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If I reset my PC, will my mozilla profile folder survive?

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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I've had to reset my laptop due to some issues, and once I re installed Firefox, I am left without my bookmarks.

Is there any way of retrieving them? Will the profile folder have survived? How do I find out? Help?

I've had to reset my laptop due to some issues, and once I re installed Firefox, I am left without my bookmarks. Is there any way of retrieving them? Will the profile folder have survived? How do I find out? Help?

All Replies (2)

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That depends on what you mean by reset. Why do you need to do this?

One thing you can do is buy a second hard drive as a backup.

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If Windows didn't create a backup in C:\Windows.old and you didn't backup your Firefox personal data then your bookmarks might be lost.

Firefox uses two locations for the Firefox profile folder. Location used for the main profile in "AppData\Roaming" that keeps your personal data.

  • C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\

Location used for the disk cache and other temporary files in "AppData\Local".

  • C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\

You can copy files like these from another profile folder (on your current device or a different device) or from a backup to the current profile folder to recover specific personal data.

  • bookmarks and history: places.sqlite
  • bookmark backups: JSON backups in the bookmarkbackups folder
  • cookies.sqlite for the cookies
  • formhistory.sqlite for saved form data
  • logins.json and key3.db (decryption key) for Passwords saved in the Password Manager
  • cert8.db and possibly cert_override.txt for (intermediate) certificates stored in the Certificate Manager
  • persdict.dat for words you added to the spelling checker dictionary
  • permissions.sqlite for Permissions and possibly content-prefs.sqlite for other Site Preferences
  • sessionstore.js for open tabs and pinned tabs