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Lost tabs

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I wouldn't be asking for help from a 'volunteer' if I didntt have to. I lost all of my Firefox tabs again (again!) today, in the last half hour. I can't 'restore the previous session'. I'm starting to feel pushed into giving up PC's altogether, with with problem of losing my Firefox session tabs after restarting my PC. Who needs PC devices/smart phones altogether. I'm feeling more and more stupid every time this happens. Why can't mozilla make Firefox robust enough that I can always get my previous session back. This time it happened for a new reason: Firefox had a new window open up when I restarted my PC, with an advertisement for a Disney movie. IF Mozilla is so smart, why can't they fix a problem like this? I see in the Mozilla knowledge base that people ask about this problem frequently.

[Profanity removed by moderator. Please read Mozilla Support rules and guidelines, thanks.]

<!-- Fuck!!! Fuck !!! FuCk!!! -->I wouldn't be asking for help from a 'volunteer' if I didntt have to. I lost all of my Firefox tabs again (again!) today, in the last half hour. I can't 'restore the previous session'. I'm starting to feel pushed into giving up PC's altogether, with with problem of losing my Firefox session tabs after restarting my PC. Who needs PC devices/smart phones altogether. I'm feeling more and more stupid every time this happens. Why can't mozilla make Firefox robust enough that I can always get my previous session back. This time it happened for a new reason: Firefox had a new window open up when I restarted my PC, with an advertisement for a Disney movie. <!-- Fuck!!! Fuck!!! Fuck!!! -->IF Mozilla is so smart, why can't they fix a problem like this? I see in the Mozilla knowledge base that people ask about this problem frequently. ''[Profanity removed by moderator. Please read [[Mozilla Support rules and guidelines]], thanks.]''

Izmjenjeno od strane Chris Ilias

All Replies (1)

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So these either are missing or grayed out?

  • "3-bar" menu button > History > Restore Previous Session
  • (menu bar) History > Restore Previous Session

If they are missing or grayed, check either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > History > Recently Closed Windows
  • "Library" toolbar button > History > Recently Closed Windows
  • (menu bar) History > Recently Closed Windows

Can you get back any accidentally closed windows?

If not, what were the circumstances leading up to the data loss?


If you have read other threads, you already know what Il will suggest next: back up all session history files left in your Firefox profile. Here's how:

Do not exit Firefox, or if you closed it, don't re-open it.

(1) To open your profile folder...

If Firefox is still running:

You can open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table on the page, find the Profile Folder row and click the "Open Folder" button. This should launch Windows' File Explorer listing the contents of your current profile folder.

If Firefox is closed:

Type or paste the following into the Windows Run dialog or the system search box and press Enter to launch Windows Explorer:

%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles


In that folder, do you see a semi-randomly-named folder? If so, click into it. If you find multiple such folders, find the one that was most recently updated.

(2) Copy out session history files

In your profile folder, double-click into the sessionstore-backups folder. Save all files here to a safe location such as your Documents folder.

(3) What files did you find?

The kinds of files you may find among your sessionstore files are:

  • recovery.jsonlz4: the windows and tabs in your currently live Firefox session (or, if Firefox crashed at the last shutdown and is still closed, your last session)
  • recovery.baklz4: a backup copy of recovery.jsonlz4
  • previous.jsonlz4: the windows and tabs in your last Firefox session
  • upgrade.jsonlz4-build_id: the windows and tabs in the Firefox session that was live at the time of your last update

Could you take a look at what you have and the date/time of the various files to see whether you think any of them would have the missing tabs?

To preview the contents of a file, you can drag and drop it onto a tool on my site, then click the "Scrounge URLs" button:

https://www.jeffersonscher.com/ffu/scrounger.html

If you don't get a list within 15 seconds, that probably means the script is caught in a loop. You may need to close the tab to avoid a tab crash and then try again in a new tab.

If you get a useful list, use the "Save List" button to archive it as a web page of clickable links for future reference, in case no other approach is successful.