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The latest Firefox had no refresh button. I did what it said to fix that and now I've lost all my bookmarks! How can I get them back?

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  • Last reply by chrispatchel

The latest Firefox had no refresh button. I did what it said to fix that and now I've lost all my bookmarks! How can I get them back?

The latest Firefox had no refresh button. I did what it said to fix that and now I've lost all my bookmarks! How can I get them back?

All Replies (20)

You would normally click Restore Defaults in the Customize palette window to restore lost toolbar icons. Note that the combined Reload/Stop button has moved to the left end of the Navigation Toolbar and is no longer in the location bar container if there is where you looked for it.

What did you do to get this button back? Did you remove files in the profile folder or did you use the refresh feature in Firefox or did you do something else?


See also:

I clicked a button that said 'Refresh Firefox.' And it sure did that-- it got rid of 10 years worth of bookmarks.

Yes, the Old Firefox folder is on the desktop.

When you are ready, we can start moving parts of your old data and Copy it to the new profile.


First; open your file browser to the New profile;

Type about:support<enter> in the address bar.

Under the page logo on the left side, you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Folder. To its right press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Now Close Firefox.

Linux: Under the page logo on the left side, you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Directory. To its right press the button Open Directory.


Second, open another file browser to the Old profile.

Open another file browser to the Old Firefox folder on your desktop. Then open the folder with the latest date.

Warning ! ! Only Copy the files you are told. We will avoid anything that might cause problems. Here is the list of files;

cookies: cookies.sqlite Do not bother. Cookies will be created when you return to the website. However, you will have to log in everywhere. And you may lose any settings that websites store on your computer.

extensions(add-ons, themes): it would be better to download them fresh. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ key3.db [v58+] key4.db and logins.json : These are the password files. Copy Both !

persdict.dat : custom dictionary – words you added to the dictionary

mimeTypes.rdf : What to do with what type of file. handlers.json : In Firefox v55+ the name was changed.

places.sqlite : History and Bookmarks.

prefs.js : Your settings. Note: If you were having problems, this could be contaminated.

cert8.db [v58+]cert9.db and possibly cert_override.txt : Stores all your security certificate settings and any SSL certificates you have imported into Firefox. If removed, the cert8.db, cert9.db file will be replaced.

search.json.mozlz4 : file stores the user-installed search engines that are available in the Firefox v47+

search.sqlite file and searchplugins folder store the search engines that are available in the Firefox Search bar before Firefox v47 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Copy these files from the old to the new. You may get a message that the files already exist. Choose to over-write for each file.

This may or may not be a shortcut to FredMcD's instructions:

(1) In Firefox, open the Library window using Command+Shift+b or "Show All Bookmarks"

(2) On the menu bar of the Library window, try Import and Backup > Restore

Does Firefox show any available backups?

If so, try the latest one.

If not, click Choose File and point Firefox up to your Desktop, then into Old Firefox Data, then into the profile folder, then into the bookmarkbackups folder and try the most recent file here.

Will Firefox restore the backup?

Sorry, you lost me on the first line. File browser?

Are there any backups in the bookmarkbackups folder available that you can restore to get your bookmarks like posted above by Jscher?

  • Bookmarks -> Show All Bookmarks -> Import & Backup -> Restore

Otherwise you can check profiles in the "Old Firefox Data" folder on the desktop that a Firefox refresh normally would create and use a compressed .jsonlz4 in its bookmarkbackups folder to restore the bookmarks.

See also:

To the right of Profile Folder is says: Open in Finder, which brings up a Profiles folder which contains 2 other folders.

I'm on a mac btw if that makes a difference.

cor-el said

Are there any backups in the bookmarkbackups folder available that you can restore to get your bookmarks like posted above by Jscher?
  • Bookmarks -> Show All Bookmarks -> Import & Backup -> Restore
Otherwise you can check profiles in the "Old Firefox Data" folder on the desktop that a Firefox refresh normally would create and use a compressed .jsonlz4 in its bookmarkbackups folder to restore the bookmarks. See also:

There is no Import and Backup option in the Library window, but thanks for trying.

There is no Import and Backup option in the Library window, but thanks for trying.

Turn on the Menu Bar by mousing to the top of the browser and Right Click, or From Customize, page bottom, Tool Bars.

You will now have Bookmarks and Show all Bookmarks will find Import/Export there.

On Mac this is the third button on the toolbar in the Bookmarks Manager (Library) window.

  • first button: Organize
  • second button; Views
  • third button: Import & Backup

Repeating this for Fred McD:

To the right of Profile Folder is says: Open in Finder, which brings up a Profiles folder which contains 2 other folders.

Did the 'Finder' open inside a profile? That is your current profile.

FredMcD said

Did the 'Finder' open inside a profile? That is your current profile.

There are 2 Profile folders there. But the worse news is that the 'Old Firefox Data' folder is empty--nothing in it. I did try replacing the 2 current Profile folders with the Old Firefox Data folder and then restarting Firefox. I don't know if maybe that deleted everything of what.

chrispatchel said

FredMcD said
Did the 'Finder' open inside a profile? That is your current profile.

There are 2 Profile folders there. But the worse news is that the 'Old Firefox Data' folder is empty--nothing in it. I did try replacing the 2 current Profile folders with the Old Firefox Data folder and then restarting Firefox. I don't know if maybe that deleted everything of what.

Can you undo that?

Do you have "Time Machine" backups of your profile folders (or at least the older one)?

jscher2000 said

chrispatchel said
FredMcD said
Did the 'Finder' open inside a profile? That is your current profile.

There are 2 Profile folders there. But the worse news is that the 'Old Firefox Data' folder is empty--nothing in it. I did try replacing the 2 current Profile folders with the Old Firefox Data folder and then restarting Firefox. I don't know if maybe that deleted everything of what.

Can you undo that?

Do you have "Time Machine" backups of your profile folders (or at least the older one)?

Yes, I just retrieved the old Profiles folder that way. Replacing the current Profile folder (there are 2 of them) with the older one doesn't work, nor are there any import options available to me.

Okay, please don't try to replace things. Let's take it step by step.

Firefox only works with one profile at a time. Its name (actually the full path) is listed on the Troubleshooting Information page just next to the Open in Finder button. So that is where Firefox is looking for data right now.

I assume that is a different folder from the one you restored from backup.

How many individual profile folders do you have under Profiles now?

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