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how to move passwords to new version of firefox

  • 11 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 390 views
  • Last reply by hondochica

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I had to reinstall win 7 on a new HD. Before I removed the old HD I copied my entire firefox profile. I then re-named it to my 'new' firefox profile - in hopes that everything would transfer. My bookmarks are there, but my passwords are not. Although the files key4.db and logins.json are both present in the new profile - they do not contain my old passwords. file size is also the same - very odd. I have access to all data on my old HD - how do I recover/transfer all my old passwords - there are >150 of them - I'm not going to type them all in

thanks so much

Kelly

I had to reinstall win 7 on a new HD. Before I removed the old HD I copied my entire firefox profile. I then re-named it to my 'new' firefox profile - in hopes that everything would transfer. My bookmarks are there, but my passwords are not. Although the files key4.db and logins.json are both present in the new profile - they do not contain my old passwords. file size is also the same - very odd. I have access to all data on my old HD - how do I recover/transfer all my old passwords - there are >150 of them - I'm not going to type them all in thanks so much Kelly

Chosen solution

i easyly backup this files inside

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\PROFILENAME\

Cert9 key4 logins.json places.sqlite

Honestly i don't remember which one is for the password, but copying them, all my password are working well after a pc reset ;)

Hope this helps

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All Replies (11)

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Did you copy the entire profile folder content to the current profile folder ?

If you did then try to delete the copied pkcs11.txt file. Copying files like prefs.js also isn't recommended.

Note that it isn't recommended to copy a full profile folder as this can cause issues.

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Thanks Cor-el

I thought I found info on mozilla's help about copying profiles: I changed the name of the old profile (after making a backup just in case) to the name of the new profile - then drag/dropped the old profile to the new profile folder and replaced everything. before I did anything else in firefox. anyway- that's what i did. I guess that's kinda moot at this point. I see that the new version I downloaded for my new HD apparently doesn't use 'password manager' anymore - which I never used anyway.

let's get back to the main Q: how do I get all my old passwords? thanks

Kelly

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oops - let me look for that file and I'll get back to you

kelly

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Current Firefox 70+ releases have switched to a new Password Manager named Lockwise.

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yes - I got that - it's now lockwise . . and I've read all those not-so-helpful pages and None of them can tell me how to import my old passwords into the new lockwise!

how do I get all my old passwords?

Cor-el: I deleted the file and no change.

thanks

Kelly

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So . . can I uninstall the new firefox and install a previous version that will allow me to import my passwords? then with a clean, functioning older version of firefox - perhaps an 'upgrade' to the newer version - instead of a clean install w/ no history - will pick up the passwords from the old firefox and import them seemlessly into the new firefox with the lockwise.

once can only hope that mozilla was smart enough to design the new version to incorporate the old . .

so where can I download an older version of firefox?

kelly

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cor-el - by the way - while the link you provided for lockwise says " . . . import" - the article actually does Not tell you how to import your passwords

while I truly appreciate your help here - this seems to be a glitch in the new firefox. can you get me to mozilla for direct support? I'm assuming you are not directly affiliated w/ mozilla

kelly

kelly

Modified by hondochica

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Can anyone here help me with this issue?

kelly

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Chosen Solution

i easyly backup this files inside

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\PROFILENAME\

Cert9 key4 logins.json places.sqlite

Honestly i don't remember which one is for the password, but copying them, all my password are working well after a pc reset ;)

Hope this helps

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The logins.json and key4.db files are responsible for the passwords. The two files need to match because otherwise the encryption key stored in key4.db can't decrypt the logins stored in logins.json.

places.sqlite stores bookmarks and history. cert9.db stores cached intermediate certificates send by servers.

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Cris86 said

Cert9 key4 logins.json places.sqlite

YES!!! I don't know what went wrong when I copied the complete profile - including the key4.db and logins.json files - along with the others; but I recopied these 4 files from my original profile (thank heaven made a copy of the entire profile) and Voila!! my usernames and passwords are all BACK!!! YIPPEEEEE

Oh - I also 'disabled' lockwise using info in this post: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1272030 so that may have also helped

now back to the rest of my life! thanks so much Chris86

and thanks to Cor-el for sticking w/ me through this

Kelly

Modified by hondochica