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I don't really know what just happened, I think I updated and then lost all of my bookmarks. I can't even manually restore them, what do I do?

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  • Last reply by lillngu

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I'm a little tech-illiterate and I'm not sure what happened. I appear to have updated but some how have lost all my bookmarks. I tried restoring them but there is nothing for me to restore from. What do I do?

I'm a little tech-illiterate and I'm not sure what happened. I appear to have updated but some how have lost all my bookmarks. I tried restoring them but there is nothing for me to restore from. What do I do?

Chosen solution

Do you mean that the bookmarkbackups folder of the current profile is empty?

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

Do you have an "Old Firefox Data" folder on the desktop?

If that is the case then you can try to restore the bookmarks from a backup in its bookmarkbackups folder. You can see the item count as part of the file name.

  • bookmarks-YYYY-MM-DD_<item count>_<hash>.json

You can check for problems with the places.sqlite database file in the Firefox profile folder.

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All Replies (7)

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Hello,

Firefox automatically creates backups of your bookmarks, which can be helpful if your bookmarks are lost or missing. To recover them, follow the instructions below.

  1. Use one of these methods to open the Bookmarks Library window:
    • Firefox 29 and above: Click the Bookmarks button Bookmarks-29 and select Show All Bookmarks.
    • Previous Firefox versions: Click the Firefox button and click on Bookmarks. (If you don't have a Firefox button, click the Bookmarks button Bookmarks button win 2 or Bookmarks menu item and select Show All Bookmarks.)
  2. At the top of the Library window, click on Import and Backup and select Restore.
  3. Click the date of the bookmark backup you want to recover.
  4. In the new window that appears, click OK.
  5. Your bookmarks from the selected date should now be restored.

If you've already tried this and it didn't work, then your bookmarks may be permanently lost, unless you backed them up to an HTML file. As a last resort, you could also try recovering them with a data recovery program like Recuva, but I can't guarantee that that would work.

Modified by tjohnson

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Thank you for your response! I've done what you've suggested - there is no list of dates for me to select.

Is there a reason for this happening? I don't want to accidentally do this again.

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Sorry to hear about that. When someone else had the same problem a few months ago, this solution was suggested:

If the above doesn't work, it could be that a file got corrupted (namely the places.sqlite file). You can install the Places Maintenance extension to run maintenance on the file. Please read the following articles first as they provide helpful hints and instructions that may be relevant to you:
Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

Thank you.

Modified by tjohnson

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Chosen Solution

Do you mean that the bookmarkbackups folder of the current profile is empty?

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

Do you have an "Old Firefox Data" folder on the desktop?

If that is the case then you can try to restore the bookmarks from a backup in its bookmarkbackups folder. You can see the item count as part of the file name.

  • bookmarks-YYYY-MM-DD_<item count>_<hash>.json

You can check for problems with the places.sqlite database file in the Firefox profile folder.

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Separate Issue; Your System Details shows;

Installed Plug-ins

Shockwave Flash 16.0 r0 Shockwave Flash 17.0 r0

Having more than one version of a program may cause issues. You must remove the older programs. Then get the current full installer.

Flash: Grab the uninstaller from here: Uninstall Flash Player | Windows Uninstall Flash Player | Mac Then reinstall the latest version.

Flash Player Version 17.0.0.169
https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html


These can't get your data back, but will help in the future.

These add-ons can be a great help by backing up and restoring Firefox

FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) {web link} FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions, history, passwords, and more. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your saved files individually into installable .xpi files. It will also make backup of files that you choose.

OPIE {web link} Import/Export extension preferences

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YES! There WAS an "Old Firefox Data" folder! I didn't see it in the mess that is my desktop.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! :D

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Ok! I think I'm good to go now. Thanks for the tip on my Flash player! Not sure how I get myself into these messes but I'll definitely be more diligent in backing up.

Thanks again everyone! :D