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Proliferating bookmarks

rowan
rowan
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I have several different computers running different versions of Windows (8.1 AND 10). I started having a problem yesterday where all then suddenly there were probably 100 or more Mozilla firefox bookmark folders.

I had installed the Linkanator addon a couple of days before so I removed it. I also deleted the places.sqlite file. There were actually several of them .old and .something else.

When I turned one of my computers back on today, there were the Mozilla folders again. I deleted the places.sqlite file again (now there was only one), and restarted firefox.

Within 15 minutes I noticed that all of my bookmarks had been replicated on my toolbar so I deleted the extras.

After running for about 30 minutes, they have not started replicating again, but I have little confidence that they will not.

Can someone help me resolve this?

Running FF 44.0.2

I have several different computers running different versions of Windows (8.1 AND 10). I started having a problem yesterday where all then suddenly there were probably 100 or more Mozilla firefox bookmark folders. I had installed the Linkanator addon a couple of days before so I removed it. I also deleted the places.sqlite file. There were actually several of them .old and .something else. When I turned one of my computers back on today, there were the Mozilla folders again. I deleted the places.sqlite file again (now there was only one), and restarted firefox. Within 15 minutes I noticed that all of my bookmarks had been replicated on my toolbar so I deleted the extras. After running for about 30 minutes, they have not started replicating again, but I have little confidence that they will not. Can someone help me resolve this? Running FF 44.0.2

All Replies (3)

FredMcD
FredMcD
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Are you using sync? Shut it down for all devices until the problem is gone. Once the problem is fixed, do the same on all systems before running sync.

Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web Link} by holding down the <Shift>
(Mac=Options) key, and then starting Firefox. Is the problem still there?

rowan
rowan Question owner
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Yes, I am running sync. I will turn it off and see what happens,

I am trying this solution.

the-edmeister
the-edmeister
  • Moderator
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Any chance you are using Sync with either Firefox for Android or Firefox for iOS, along with Laptop / Desktop computers?

If so, I strongly suspect that corruption of your bookmarks might be related to "mobile" Firefox. My thoughts are that the different separate Bookmarks Toolbar folders used on "Mobile" devices is corrupting data on the Sync server and causing duplication of bookmarks on the Laptop / Desktop versions of Firefox. Did you check for duplicates in the Bookmarks Menu folder or duplicates of the Unsorted Bookmarks folder?

Regardless of whether a "Mobile" device is on that Sync account or not ... When going to fix that "duplication" problem, make sure that you reset your Firefox Account / Sync password before re-connecting any device to Sync. https://accounts.firefox.com/reset_password That will delete the data which is on the Sync server, giving you a fresh start with Sync; thus dumping the corrupt data there.

Use the Places Maintenance extension to "clean" the places.sqlite file where bookmarks & browsing history are stored. That should fis the corruption on the device it is used on. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/places-maintenance/

And if that corruption has propagated to your other devices run Places Maintenance on those devices, too. If you skip either the Sync password reset or skip one device, the corruption may reoccur.