If you do not see this older history in the History Manager then this History is lost.

I have an "Old Firefox Data" folder...can I get the browser history from that? If so, how?

ERROR, SEE NEXT POST

Sorry, there was a bad typo in that last post. Here is a revised version. (Accident prone indeed!)

elhunt7 said

I have an "Old Firefox Data" folder...can I get the browser history from that? If so, how?

Try copying the places.sqlite file to a separate Firefox profile. This will be in parallel to your current profile. Here's how I suggest doing that:

Please note: if you are accident-prone when it comes to copying and pasting files, you can back up your live settings first. This article has suggestions for that: Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles

(1) Create a new Firefox profile

Exit Firefox and start up in the Profile Manager by pasting the following into the Start menu > search box (or Windows Run dialog), and pressing Enter:

firefox.exe -P

Note: Any time you want to switch profiles, exit Firefox and return to this dialog.

Click the Create Profile button, assign a name like OldHistory, and skip the option to change the folder location. Then select that new profile in the dialog and start Firefox.

(2) Open the New Profile folder in Windows Explorer

Firefox in the new profile should look like a factory fresh installation. Open the Troubleshooting Information page using any of these methods:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
• Help menu > Troubleshooting Information
• type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table, click the "Show Folder" button. Firefox will launch your brand new profile folder in Windows Explorer.

Leaving that folder open, switch back to Firefox, and Exit using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "power" button
• (menu bar) File > Exit

When Firefox closes, the profile folder should be front and center.

(3) Copy in the Old File

Leaving that window open, open or switch over to your Old Firefox Data folder. Drill down into your old profile folder. Find the places.sqlite file and right-click > Copy it.

Switch to the new profile folder in other window and Paste (either right-click > Paste or Ctrl+v). Approve replacing the pretty much empty file in the new profile with the old one.

(4) Start Firefox

Firefox should start up in that "new" profile with your old bookmarks and history from the time places.sqlite as saved. Success?

Note that you should remove existing places.sqlite-shm and places.sqlite-wal files in the profile folder if you copy a places.sqlite file to this profile.

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Recovering+important+data+from+an+old+profile

See also "Creating a profile":

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

I have a new problem...I have accessed my FF Cache and Cache Viewer with my default profile and have not found the pages that I need by typing in search criteria. Are they in Offline Storage or another old profile?

If so, can you provide easy step-by-step instructions on how to get what I need or at least see if it's there?

Did you recently reset/refresh Firefox and have created a new profile?

If that is the case then the current profile older will have time stamp appended to its name (<random>.default-<time-stamp>)

You can use this button to go to the current Firefox profile folder:

• Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

Only the main profile folder will be moved to the "Old Firefox Data" folder on the desktop and you will lose the cache.

cor-el said

If you do not see this older history in the History Manager then this History is lost.

Where did it go, if it's not there? Can't I recover it somehow? I've been using Cache Viewer and when I type in my search criteria it brings up results, but not the ones I'm looking for.

duplicate thread here - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1076132 - with an answer

No, I did not create a new profile since the date that I am looking for the browsing history and cache...

elhunt7 said

Where did it go, if it's not there? Can't I recover it somehow? I've been using Cache Viewer and when I type in my search criteria it brings up results, but not the ones I'm looking for.

Please do not confuse history and cache. The cache is fleeting: if Firefox crashes, the cache is invalidated. History generally is stored for much longer.

What is the name of the current profile folder on the hard drive?

• Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)

The time stamp appended should be the date the profile got created.

If history has not been deleted recently then all history since the profile got created should still be there.

What are the file dates of files in the "Old Firefox Data" folder on the desktop?

My current profile folder is zzj3m1n1.default.1425500038845. I do not know how to read the time stamp.

It's very possible that it crashed since 5/15 and had to be reinstalled...

The other profile file dates are: 12/29/2014, 1/12/2015, 1/26/2015, 2/13/2015, 2/25/2015, 3/04/2015

As you can see I've had a lot of problems with it..

jscher2000 said

Sorry, there was a bad typo in that last post. Here is a revised version. (Accident prone indeed!) elhunt7 said

I have an "Old Firefox Data" folder...can I get the browser history from that? If so, how?

Try copying the places.sqlite file to a separate Firefox profile. This will be in parallel to your current profile. Here's how I suggest doing that:

Please note: if you are accident-prone when it comes to copying and pasting files, you can back up your live settings first. This article has suggestions for that: Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles

(1) Create a new Firefox profile

Exit Firefox and start up in the Profile Manager by pasting the following into the Start menu > search box (or Windows Run dialog), and pressing Enter:

firefox.exe -P

Note: Any time you want to switch profiles, exit Firefox and return to this dialog.

Click the Create Profile button, assign a name like OldHistory, and skip the option to change the folder location. Then select that new profile in the dialog and start Firefox.

(2) Open the New Profile folder in Windows Explorer

Firefox in the new profile should look like a factory fresh installation. Open the Troubleshooting Information page using any of these methods:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
• Help menu > Troubleshooting Information
• type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table, click the "Show Folder" button. Firefox will launch your brand new profile folder in Windows Explorer.

Leaving that folder open, switch back to Firefox, and Exit using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "power" button
• (menu bar) File > Exit

When Firefox closes, the profile folder should be front and center.

(3) Copy in the Old File

Leaving that window open, open or switch over to your Old Firefox Data folder. Drill down into your old profile folder. Find the places.sqlite file and right-click > Copy it.

Switch to the new profile folder in other window and Paste (either right-click > Paste or Ctrl+v). Approve replacing the pretty much empty file in the new profile with the old one.

(4) Start Firefox

Firefox should start up in that "new" profile with your old bookmarks and history from the time places.sqlite as saved. Success?

I copied and pasted all of the old profiles' sqlite files into my current profile, but just realized that you said to create a brand new profile. Can I get what I need the way I did it, or do I still need to create a new profile?

jscher2000 said

elhunt7 said

Where did it go, if it's not there? Can't I recover it somehow? I've been using Cache Viewer and when I type in my search criteria it brings up results, but not the ones I'm looking for.

Please do not confuse history and cache. The cache is fleeting: if Firefox crashes, the cache is invalidated. History generally is stored for much longer.

Thank you for clarifying the difference between the two!

cor-el said

Did you recently reset/refresh Firefox and have created a new profile? If that is the case then the current profile older will have time stamp appended to its name (<random>.default-<time-stamp>) You can use this button to go to the current Firefox profile folder:

• Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

Only the main profile folder will be moved to the "Old Firefox Data" folder on the desktop and you will lose the cache.

I'm sure I have probably had to refresh the current FF profile; it often has problems.

Yes, that is not a recent refresh: 1425500038845: Wed Mar 4th, 2015

The places.sqlite file in the "Old Firefox Data" can only contain history from an older date. You should be having history from that date and later in the current profile folder. If that isn't the case then it sounds that the older history got deleted. On Windows XP you have not much options to recover a previous version of the places.sqlite file other that a backup that you do not seen to have.'

I also have some browser history from Google Chrome that is from the date I need, and I have had no success in getting the webpages back. When I click on the links, it doesn't load the exact pages.

Does anyone know how to find the pages on Chrome with the browser history? This might be my best bet since I already have found the history for that date; I just would like to have the pages back.

Thank you so much for all your help!! This is all new to me, but I like being able to figure it out with some assistance :)

cor-el said

Yes, that is not a recent refresh: 1425500038845: Wed Mar 4th, 2015 The places.sqlite file in the "Old Firefox Data" can only contain history from an older date. You should be having history from that date and later in the current profile folder. If that isn't the case then it sounds that the older history got deleted. On Windows XP you have not much options to recover a previous version of the places.sqlite file other that a backup that you do not seen to have.'

Why doesn't it go back past 7 days?