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Problem at exporting passwords

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I never had a firefox account till now. So, I had to reset the pc where i had all my logins. I once had to export my passwords (exporting key4 and logins.json files) and it worked, so i didn't think to much about it. So i reset the pc without cheking if the passwords actually worked (yuh, my bad). The problem is that apparently mozilla doesn't recognize the files, or something, cause when i open "Logins and passwords" it's empty. I don't know what to do, please help me.

I never had a firefox account till now. So, I had to reset the pc where i had all my logins. I once had to export my passwords (exporting key4 and logins.json files) and it worked, so i didn't think to much about it. So i reset the pc without cheking if the passwords actually worked (yuh, my bad). The problem is that apparently mozilla doesn't recognize the files, or something, cause when i open "Logins and passwords" it's empty. I don't know what to do, please help me.

الحل المُختار

Do you see encrypted login data in logins.json if you open the file in a Firefox tab?

Did you place the logins.json and key4.db files in the Firefox profile folder with Firefox closed?

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

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All Replies (19)

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How did you backup the password files (two files)? What kind of reset did you do to the computer?

Look in the C:\ folder. Do you see something like Old Windows?

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الحل المُختار

Do you see encrypted login data in logins.json if you open the file in a Firefox tab?

Did you place the logins.json and key4.db files in the Firefox profile folder with Firefox closed?

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

Modified by cor-el

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FredMcD said

How did you backup the password files (two files)? What kind of reset did you do to the computer? Look in the C:\ folder. Do you see something like Old Windows?

I did a total reset cause i sold it. I just copy the two files, put em in a pendrive, and then i replaced the key4 and logins.json of my current pc. cor-el said

Do you see encrypted login data in logins.json if you open the file in a Firefox tab?

oh... So my problem is basically solved. I can see all the passwords now, but I don't get why when i open "Logins and passwords" its empty (i don't really care tho just curious, i can manually save the files now that i have access to the passwords). Thank you , btw.

Did you place the logins.json and key4.db files in the Firefox profile folder with Firefox closed?

Yes.

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

yuh i actually had to open that file multiply times while trying to solved my problem.

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I am unable to find any of the files that allow me to export passwords to a new computer ... I need help fast this pc is on life support. I am not seeing an old windows folder in C:

Modified by the.paul.falconi

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What type of system is on the computer?

logins.json and key3.db [v58+]key4.db : These are the password files. Copy Both !

You would be better off copying the whole profile.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-run-firefox-when-profile-missing-inaccessible

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox#Navigating_to_the_profile_folder

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles


Copy the profile folder As-Is to a folder on a thumb drive. Then Copy the folder to the new system.

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Thanks for your response .... it is that less friendly MS10 OS ... when I did an explorer search on c:, I could not find them ... I would not have ever removed a firefox profile, since I have been trusting Mozilla for the last 10 years and distrusting MS for at least 20. I will try to locate those again, but do not believe I will find them, and if I do they may be very old. I have in the past exported Firefox pw's but it seems far more complex than before. Not sure what makes sense any more. Also, I can easily navigate to the correct sub root drive ... but I can not even find things like old windows

Modified by the.paul.falconi

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By default Windows hides certain files & folders from the user; you need to show those files & folders. See this: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14201/windows-show-hidden-files

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Many thanks, I found them ... took some effort because MS decided I needed an upgrade which took multiple hours, I have copied them to a stick and hopefully will get them on the new computer. will let you know if it works.

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Good. Overwrite the current files with the recovered files.

In the event that the passwords information is lost, you should record all information in a separate text file somewhere else on your hard drive, or written down. You can easily copy and paste if you need to do so. If you are concerned about someone else looking at that file, you can compress it using a password.

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one last question ... where should they be copied?

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

See also:

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Thanks, I copied the file to a usb stick and replaced the files on the new pc with the ones copied and stored on the usb stick There did not appear havet any of the saved passwords stored on the old pc transferred to the new pc ... am i still missing something?

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Can you give more detail?

What files did you copy and to what location?

Did you copy more files?

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I copied logins.json and key3.db key4.db from my old pc to the directory they exist upon on my new pc ...C:\Users\Paul\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\2z1opiaq.default

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Do they have the same creation date?

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My apologies the directory in which the copied files were stored was C:\Users\Paul\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\7w7nohy0.default-1525213151222

key dates 11/15/2018 logins files 8/31/19

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You normally only need logins.json and key4.db. Older Firefox versions used key3.db for the key file (encryption key and master password). Note that you shouldn't transfer files like prefs.js and pkcs11.txt (secmode.db).

Also make sure Firefox is closed when you copy files.

This is a profile you created quite a while back and may not be the most recent profile. *1525213151222 => Tue 01 May 2018 22:19:11 GMT

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

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I guess the bottom line is that there is no easy way to buy a new a pc and transfer saved passwords from firefox easily ... having been in IT since the 80's (obviously mainframe) I have a better chance of getting this right than most people and after days of effort on an intermittent basis am no closer ... since I will have to import saved passwords manually, it hurts to say I won't be doing it in the browser I have been using for over 10 years. Looks like it is time to move on to a more user friendly platform. Thanks for your help in any case.