Did you get this message and is anyone working on it? Please help! :-)

Did you already update to 127.0.2 as some issues have been fixed with the latest updates ?

• Help -> About Firefox

See this thread for possible steps you can try to recover tabs lost after updating.

• /questions/1449541 Firefox 127 does not restore previous session and did not display bookmarks

I have no idea if I have updated to 127.0.2. All I do know is that until this morning 6/26/2024 everything was working fine. I also know that up until this morning all my tabs were always there when I logged onto Firefox, everyday. I periodically get a message saying there is an update that I can run now or wait until hours that I am not using my computer and it will run automatedly. This morning I agreed to let it run immediately. Please, I need some simple help to get my tabs back.

Is someone still working on my problem? :-)

Is someone still working on my missing tabs problem?

Yes, I did update to 127.0.2. I just googled to find out how to tell if I had. So, I still need to get my tabs back - pleaseeeeee! 🥴

Hi Mary, there was a problem with the original Firefox 127.0 release where -- if you canceled the Primary Password prompt at startup -- Firefox ignored your session and started up in a broken state. That should not be happening in Firefox 127.0.1 or later, but if it sounds familiar, that might have been the cause of the problem.

I assume you already checked the following, but I'll mention them just in case:

Could you check whether either of these are available (not hidden 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

Anything there?

Do you recall either of these during your startup?

(A) Firefox saying it needed to create a new profile (B) Performing a Tune-up (Refresh/Reset)?

In case (A), Firefox would look like a completely new installation, so you would remember pretty clearly.

In case (B), Firefox would migrate most of your data, but clear various settings and remove your add-ons. Your old data is moved to your Windows desktop inside an Old Firefox Data folder.

If neither of those is applicable:

You may need to do some file swaps to get Firefox to read your older session history at startup. Here's how:

(1) 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 > More Troubleshooting Information
• (menu bar) Help > More 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 (usually it's the one with default-release in the name).

(2) Back up 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) Substitute session history files

The two files most likely to contain your lost tabs are:

• previous.jsonlz4: the windows and tabs in your last Firefox session as of the time Firefox failed to restore them, assuming you haven't already started a new session
• upgrade.jsonlz4-20240624183754 (this number may vary, but it should start with 20240624 or for the previous update 20240618): the windows and tabs in the Firefox session that was live at the time of your last update

Choose one to try and -- with Firefox closed:

(A) Right-click recovery.jsonlz4 and rename to recoveryOLD.jsonlz4 (B) Single-click the file you want to restore (previous... or upgrade...) to select it (C) Copy the file using Ctrl+C (D) Paste the file using Ctrl+V (the new file is named something along the lines of "previous - Copy.jsonlz4") (E) Right-click the new file and rename to recovery.jsonlz4

Before restarting Firefox, click up a level in the address bar to the main level of the profile folder. If you find a sessionstore.jsonlz4 file, rename it to sessionstoreOLD.jsonlz4 to hide it from Firefox.

At the next startup, Firefox should automatically use or let you restore the substitute recovery.jsonlz4.

Success?

Optional File Contents Preview

These compressed files are a pain to view, so I created a tool on my website to list out their contents. If you want to try that, you can drag and drop it onto the large box on the following page, 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.

Hi! Thanks sooooo much for trying to help me! I got as far as (3) substitute files. I found the upgrade.jsonlz4-20240624183754 from 6/26/2024 when I first lost my tabs and upgrade.jsonlz4-20240606181944 from 6/14/2024. Which one is the safest to use? OK from here I am a little confused as to what I need to do next. I don't want to do the wrong thing and lose the tabs. I believe this will work if I can follow your instructions but I'm not sure I understand them. Would it be possible to talk on the phone and have you lead me through the next steps? Would you be willing to send me a phone number I could call you on and a good time. Again I really appreciate the time you are taking to help me!! Mary 😀

Like posted above at the end of that lengthily reply.

You can look at this tool to inspect a compressed jsonlz4 sessionstore file to see whether they have the desired tabs. This tool works locally, no uploading done.

• https://www.jeffersonscher.com/res/scrounger.html