Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Wannan tattunawa ta zama daɗaɗɗiya. Yi sabuwar tambaya idan ka na bukatar taimako.

Firefox Sync - Is it a Backup service or Not?

  • 1 amsa
  • 1 yana da wannan matsala
  • 5 views
  • Amsa ta ƙarshe daga Paul

Stone
Stone
more options

I always thought Firefox Sync was kind of a backup service. Today I was disappointed to learn that Firefox Sync cannot be trusted as a backup service.

A search for “firefox sync” finds 2,929 results in Community Discussion Only.

As late as 2/2/23, Top 10 Contributor Paul says: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1404105#answer-1563509

“It appears from your question, that you are using Firefox Sync as a back up service. This is not what Sync is designed to do. The Firefox Sync service takes a copy of the data you wish to include and transfers it to a second device... The storage in between all attached devices is both temporary and fragile and is not stable enough to be (and is not designed as) a reliable backup service.”

I looked through all the Mozilla Help Articles I could find about Firefox Sync. Not one of them mentions that Firefox Sync should not be relied upon as a backup service.

Then I found this blog searching Google: “The Future of Sync”. https://blog.mozilla.org/services/2020/09/15/the-future-of-sync/

In the blog, JR Conlin says, among other things: “A New Hope Service: A lot of folks expected it to be a Backup service. The good news is, now it is a backup service. Sync is more reliable now.”

JR Conlin posted the above blog in Sept 2020. Is there anyone who can comment on JR Conlin’s statement or the progress of his and his team’s work?

Thank You to all volunteers.

I always thought Firefox Sync was kind of a backup service. Today I was disappointed to learn that Firefox Sync cannot be trusted as a backup service. A search for “firefox sync” finds 2,929 results in Community Discussion Only. As late as 2/2/23, Top 10 Contributor Paul says: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1404105#answer-1563509 “It appears from your question, that you are using Firefox Sync as a back up service. This is not what Sync is designed to do. The Firefox Sync service takes a copy of the data you wish to include and transfers it to a second device... The storage in between all attached devices is both temporary and fragile and is not stable enough to be (and is not designed as) a reliable backup service.” I looked through all the Mozilla Help Articles I could find about Firefox Sync. Not one of them mentions that Firefox Sync should not be relied upon as a backup service. Then I found this blog searching Google: “The Future of Sync”. https://blog.mozilla.org/services/2020/09/15/the-future-of-sync/ In the blog, JR Conlin says, among other things: “A New Hope Service: A lot of folks expected it to be a Backup service. The good news is, now it is a backup service. Sync is more reliable now.” JR Conlin posted the above blog in Sept 2020. Is there anyone who can comment on JR Conlin’s statement or the progress of his and his team’s work? Thank You to all volunteers.

All Replies (1)

Paul
Paul
  • Top 25 Contributor
  • Moderator
more options

Hi

Yes, I need to follow up with Mr Conlin about that. Firefox Sync is much more stable, but by design it is not long term stable storage to be used as a backup.