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My profile is missing so Firefox won't open at all. How do I reset it then?

  • 3 replies
  • 9 have this problem
  • 796 views
  • Last reply by GPStyne

ckayle
ckayle

I had been using Firefox for a while off and on, but was using a different browser as my main one. Now that that browser is outdated and there's no update available, I wanted to switch to Firefox permanently. Since all of my bookmarks are only updated on my old browser, I thought it would be much easier to just uninstall and reinstall Firefox and automatically carry over my bookmarks (since it did that the first time a while ago). While looking up how to install it, I came across something that said the bookmarks are stored in a "profile" which needed to be deleted in order to be reset. I followed the instructions to delete my profile, and then uninstalled and reinstalled Firefox.

NOW, I go to open my newly installed Firefox and a window comes up that says: "Your Firefox profile can't be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible." ...Well, I wanted to start over completely, so of course I don't have a profile anymore. But my only option now is to click out of that window, and Firefox just disappears. No way to access anything on Firefox, no options, no anything so all of the so called "solutions" I've seen (IE: resetting the profile... I can't do that either!) are impossible for me to do.

All I wanted to do was start over completely with Firefox which seemed like a very simple solution and has now turned into a hassle and an unusable browser. How can I reset or create a new profile without being IN Firefox to do it? Was deleting my profile a mistake? If so, your help page is very misleading!

Someone please help. I really don't want to use ANOTHER browser.

Thank you!!

I had been using Firefox for a while off and on, but was using a different browser as my main one. Now that that browser is outdated and there's no update available, I wanted to switch to Firefox permanently. Since all of my bookmarks are only updated on my old browser, I thought it would be much easier to just uninstall and reinstall Firefox and automatically carry over my bookmarks (since it did that the first time a while ago). While looking up how to install it, I came across something that said the bookmarks are stored in a "profile" which needed to be deleted in order to be reset. I followed the instructions to delete my profile, and then uninstalled and reinstalled Firefox. NOW, I go to open my newly installed Firefox and a window comes up that says: "Your Firefox profile can't be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible." ...Well, I wanted to start over completely, so of course I don't have a profile anymore. But my only option now is to click out of that window, and Firefox just disappears. No way to access anything on Firefox, no options, no anything so all of the so called "solutions" I've seen (IE: resetting the profile... I can't do that either!) are impossible for me to do. All I wanted to do was start over completely with Firefox which seemed like a very simple solution and has now turned into a hassle and an unusable browser. How can I reset or create a new profile without being IN Firefox to do it? Was deleting my profile a mistake? If so, your help page is very misleading! Someone please help. I really don't want to use ANOTHER browser. Thank you!!

Chosen solution

A possible/likely cause is a problem with the profiles.ini file and the profile marked as Default=1 in this file is no longer present on the hard drive.

  • Windows: %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\
    C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\
  • Linux: ~/.mozilla/firefox/
  • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/

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
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All Replies (3)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Top 25 Contributor
  • Moderator

Chosen Solution

A possible/likely cause is a problem with the profiles.ini file and the profile marked as Default=1 in this file is no longer present on the hard drive.

  • Windows: %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\
    C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\
  • Linux: ~/.mozilla/firefox/
  • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/

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
ckayle
ckayle Question owner

Thank you SO much. Deleting the profiles.ini file worked! I appreciate it.

GPStyne
GPStyne

I'm having the same problem as the OP, I can't find that file "profiles.ini"

can't re-install firefox, deleted all files related to Mozilla and Firefox, still locked out by missing Firefox profile

I posted on my own problem recently w/ no response (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/search?a=1&asked_by=GPStyne&w=2), 

so far all posts on this support page have been confusing and I've been unable to find any of the things they spoke of trying to change it.

at this point I'm begrudgingly running Safari hoping someone can help me fix this, can't believe i can't just delete all and reinstall like a normal program/app