Hi nolahope, sorry to hear about this problem.

First question: Do you have a folder named Old Firefox Data on your Windows desktop?

Second question: What password -- is it for Firefox Sync or for this site (they would be different logins)?

Yes, I have 3 "Old Firefox Data" -- one which is dated today.

I know about the 2 passwords and I keep records (I am OCD). I checked that my Sync was all turned on before I did anything today.

An interesting thing just happened: I put in a different password (one that I use on occasion but it was not the sync password... or at least I didn't think that it was the sync password). Anyway, it let me in after I confirmed the email I sent me. So I thought, YEA!! BUT... even though I'm "in" ... I still don't have my bookmarks and history. But I do have history from earlier today... before all this mess started. It is all very confusing. I'm sure if you will work with me we can get this thing resolved somehow. I KNOW all the info is still floating around. :)

Okay, let's try replacing your current bookmarks + history database file with the old one. This has several steps:

Open Your Current Profile folder in Windows Explorer

Open the Troubleshooting Information page using either:

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

In the first table, click the "Open Folder" button. Firefox will launch your current profile folder in Windows Explorer.

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

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

When Firefox closes, the profile folder should be front and center, or you can activate it using the Task bar.

Rename Places Database File(s)

After allowing 15 seconds for Firefox to "wrap up":

• right-click places.sqlite > Rename to placesOLD.sqlite
• if you see either of these files, you can similarly add OLD into their name or delete them:
  • places.sqlite-shm
  • places.sqlite-wal

Copy Old Database into Current Profile Folder

Leaving that window open, open or switch over to your Old Firefox Data folder. Drill down into your old profile folder. Then:

• right-click places.sqlite > Copy

Switch to the current profile folder in other window and:

• right-click a blank area > Paste

Start Firefox

Firefox should start up with your earlier history + bookmarks. Success?

Question: I have 2 "Old Firefox Data" (thought I had 3 but one was hubby's). SO, which do I use to replace? The one that was created at 1:45 today or the one from 2016? Is that a dumb question?

Hmm, 1:45 seems to be later than you posted about the problem, unless it was 1:45 am ?

I think check the modification time on the places.sqlite file itself and see whether it looks like a good database to try.

No, it was 1:45 pm but that was about exactly the time that this mess started. Let me digress a bit. My main issue today was that I was trying to change my search engine from Yahoo to Google. I had gone through the proper steps to make the change but it would never change. So, I checked that problem out online and many people had had the same problem so I followed someone's advice and got it changed... or so I thought. I shut off my computer and went to lunch. Came back and when I restarted, it came up with Google and I thought YAY... finally got Google. However, I was also getting a message stating that Firefox was slow to open and did I want to "refresh?" BUT... before I "refreshed," I went to check to see if sync was turned on for everything and it was so I said, "REFRESH." After I refreshed, everything was gone and I'm guessing that that was about 1:45pm.

Another problem is that the last instruction you give for "copy and paste" is, "right-click a blank area and paste." Problem is that there is no blank area and the "paste" function doesn't come up. SO... I went back to the profile file to drop the copied file in there... but it didn't work either.

I'm close to just throwing my 'puter out the window! NOT... but I am very frustrated. One more thing. I KNOW I had the correct password but it just wouldn't let me in when it had earlier in the day.

If you are connected to Sync and you see the email in the "3-bar" Firefox menu button drop-down list instead of "Sign in to Sync" then best is to disconnect Sync first before trying to restore bookmarks and history by replacing places.sqlite.

nolahope said

Another problem is that the last instruction you give for "copy and paste" is, "right-click a blank area and paste." Problem is that there is no blank area and the "paste" function doesn't come up. SO... I went back to the profile file to drop the copied file in there... but it didn't work either.

Sorry, I guess when a folder has a lot of files, there's no blank area below the list. Single-click any file name, then paste using Ctrl+v.

I was able to recover the "Old" data; however, I had two files and I want to know if I can also add the other "Old" data to my current data? I hope I made myself clear. I think the one I have now is the VERY old data and I would like to keep it but add the most recent data also. Thanks.

If you mean, is there an easy/convenient way to merge data from two different .sqlite files, I am not aware of one.

For bookmarks, you can export to HTML format and then import that after loading a different places database. The Import feature, unlike Restore, simply adds rather than replacing.

• Export Firefox bookmarks to an HTML file to back up or transfer bookmarks
• Import Bookmarks from an HTML file

For history, Firefox doesn't have any import/export feature. There is a third party program which can read history and let you save an historical snapshot, but I don't know whether it can combine.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/mozilla_history_view.html

See also:

• Link Visitor
  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/link-visitor-5/