Firefox crashed and history is gone
On Dec. 27 Firefox crashed and all the history is gone. The only other profile I have is from July, just before I switched to Windows 10. So basically all history between August and December 27 is gone. The places.sqlite file in the July was 10, 240KB and has all the history from July and going back a long ways. The December 28 places.sqlite file is also 10,240KB but has no history before today.
I've read about places.sqlite being key in extracting the history, but I don't understand how to access it. I've created new profiles and copying and pasting each of these files, but the results are the same. I am still missing the 6 months of history.
How can I retrieve it? Is it possible to copy browser history of activity in Chrome into Firefox?
Thank you.
Wšě wotmołwy (11)
You would need an older version of the places.sqlite to recover the lost history. Firefox increases the file size of places.sqlite in 10MB chunks when required with 10 MB being the minimum. There is never a decrement unless you would vacuum places.sqlite with e.g. Classic Theme Restorer.
It is possible that Windows has stored an older copy as part of a system restore point.
Thanks for the info and suggestion, cor-el. Does this mean that I can just try a system restore or would I need to use the program in your link to potentially access the history?
No, I'm not recommending to do a system restore because that can create a lot of issues with losing data .
You need to use the program I listed above and see if there is an older version of places.sqlite is available.
You can use this button to go to the current Firefox profile folder:
- Help -> Troubleshooting Information -> Profile Directory:
Windows: Show Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder - http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
I see, ok thanks. I'll give it a try and post the results. Fingers crossed...
Ok, using the program, I see a places.sqlite file from December 25! How can I see if this indeed has the lost history? Can I just copy and paste this one particular file into an existing profile or do I have to create a new profile and paste this profile's contents in it? Thanks.
I tried just copying and pasting the Dec. 25 places. sqlite into the current profile's folder, replacing the existing places.sqlite files. Same results... I don't suppose creating a separate new profile with all the contents of the Dec. 25 profile would make a difference?
Either way, thank you for trying. This is a very useful tool to have been introduced to nonetheless.
Is it possible to copy the history from Chrome into Firefox?
You can import data from other browsers via the Bookmarks Manager (Library).
- Bookmarks -> Show All Bookmarks -> Import & Backup -> Import Data from Another Browser…
Thank you :)
You're welcome
Ok, a strange phenomenon - when clearing history, when I pick 'last hour', that's all it deletes. However, when I select 'four hours' or 'today' the entire history is deleted. There's no 'yesterday' in the history. What sort of glitch is that? I had sites visited that got erased even though they weren't supposed to be. Suggestions? Thank you.
cor-el said
You would need an older version of the places.sqlite to recover the lost history. Firefox increases the file size of places.sqlite in 10MB chunks when required with 10 MB being the minimum. There is never a decrement unless you would vacuum places.sqlite with e.g. Classic Theme Restorer. It is possible that Windows has stored an older copy as part of a system restore point.
Please have a look at my question, I want to take precautions before running into problems: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1152310