Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles

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  • Revision id: 147644
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  • Creator: AliceWyman
  • Comment: added Fx48 about:profiles screenshot for mac; still need for Linux
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  • Reviewed by: AliceWyman
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Firefox saves your personal information such as bookmarks, passwords, and user preferences in a set of files called your profile, which is stored in a separate location from the Firefox program files. You can have multiple Firefox profiles, each containing a separate set of user information. The Profile Manager allows you to create, remove, rename, and switch profiles.

Note: You normally don't need to create a new Firefox profile unless you are troubleshooting a specific problem with Firefox. The Refresh Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its default state while saving your essential information. Consider using it before going through a lengthy troubleshooting process.

Start the Profile Manager when Firefox is closed

  1. If Firefox is open, close Firefox: Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  2. Press Windows Key+R on the keyboard. A Run dialog will open.Click the Windows Start button and select Run....
  3. In the Run dialog box, type in:
    firefox.exe -P
    Note: You can use -P, -p or -ProfileManager (any of them should work).
  4. Click OK. The Firefox Profile Manager (Choose User Profile) window should open.
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Note: Another way to start the Profile Manager is from the Search box in the Windows Start menu. Close Firefox (if open), press Windows Key, type firefox.exe -P and press enter.
If the Profile Manager window does not appear, you may need to include the full path to the Firefox program, enclose that line in quotes, then add a space followed by -P. Examples:

Firefox (32-bit) on 64-bit Windows

  • "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P

Firefox (32-bit) on 32-bit Windows (or 64-bit Firefox on 64-bit Windows)

  • "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P
  1. If Firefox is open, close Firefox: Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  2. Using Finder navigate to /Applications/Utilities.
  3. Open the Terminal application.
  4. In the Terminal application, enter the following:
    /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox-bin -P
    Note: You can use -P, -p or -ProfileManager (any of them should work).
  5. Press Return. The Firefox Profile Manager (Choose User Profile) window should open.
Fx30ProfileManager-Mac

If Firefox is already included in your Linux distribution or if you have installed Firefox with the package manager of your Linux distribution:

  1. If Firefox is open, close Firefox: Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  2. In Terminal run:
    firefox -P

Note: The P is capitalized. Alternatively, you can use -ProfileManager instead of -P.
The Firefox Profile Manager (Choose User Profile) window should open.

Fx31ProfileManger-Lin
If the Profile Manager window still does not open, Firefox may have been running in the background, even though it was not visible. Close all instances of Firefox or restart the computer and then try again.

Creating a profile

After starting the Profile Manager as explained above, you can create a new, additional profile as follows:

  1. In the Profile Manager, click Create Profile... to start the Create Profile Wizard.
  2. Click Next and enter the name of the profile. Use a profile name that is descriptive, such as your personal name. This name is not exposed on the Internet.
    6e2d77cd857fa24e876097c4af69a4a9-1260153527-579-1.png
    6e2d77cd857fa24e876097c4af69a4a9-1238101167-976-2.jpg
  3. You can also choose where to store the profile on your computer. To choose its storage location, click Choose Folder....
    Warning: If you choose your own folder location for the profile, select a new or empty folder. If you choose a folder that isn't empty and you later remove the profile and choose the "Delete Files" option, everything inside that folder will be deleted.
  4. To create the new profile, click FinishDone.

You will be taken back to the Profile Manager window where you can either start Firefox or exit the Profile Manager.

Note: If you want the Profile Manager to appear the next time you start Firefox, remove the checkmark from the box, "Use the selected profile without asking at startup". Otherwise, the selected profile will be used automatically.

Removing a profile

After starting the Profile Manager as explained above, you can remove an existing profile as follows:

  1. In the Profile Manager, select the profile to remove, and click Delete Profile....
  2. Confirm that you wish to delete the profile:

    6e2d77cd857fa24e876097c4af69a4a9-1260152566-432-4.png


    6e2d77cd857fa24e876097c4af69a4a9-1238101167-976-3.jpg
    • Don't Delete Files removes the profile from the Profile Manager yet retains the profile data files on your computer in the storage folder, so that your information is not lost. "Don't Delete Files" is the preferred option because it saves the old profile's folder and allows you to recover the files to a new profile.
    • Delete Files removes the profile and its files, including the profile bookmarks, settings, passwords, etc.
      Warning: If you use the "Delete Files" option, the profile folder and files will be deleted. This action cannot be undone.
    • Cancel interrupts the profile deletion.

Renaming a profile

After starting the Profile Manager as explained above, you can rename a profile as follows:

  1. In the Profile Manager, select the profile to rename, and then click Rename Profile....
  2. Enter the new name for the profile. Type in the new profile name, and click on OK.
    • Note: The folder containing the files for the profile is not renamed.

Manage profiles when Firefox is open

Type about:profiles into the Firefox address bar and choose from the following options:

fx46aboutprofilesFx48aboutprofilesFx48aboutprofiles-Mac

Create a new profile: Click Create a New Profile and follow the steps in the Creating a profile section above to add a new profile.

To manage profiles, find the profile you want to change and choose from the buttons underneath it:

  • Rename: Click this to change the name of a profile in the Profile Manager. Note: The folder containing the files for the profile is not renamed.
  • Remove: Click this to delete a profile. (The profile in use cannot be deleted.) Warning: This cannot be undone. See the Removing a profile section above for more information.
  • Set as default profile: Click this to make Firefox use this profile at startup, unless you switch to a different profile.
  • Launch profile in new browser: When you click this button, another Firefox window will open using that profile, if you started Firefox with the -no-remote command line option. Otherwise, another Firefox window will open in the current profile in use.
Note: The Profile Manager options described below are not available when you manage profiles with Firefox open.

Options

These options are only available when you start the Profile Manager with Firefox closed.

Work Offline

Choosing this option loads the selected profile and starts Firefox without connecting to the Internet. You can view previously viewed web pages and experiment with your profile.

Use the selected profile without asking at startup

When you have multiple profiles, this option tells Firefox what to do at startup:

  • If you check this option, Firefox will automatically load the selected profile at startup. To access other profiles, you must start the Profile Manager first.
  • If you uncheck this option, Firefox will show you the Profile Manager each time you start Firefox, so that you can select a profile to use.

Moving a profile

To copy all of your Firefox data and settings to another Firefox installation (e.g. when you get a new computer), you need to make a backup of your Firefox profile, then restore it in your new location.

Recovering information from an old profile

If you have important information from an old Firefox profile, such as bookmarks, passwords, or user preferences, you can transfer that information to a new Firefox profile by copying the associated files.