Firefox passwords on multiple computers
I am shipping a broken computer back to the manufacturer. I had installed Firefox on it using my Firefox account. Since I have used the Firefox password feature to store all my passwords, I'm concerned that someone at the manufacturer could access my passwords. (The computer refused to boot, so I was not able to scrub it prior to sending it back.) My question is this: if I change the Firefox password on my home desktop, will my passwords on the returned computer be protected?
Thanks for any help!
Tom Smith Ph. [phone# removed from public]
Gewysig op deur James
Gekose oplossing
Hi Tom, it's a good idea to change your Firefox Account password so that if they are able to boot up the computer and run Firefox, they cannot connect to your account.
But unfortunately, even if they can't run Firefox, your passwords are stored locally on disk in your Firefox data folders. If the disk is readable, then in theory, someone who is so inclined could pull that file off the disk. The only exception is if you set a "Primary Password" -- a local password for securing logins -- because then they would need to know your Primary Password to decrypt the passwords (Use a Primary Password to protect stored logins and passwords). If you didn't set a Primary Password, it's probably a good idea to change the most critical logins you saved in Firefox. In my opinion, that includes the email accounts anyone would use to reset your saved logins.
Lees dié antwoord in konteks 👍 2All Replies (3)
This isn't a firefox issue but user backup issue. Since you can't boot the computer there nothing anyone on here can do to fix that. Sync also isn't a backup to logins as well. What you have to do is this:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/966133
But as it can't be accessed they drive will be tossed or wipe clean by them to find the problem and anything on there will be gone. And sync will not help or work at this point. So what they do will be something you need to talk to them about before sending it out. And if they can't access the drive it will be wiped or replaced.
Gekose oplossing
Hi Tom, it's a good idea to change your Firefox Account password so that if they are able to boot up the computer and run Firefox, they cannot connect to your account.
But unfortunately, even if they can't run Firefox, your passwords are stored locally on disk in your Firefox data folders. If the disk is readable, then in theory, someone who is so inclined could pull that file off the disk. The only exception is if you set a "Primary Password" -- a local password for securing logins -- because then they would need to know your Primary Password to decrypt the passwords (Use a Primary Password to protect stored logins and passwords). If you didn't set a Primary Password, it's probably a good idea to change the most critical logins you saved in Firefox. In my opinion, that includes the email accounts anyone would use to reset your saved logins.
Thank you for the help! It's much appreciated.
Tom