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

Hi, Does Firefox create autmatic backups of bookmarks and save them in a default location?

more options

I had to reset my PC & re-install FF without having a manual backup of the bookmarks first. The reset process apparently keeps all data files but doesn't keep Apps. I'm hoping I can point my new Firefox to the old bookmarks file and ... hey presto.. I get my favorites back? (Thanks in advance for any suggestions)

I had to reset my PC & re-install FF without having a manual backup of the bookmarks first. The reset process apparently keeps all data files but doesn't keep Apps. I'm hoping I can point my new Firefox to the old bookmarks file and ... hey presto.. I get my favorites back? (Thanks in advance for any suggestions)

Saafara biñ tànn

The usual kind of Reset in recent versions of Windows retains your old user folder, but moves it here:

C:\Windows.old\Users\your-user-name\

Can you find that folder? If so, your Firefox data probably is in there -- and here is how I suggest accessing it:

First, it would be helpful to set Windows to show hidden files and folders. This article has the steps: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hidden-files

Then click into:

C:\Windows.old\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

Note: you might find a cache folder under AppData\Local, but all the important stuff is under AppData\Roaming.

Here you may find one or more semi-randomly named folders. The one with the most recently updated contents probably is the one you want to restore from.

Bookmarks Only

Drill down into the old bookmarkbackups folder and copy the two most recent backups to a convenient location such as the desktop.

The Restore feature will replace the default Firefox bookmarks (and anything you just added since the Reset) with the older set of bookmarks. If you need to preserve newly added bookmarks, use the export feature first, before the Restore, and then the Import feature afterwards. The following articles have the details:

Success?

Complete Restoration

This post has my suggested procedure for resurrecting your entire old profile in your new installation of Firefox. Please note the use of copy instead of move throughout the process. This allows you to try again if it fails somewhere along the way.

https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1024189#answer-638319

Any luck?

Jàng tontu lii ci fi mu bokk 👍 0

All Replies (2)

more options

Saafara yiñ Tànn

The usual kind of Reset in recent versions of Windows retains your old user folder, but moves it here:

C:\Windows.old\Users\your-user-name\

Can you find that folder? If so, your Firefox data probably is in there -- and here is how I suggest accessing it:

First, it would be helpful to set Windows to show hidden files and folders. This article has the steps: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hidden-files

Then click into:

C:\Windows.old\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

Note: you might find a cache folder under AppData\Local, but all the important stuff is under AppData\Roaming.

Here you may find one or more semi-randomly named folders. The one with the most recently updated contents probably is the one you want to restore from.

Bookmarks Only

Drill down into the old bookmarkbackups folder and copy the two most recent backups to a convenient location such as the desktop.

The Restore feature will replace the default Firefox bookmarks (and anything you just added since the Reset) with the older set of bookmarks. If you need to preserve newly added bookmarks, use the export feature first, before the Restore, and then the Import feature afterwards. The following articles have the details:

Success?

Complete Restoration

This post has my suggested procedure for resurrecting your entire old profile in your new installation of Firefox. Please note the use of copy instead of move throughout the process. This allows you to try again if it fails somewhere along the way.

https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1024189#answer-638319

Any luck?

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer moo ko soppali ci

more options

Fantastic. Job Done. Thank you very much :-)