
Lost Sync Data after computer reset.
Hello there. I had to recently wipe my computer on 4/12/2025. I forgot to sync my bookmarks and passwords. Is there any way I can possibly get these back? I don't know how far back Mozilla itself keeps files, I've been told they do but I'm not sure how far back.
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Your Firefox browser data is stored locally on your computer, and the Sync service creates a private copy of selected categories of data in Mozilla's Sync cloud. If you never signed your Firefox in to your Mozilla Account to sync data, then probably you are out-of-luck unless you have backups of your computer.
You say you wiped your computer -- did you format the disk? If you used the built-in Windows Reset feature, your data might have been saved in a temporary folder named
C:\Windows.old
If you have that folder -- it gets deleted after 28 days, so please check ASAP -- turn on viewing of hidden files and folders --
-- and explore up the path to
C:\Windows.old\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox
Is there data there? If so, we can suggest how to restore this to the new locations.
I did. It didn't create Windows.old. That was the first thing I checked for. I told Firefox to sync before I wiped my computer and it told me it did so. I used the built in Windows Reset and it didn't save any of that information, unfortunately.
Aha, so now that you are signed in to your Mozilla Account in your new installation of Firefox, you can check what is available in the Sync cloud using this method:
Install the About Sync add-on:
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/about-sync/
After you install the add-on, you can type or paste about:sync in the address bar and press Enter to load it. The page shows each category of data currently found in the Sync cloud.
Anything listed under bookmarks or crypto?
It shows things under bookmarks and crypto but nothing is dated before the 12th of April. Just the 13th and 14th.
The other choices with a Windows Reset are to save your data "in place" or to delete it. If the data was saved in place, it may be in a different profile. You could take a look at the first section of the following article to look for older profiles: Recover lost or missing Bookmarks.
I checked and the other profile there had absolutely nothing on it. I tried all the other options on there too. None had any effect.
Thank you for the help, Jscher2000.
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