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How can I determine what add-ons I had installed in an old copy of Firefox?

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  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by cor-el

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My old machine died. I was able to recover my history, bookmarks, passwords, and so on by copying the contents of the old profile folder to the new. But that doesn't move the add-ons or plug-ins. I'll gladly find them all online and re-download and install them, but I want to know what exactly I had!

I see that some of the add-ons created subfolders within the profile, and I can research all of the subfolders that didn't get transferred, and I can also go through the Program Files and ProgramData folders on the old hard drive and try to figure out which are add-ons. But I'm wondering if there's an easier way.

I have access to most of the folders from the old hard drive, but not, I think, the Registry.

My old machine died. I was able to recover my history, bookmarks, passwords, and so on by copying the contents of the old profile folder to the new. But that doesn't move the add-ons or plug-ins. I'll gladly find them all online and re-download and install them, but I want to know what exactly I had! I see that some of the add-ons created subfolders within the profile, and I can research all of the subfolders that didn't get transferred, and I can also go through the Program Files and ProgramData folders on the old hard drive and try to figure out which are add-ons. But I'm wondering if there's an easier way. I have access to most of the folders from the old hard drive, but not, I think, the Registry.

All Replies (3)

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Hi ericmvan.

If you have access to the old Firefox profile, there is a folder called extensions, which contains all the .xpi files (add-on files). So, how exactly have you proceeded? If the old Firefox profile is complete, it should be safe to close Firefox, delete all the current profile content, and paste the old profile content instead.

Michal

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Unfortunately, I moved the contents of the old profile folder to replace the contents of the new, instead of copying it. And the extensions folder shows just three .xpi files, all new ones.

There's an adblockplus folder that got moved over (and one for SweetPacksToolbar which I deleted).

It seems as if adblockplus is the only add-on that's left an obvious trace, but it's also the only one that I am actively missing. So I think I'll just re-install that one. And then search for Best Firefox Add-ons and see if any others sound familiar.

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Do you still have a backup copy of the profile folder?

If that is the case then you can check the content of the extensions.json file.

You can open the file in the Scratchpad (Firefox menu button or Tools > Web Developer). Click the "Pretty Print" button to format the file for readability.