can I manually copy over extensions from an old profile?
On one of my computers I recently created a new profile to do some troubleshooting and experimenting. It went well and I may as well keep the new profile, but a handful of my extensions are no longer available to download from the add-on center. They worked fine on my version of FF, just no longer supported I guess and withdrawn (unrelated to my troubleshooting issues).
Is it just a matter of copying over the .xpi file to the comparable place in the new profile? Just like I copied over the various other "important data".
Assuming yes, the other problem is how to identify what the add-on is when it's filename is {<guid-like-string>}.xpi.
I think the old profile's extension folder probably has way more extensions than the old profile was actually using. Do "removed" add-ons' .xpi files stay in that folder? or just "disabled" ones?
[fwiw the platform is W7 Vista and Firefox 34.0.somthing]
Chosen solution
Will the old profile still load? If so, the support information page associates the familiar extension names with their GUIDs (either):
- "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
- (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
- type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter
Scroll down to the Extensions table.
As for copying, it usually is either an .xpi file or a folder.
For .xpi files, you can drag and drop them onto a Firefox tab (while running in the new profile) to install them.
On the other hand, I'm not sure Firefox will recognize the folders if you copy them over to the new profile, or how to induce it to do so. There probably are some threads on this either here or on the MozillaZine (unofficial) forums.
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Hello Wendy444, if your new profile is in a firefox version that do not support the specific version of the extension then the easy way to install your extension, is to install the Nightly Tester Tools add-on, and to activate the Force Addon Compatibily (Tools > Nightly Tester Tools > Force Addon Compatibily [v]).
thank you
Thanks but I would rather not get involved with testing nightly builds... seems like overkill. I want to just be able to identify the add-ons so I know which ones to bring over and how.
I'm not sure if you are on the same page on what my problem is. It has nothing to do with upgrading FF. The extensions worked just fine in my old profile - same FF. I have no reason to believe that the extension is not "supported" in my existing FF version. Just that it is no longer available (at all) in the add-on center so I need to manually grab it from my old profile. .
Chosen Solution
Will the old profile still load? If so, the support information page associates the familiar extension names with their GUIDs (either):
- "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
- (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
- type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter
Scroll down to the Extensions table.
As for copying, it usually is either an .xpi file or a folder.
For .xpi files, you can drag and drop them onto a Firefox tab (while running in the new profile) to install them.
On the other hand, I'm not sure Firefox will recognize the folders if you copy them over to the new profile, or how to induce it to do so. There probably are some threads on this either here or on the MozillaZine (unofficial) forums.
You can delete the extensions.* files (e.g. extensions.json, extensions.sqlite, extensions.ini) and compatibility.ini in the Firefox profile folder to reset the extensions registry.
New files will be created when required.
See "Corrupt extension files":
If you see disabled or not compatible extensions in "Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions" then click the Tools button at the left end of the Search bar to check if there is a compatibility update available.
For .xpi files, you can drag and drop them onto a Firefox tab (while running in the new profile) to install them.
How cool!!! Sounds like just what I want! Can't wait to try it out on that computer. Just did about:support on this computer. That's exactly the info I was looking for. Very handy.
The old Profile is actually fine. Ironically, the problem I was having turned out to have nothing to do with the old Profile. It is 10-15 years old though, so thought I may as well freshen it up.
These can also do that, and more;
These add-ons can be a great help by backing up and restoring Firefox
FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) {web link} FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions, history, passwords, and more. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your saved files individually into installable .xpi files. It will also make backup of files that you choose.
OPIE {web link} Import/Export extension preferences
Forgot to add;
Security Issue: Update your Flash Player Version 17.0.0.134
https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html
Wendy444 said
Thanks but I would rather not get involved with testing nightly builds... seems like overkill.
For the record, the Nightly Tester Tools add-on is an addon for the latest stable firefox version. I have never purpose the Nightly firefox version for that issue :-) :-)
thank you
dragging xpi files to tab in new profile worked great! I tried dragging an extension folder just to see what would happen and nothing useful resulted. Fortunately, the few old extensions I had residing in folders were no longer of interest to me in my new lean and mean profile.
If there were a lot of xpi's needed, a slightly quicker way would be to drag the "extensions" folder to a new tab in the new profile. Then all the .xpi files are links ready for clicking/install.
Sweet!
Thanks for all the replies.