile. Or, move the old profile to the new.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile

I tried making a new profile, importing my HTML backup to it, backing up to .json, then trying to restore that new backup. It did not work. I also tried restoring the compressed backup that was made automatically, and that also failed. It is not the fault of the profile, but of the application.

Then something is wrong with the old profile.

I trust the new profile has no problem?

Hi finitarry, what OS are you running? I'm only able to test on Windows 7.

FredMcD,

The old profile is no different from the new one. I just stated that the new profile had the same problem.

jscher2000,

I am using Mac OS 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard).

Are there any files in the bookmark backup folder?

%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\<Current User Profile>\bookmarkbackups

If there is, copy them to another folder before they are auto-deleted.

How about this, create a new profile, then test it as is. If there is no problem, load in the bookmarks. Test it again.

I would still assume that the places.sqlite file is corrupted. Also make sure to have the latest SQLite software installed as on Mac this can make a difference.

Does it also go wrong if you are only using a few new bookmarks in a new profile in case something is wrong with bookmarks in your current profile?

No, it is a bug. Hopefully, it will be fixed at the next version. I had already tested the HTML bookmarks by importing and using them. There was nothing wrong with them. When I made a brand new profile, it had a new places.sqlite file in it. I tested that new places.sqlite file, and got the same error messages. There are compressed files in the bookmark backups folder.

Since I am still trying to slog my way into/through the loathed W8.1, I feel REALLY stupid. So: Comp Dunce here, I have no idea what happened to the What's-It I have seen called "suitcase;" next to Bookmarking star icon. It is gone. Dunno where. To make this even worse, some idiot (likely myself) did something to this computers' MENU icon. I have no idea why but the thing is just gone. Cripes.

Oops, forgot: W8.1, FM 32.0...sorry for the nearly-omitted info. Please advise if possible? If I should revert to earlier version of FM, that would be okay with me...provided I can get instructions as to how to do that.