Profile Problems
Hello,
I've used Firefox for many years. Long story short I have a new computer and was looking to keep my passwords bookmarks etc. so I looked up how to find them and saved the two folders to an external HD before my old computer was wiped. In trying to get them imported into Firefox on my new computer I thought I'd just erase the ones in the current folder and replace them with the other files. Well that didn't work. Now Firefox won't load as it says it can't find my profile. So I erased Firefox and tried to reinstall but it still won't open and says it can't find the profile even after I erased and reinstalled. I understand the problem I caused but not how to start fresh and import my old settings. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
-rob
الحل المُختار
Hi Rob, in the hierarchy of folders that Firefox creates, there is an index file that Firefox uses to find your profile folder. You need to educate Firefox about the presence of the alien folder. Here is how.
As the first step, can you "undelete" or restore the profile folder you deleted so Firefox can get up and running? If not, use the steps in the following article to create a new profile for that purpose:
How to run Firefox when your profile is missing or inaccessible
Once you can run Firefox with a default/empty profile, the next step is to help Firefox find the folder you copied over.
(1) Find the name of your old profile
When viewing the folder in Finder, that's the part to the right of the dot. For example, in this case, it would be default:
ab2564z6.default
You need the new profile name to match the old one in order for Firefox to regain use of your extensions and their data.
(2) Configure Firefox to use the old profile
Inside Firefox, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it.
- Click the "Create a New Profile" button, then click Next.
- Assign the old profile name (for example, default) and Firefox should show a proposed folder name with a new random part.
- Click the "Choose Folder..." button and using the Finder window that pops up to select the old profile folder you copy/pasted so that Firefox picks up the full old name.
- Back in Firefox, click the Done button.
After creating a new profile, Firefox usually makes it your default profile (for external links and the next startup). To test, scroll down to it and click the Launch profile in new browser button.
Did it work?
If so, you're done.
If not, you can close that window without affecting your regular Firefox profile and change back to the profile you started with before this experiment. Click the Set as Default Profile button below your fresh profile.
Read this answer in context 👍 1All Replies (3)
الحل المُختار
Hi Rob, in the hierarchy of folders that Firefox creates, there is an index file that Firefox uses to find your profile folder. You need to educate Firefox about the presence of the alien folder. Here is how.
As the first step, can you "undelete" or restore the profile folder you deleted so Firefox can get up and running? If not, use the steps in the following article to create a new profile for that purpose:
How to run Firefox when your profile is missing or inaccessible
Once you can run Firefox with a default/empty profile, the next step is to help Firefox find the folder you copied over.
(1) Find the name of your old profile
When viewing the folder in Finder, that's the part to the right of the dot. For example, in this case, it would be default:
ab2564z6.default
You need the new profile name to match the old one in order for Firefox to regain use of your extensions and their data.
(2) Configure Firefox to use the old profile
Inside Firefox, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it.
- Click the "Create a New Profile" button, then click Next.
- Assign the old profile name (for example, default) and Firefox should show a proposed folder name with a new random part.
- Click the "Choose Folder..." button and using the Finder window that pops up to select the old profile folder you copy/pasted so that Firefox picks up the full old name.
- Back in Firefox, click the Done button.
After creating a new profile, Firefox usually makes it your default profile (for external links and the next startup). To test, scroll down to it and click the Launch profile in new browser button.
Did it work?
If so, you're done.
If not, you can close that window without affecting your regular Firefox profile and change back to the profile you started with before this experiment. Click the Set as Default Profile button below your fresh profile.
Amazing! Thankyou so so much! I hosed it all up and you perfectly walked me through the fix! The only part I had to do differently (or maybe I misunderstood directions, covid haze is real) is the naming of the new profile. as my old imported profile had never been named it was "default" so when i tried using it for new profile it said I had to pick another name as Firefox had just created a profile named default upon install. but changed the name to something else and linked to my old folder and bang-go. Thanks again! -rob
Hi Rob, thanks for reporting back. When the name doesn't match for one reason or another, some data stored by add-ons might be lost, but everything else should be fine.