Hi, the JSON files are used with the Restore feature. More info in this article: Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer. Does that work?

If that does not work, if you haven't already, please do a normal shutdown and/or restart of your system. Restarting Windows can help by freeing up locked files, completing any deferred updates, and resolving temporary file permission issues.

Next, if Firefox still has bookmark problems, could you let us know what you get when you run the "Verify Integrity" diagnosis and repair function. That's here:

Open Firefox's Troubleshooting Information page using any of these methods:

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

Near the bottom, there is a section titled Places Database -- that's the file which stores history and bookmarks. Click the button labeled Verify Integrity. There may be a 10-15 second delay before results appear.

If all is well, the report that appears below the button should start with:

> Task: checkIntegrity
+ The places.sqlite database is sane
+ The favicons.sqlite database is sane
> Task: invalidateCaches
+ The caches have been invalidated
> Task: checkCoherence
+ The database is coherent

Does yours say that, or something else? You can select and copy the report, and then paste it into a reply for review and comment.

What I had was a windows soft reset, which did wipe the bookmarks.

What is a Windows soft reset?

Soft reset is when you do not wipe anything from the laptop. The files are still here, may be browsing history has gone, together with the bookmarks. The exercise didn;t work, in fact "integrity" bit completely disappeared from that list. Troubleshooting Information This page contains technical information that might be useful when you’re trying to solve a problem. If you are looking for answers to common questions about Firefox, check out our support website. Application Basics Name Firefox Version 93.0 Build ID 20210927210923 Distribution ID Update Folder C:\ProgramData\Mozilla\updates\308046B0AF4A39CB Update History Update Channel release User Agent Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:93.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/93.0 OS Windows_NT 10.0 18363 Application Binary C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe Profile Folder C:\Users\TC\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\jniw8h29.default-release Enabled Plugins about:plugins Build Configuration about:buildconfig Memory Use about:memory Performance about:performance Registered Service Workers about:serviceworkers Third-party Modules about:third-party Launcher Process Enabled Multiprocess Windows 1/1 Fission Windows 0/1 Disabled by default Remote Processes 7 Enterprise Policies Inactive Google Location Service Key Found Google Safebrowsing Key Found Mozilla Location Service Key Found Safe Mode false Profiles about:profiles Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days Report ID Submitted

All Crash Reports Firefox Features Name Version ID Add-ons Search Detection 1.0.1 [email protected] DoH Roll-Out 2.0.0 [email protected] Firefox Screenshots 39.0.1 [email protected] Form Autofill 1.0.1 [email protected] Picture-In-Picture 1.0.0 [email protected] Proxy Failover 1.0.1 [email protected] Reset Search Defaults 2.1.0 [email protected] Web Compatibility Interventions 26.3.0 [email protected] WebCompat Reporter 1.4.2 [email protected] Remote Features Name Status bug-1690367-rollout-moving-webrtc-networking-functionality-into-i-release-87-100 active bug-1712189-rollout-keep-firefox-up-to-date-even-when-it-is-not-ru-release-90-94 active upgradeDialog (upgradeDialog-defaultEnabled) Remote Processes Type Count Web Content 2 / 8 Extension 1 Privileged About 1 Preallocated 1 GPU 1 Socket 1 Add-ons Name Type Version Enabled ID Asynchronous Pan/Zoom wheel input enabled; scrollbar drag enabled; keyboard enabled; autoscroll enabled; smooth pinch-zoom enabled WebGL 1 Driver WSI Info EGL_VENDOR: Google Inc. 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Soft reset is when you do not wipe anything from the laptop. The files are still here, may be browsing history has gone, together with the bookmarks.

Hmm, why would Windows wipe your Firefox bookmarks and history?

Windows does have a Refresh feature that can move all your data to a C:\Windows.old folder. If you see such a folder, let me know for more suggestions.

The exercise didn;t work, in fact "integrity" bit completely disappeared from that list.

So you started with this:

But after you click it, instead of getting a report like the following after 15 seconds or so, that whole section disappeared?

There was a file called OldFirefoxData, so my boyfriend managed to restore bookmarks somehow!! Thanks for advice.