make sure Session Restore is enabled and working properly.

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/restore-previous-session

Make sure you do not run Firefox in permanent Private Browsing mode (Always use Private Browsing mode; Never Remember History).

• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-use-firefox-without-history
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/common-myths-about-private-browsing

• Settings -> Privacy & Security
  Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history"
• remove checkmark: [ ] "Always use Private Browsing mode"

In case you use "Clear history when Firefox closes".

• do not clear the "Browsing history"

• Settings -> Privacy & Security
  Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history":
  [X] "Clear history when Firefox closes" -> Settings
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/delete-browsing-search-download-history-firefox

• using "Clear history when Firefox closes" in Firefox 102+ honors exceptions and keeps cookies with an allow exception, previous versions removed all cookies
• clearing "Site settings" clears exceptions for cookies, images, pop-up windows, and software installation and exceptions for passwords and other website specific data

Dear Cor-El, I had mistakenly marked your previous reply a solution. I did not find there answers to my questions. I have checked all my settings, and they were already as your reply indicated they should be. So why didn't my re-opening Firefox restore my windows? And why couldn't I find the "restore previous session" button in the Applications Menu, under History? Thanks for your patience, Jay

Are there files present and updated in the sessionstore-backups folder in the profile folder? Does Firefox create a sessionstore.jsonlz4 file in the main/root level in the profile folder?

You can use the button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page (Root directory).

• Help -> More Troubleshooting Information -> Profile Folder/Directory:
  Windows: Open Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data

You will normally find these files in the sessionstore-backups folder:

• previous.jsonlz4 (cleanBackup: copy of sessionstore.jsonlz4 from previous session that was loaded successfully)
• recovery.jsonlz4 (latest version of sessionstore.jsonlz4 written during runtime)
• recovery.baklz4 (previous version of sessionstore.jsonlz4 written during runtime)
• upgrade.jsonlz4-<build_id> (backup created during an upgrade of Firefox)

You can copy a file from the sessionstore-backups folder to the main profile and rename the file to sessionstore.jsonlz4 to replace the current file with Firefox closed.

• make sure to backup the current sessionstore.jsonlz4