Settings / Privacy & Security / Cookies & Site Data .... look at the Box... "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed". IF Box NOT chk'd I have no clue unless you have a 3rd party Ext that does it.

The box that says delete cookies when Firefox is closed is NOT CHECKED - it has never been checked - I don't want cookies deleted every time I close. I used the computer early in the day and then turned it off and left the house. When I turned it back on in the afternoon, all my user names and passwords were gone and had to have codes sent to me to get into everything, the bank, credit cards, coupons.com, google email, Food Lion, etc. Everything was wiped out. There was no one else here. I use Windows 10, desktop computer, Firefox 120.0 (64 bit).

Question 1: Firefox occasionally updates. Is it possible there is an update somewhere that changed something or caused the computer to clear the cache on its own?

Question 2: In the case my computer was hacked, DO COMPUTER HACKERS USUALLY CLEAR THE CACHE AFTER THEY HACK SOMEONE'S COMPUTER?

thanks, Barb

The box that says delete cookies when Firefox is closed is NOT CHECKED - it has never been checked - I don't want cookies deleted every time I close.

Hi Barb, it sounds like this was a one-time occurrence. Firefox may have started up without your regular data if either:

(A) The Firefox Refresh feature ran. The tell-tale sign is a new folder on your Windows desktop named Old Firefox Data. Do you see any folder with that name?

(B) Firefox wasn't able to launch your regular profile, so it created a new one. Check the steps in the first section of this article to search for your old data in a different profile: Recover lost or missing Bookmarks.

If this happens EVERY time you quit and restart Firefox, could you also check the History section, further down the page:

Settings > Privacy & Security > History

By default, this is set to "Firefox will: Remember History"

If yours is set to "Firefox will: Use custom settings for history" is the box checked for "Clear history when Firefox closes"? One of the categories of "history" that Firefox can clear when this feature is turned on is cookies. You can use the Settings button to deselect cookies if you want to delete other types of history.

If yours is set to "Firefox will: Never remember history" then Firefox is using only private windows which do not write cookies to disk.

Question 1: Firefox occasionally updates. Is it possible there is an update somewhere that changed something or caused the computer to clear the cache on its own?

Glitches are possible, but normally updates do not erase data.

Question 2: In the case my computer was hacked, DO COMPUTER HACKERS USUALLY CLEAR THE CACHE AFTER THEY HACK SOMEONE'S COMPUTER?

I would be guessing, since I've never heard of that one way or the other. If I wanted to cover my tracks, I would delete the new history entries, but probably not the cookies. Of course, it makes sense to change passwords to sensitive accounts and check for unexpected activity.

A - No there is NOT a folder on the desktop or anywhere else I can find that says Old Firefox Data.

B - I clicked on your link that says Recover lost or missing bookmarks - really complicated stuff for my computer skills but I don’t see anything there my limited brain can connect to.

I just turned the computer off for an hour and then back on and does not seem to have happened again. The passwords are still there for everything I checked earlier.

Settings > Privacy & Security > History - Under History is set for Use custom settings for History, Always use private browsing mode is NOT checked, Remember browsing and download IS checked, and Remember Search and Form IS checked, Clear history when Firefox closes is NOT checked.

These are the same settings always there. Default settings. I have not changed any of these settings. I never change anything because every time I do I screw things up. As long as things are working well there’s no reason to change anything. My motto, If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Can’t remember when anything like this has ever happened before, that the cache was cleared and I didn’t do it. I am quite perplexed.

Question 3: Is there someplace in the computer I can go to see if the cache was cleared this afternoon? If it was cleared, wouldn’t there be a date and time somewhere that says so? Maybe then I could see what happened.

If you have any other ideas, please throw them at me. So knowing what you know now, what do you think happened?

Thanks again so much, Barb

Visit about:profiles in the address bar and see if there are other profiles on your system.

Use one of these to close Firefox if you are currently doing that by clicking the close X on the Firefox Title bar, especially if you have multiple windows or Private Browsing windows open to prevent losing tabs in unnoticed windows.

• "3-bar" menu button -> Exit (Power button)
• Windows: File -> Exit
• Mac: Firefox -> Quit Firefox
• Linux: File -> Quit

I found a profile folder by typing about:profiles in the address window, opened one of these and there's a lot of stuff, is there something particular I should look for? Each has an open folder tab. This is beyond my computer knowledge.

This is the profile in use and it cannot be deleted. Default profile Yes. Root directory C:\Users\Barba\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\jfvjkixj.default-release

Local directory C:\Users\Barba\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\jfvjkixj.default-release

Profile default No

Root directory C:\Users\Barba\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\4ilpy41p.default

Local directory C:\Users\Barba\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\4ilpy41p.default

Hi Barb, it looks like you have a second profile named "default" (the one you are using is named "default-release"). To see whether "default" has been set up, click the "Launch profile in new browser" button below the directory paths and it should open in a new window. I suspect it's something you haven't used before, unless you've been using Firefox since before version 67.

You can check compatibility.ini in a profile in a text editor to see what Firefox version last used this profile.

I don't remember how I got to that point, I've been following directions, but I'm over my head with this stuff and not comfortable clicking on anything or opening up something new. Every time I do, I get myself into something and screw things up. So I don't think I'm going any further with this, clicking on this and clicking on that. Is this an explanation as to how the computer cleared the cache by itself? I didn't do it. Or did someone hack my computer? What do you think?

I don't know what that is or how to do it. So I appreciate all the help everyone is trying to give me. But I've come to a point where I'm not going to keep clicking on things or I will screw up the computer. My original question was how did my computer clear the cache on its own. Have you seen anything so far that leads you to believe you might know? I tend to think it was hacked. Or else Firefox sent out an update, I get those all the time, and the update included something to clear the cache. They shouldn't do that if they did. What do you think so far with what you've seen? I appreciate your help.

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

• Help -> More Troubleshooting Information -> Profile Folder/Directory:
  Windows: Open Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data

Primary location used for the main profile that keeps your personal data (Root Directory on about:profiles) in a hidden location in "AppData\Roaming".

• C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data

I got as far as Windows: Open folder and I don't understand what all that other stuff is you typed after that. I don't know what I'm supposed to be looking for. So I appreciate all your help but I'm going to drop this now before I do any real damage. So I'm closing this out now. Thanks again, Barb