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Shutdown and start on Mac, lost all booksmarks, add-ons, settings; where can i find them?

  • 4 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by ccgreen

ccgreen
ccgreen
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on a shutdown and then start on my Mac - EVERYTHING in Firefox: all my tabs, settings, add-ons, history, bookmarks GONE.... I do have back-up on external drive, but not sure where the files live, and how to go about restoring from this back0up. I have a Mac: OSX Version 10.9.4; Firefox 31.0. Any help would be greatly appreciated. - thank you.

on a shutdown and then start on my Mac - EVERYTHING in Firefox: all my tabs, settings, add-ons, history, bookmarks GONE.... I do have back-up on external drive, but not sure where the files live, and how to go about restoring from this back0up. I have a Mac: OSX Version 10.9.4; Firefox 31.0. Any help would be greatly appreciated. - thank you.

All Replies (4)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Is Firefox creating a new default profile on every start?

A possible cause is a problem with the profiles.ini file.

  • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/

You may have to check the permissions of this file or the folder where it is stored to make sure that you have write permission.

Note that in Mac OS X v10.7 and later, the ~/Library folder is a hidden folder.

You can try to restore older files/folders from the Time Machine if you use it.

You can use this button to go to the currently used Firefox profile folder:

  • Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)

You can use one of these to make Firefox create/use a new default profile:

  • Delete the profiles.ini file to force Firefox to create a new default profile
  • Use the Profile Manager to create a new profile
  • Use "Choose Folder" when you create a new profile to select the location of a lost profile and recover this profile

See also:

FredMcD
FredMcD
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These can't get your data back, but will help in the future.

These add-ons can be a great help by backing up and restoring Firefox

FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) {web link} FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions, history, passwords, and more. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your saved files individually into installable .xpi files. It will also make backup of files that you choose.

OPIE {web link} Import/Export extension preferences

ccgreen
ccgreen Question owner
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Much appreciated. Will definitely use this is the future; Working on restoring what I can w/ Genius bar tomorrow. thx again

ccgreen
ccgreen Question owner
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Will be taking info to Genius bar tomorrow; Apple Care didn't do such a great job today. But will restore what I can - then back-up w/ the extensions. thx for taking the time