Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web Link} by holding down the <Shift>
(Mac=Options) key, and then starting Firefox. Is the problem still there?

Places Maintenance {web link} Allows to run Maintenance tasks on the database that drives Places, the bookmarks and history module behind Firefox.

Open the Add-ons Manager. Locate the add-on and press the Options button. Then follow the directions.

The bookmarks tab and all other tabs didn't show up in this mode. I saw a clipboard icon on the right side of the screen and moused over it and it showed a bookmarks balloon. I clicked on that and nothing happened, it also showed a CTRL-Shift-B series of keystrokes and that open the bookmarks. it only showed the top few folders, I clicked on a couple of these and my bookmarks came back along with the bookmarks tool bar and bookmarks bar repeating still there.

ALSO When I start up Firefox once upon a time I had 4 pages selected to open when I start Firefox they no longer open and firefox opens to a untitled document page.

Hi Mikes6799, when you start Firefox with the Shift key down, two options are presented: Safe Mode and Refresh.

If you chose Safe Mode, your home page shouldn't change.

If you used Refresh, it would be normal for your home page to be set back to the default, which is the built-in home page. You also would normally find an Old Firefox Data folder on your desktop. Do you see anything like that? If so, we could suggest how to recover some data from it.

To turn the Bookmarks Toolbar back on, you can use one of these methods to show the toolbar list and select it there:

• right-click a blank spot on the tab bar (or the "+" button)
• tap the Alt key to activate the classic menu bar > View > Toolbars
• in Customize mode > Show/Hide Toolbars (see: Customize Firefox controls, buttons and toolbars)

To turn on the Bookmarks Toolbar, Menu Bar, or other bars, click it on the list. To turn off, click again.

Sounds similar to this thread from last Spring. We didn't get to the bottom of what caused it, but the Sync service seems to be a factor:

I have a problem with my bookmarks that has made me turn away from Firefox and I need help.

My laptop was fine till I very recently activated sync on my laptop. That's when things went to hell in a hand-basket on my laptop as far as my bookmarks go

The "sync" issue so far has not affected the start up screens on my laptop

What other devices are on the Sync account? If any is still in good shape, I'd grab a backup from there for safekeeping.

Not sure??? How can/do I check this? the other devices I use are apple and I use safari on those

Mike

You can check for problems with the places.sqlite database (bookmarks, history) in the Firefox profile folder.

• https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/places-maintenance/

See also:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bookmarks_history_and_toolbar_buttons_not_working_-_Firefox
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Bookmarks+not+saved#w_fix-the-bookmarks-file

If you use Sync then best is to disconnect Sync (temporarily) while performing maintenance/repair efforts to the places.sqlite database.

Mikes6799 said

the other devices I use are apple and I use safari on those

If you have not connected any other instances of Firefox to your Sync account, it's probably best to disconnect your laptop from Sync until this problem is solved. How do I set up Sync on my computer? (section entitled "Remove a device from Sync")

After that you can try restoring an earlier bookmark backup -- dated before the problem started -- using the steps in this article: Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer.

And then... check out cor-el's advice about checking for database corruption.