Look on your desktop. Do you see a folder called; Old Firefox? Look inside. Look for the folder with the latest creation date.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-run-firefox-when-profile-missing-inaccessible

Yes, I found the file in the file was a number of bookmark backups. But this seems to require a special app., json, to open Also in the file there seems to be an indication I was also given this app today, but I don't see it so still trying to recover my bookmarks.

What should I do

Thanks for your interest and help.

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.

Windows: Show Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder

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 Firefox folder on your desktop. Then open the folder with the latest date, or whatever one you want to use.

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. If you need to remember what add-ons you had, open the extensions sub-folder and look at the .xpi files

logins.json and key3.db [v58+]key4.db : These are the password files. Copy Both !

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

mimeTypes.rdf [v55+]handlers.json : What to do with what type of file.

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.

Thanks, FredMcD, for your help.

However, a computer tech friend was kind enough to come over and get me back in business this morning . He seemed to know what to do with the information in the old Firefox file left on the desktop.

Something i don't understand is why this happened. At some point I was asked it i wanted to restore what I have or start fresh (or words to that effect). I clicked wanting to restore, so was not prepared to see the bookmarks were gone.

Again, thanks for your help

Something i don't understand is why this happened.

Sometimes, doing a refresh causes data not to get copied to the new profile. So we instruct users how to get the data from the old profile.

a computer tech friend was kind enough to come over and get me back in business

I am glad to hear that your problem has been resolved. If you haven't already, please select the answer that solves the problem. This will help other users with similar problems find the solution.

Thank you for contacting Mozilla Support.