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Bookmarks etc are not syncing after Windows reinstallation

Jason (Personal)
Jason (Personal)
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Hi. My hard disk recently corrupt. Today I've been reinstalling Windows 10 etc (on a different HD). I just installed Firefox and signed-in to retrieve my bookmarks, add-ons etc, however, despite syncing, it's not retrieving anything. I fear my bookmarks etc are lost/overwritten? How can I get them back?

Thanks.

Hi. My hard disk recently corrupt. Today I've been reinstalling Windows 10 etc (on a different HD). I just installed Firefox and signed-in to retrieve my bookmarks, add-ons etc, however, despite syncing, it's not retrieving anything. I fear my bookmarks etc are lost/overwritten? How can I get them back? Thanks.

Chosen solution

I would think that is the case. Gone. You do not mention another device it is syncing with so : It appears from your question, that you are using Firefox Sync as a back up service. This is not what Sync is designed to do. The Firefox Sync service takes a copy of the data you wish to include and transfers it to a second device (typically a mobile device such as a tablet or a telephone) running a copy of Firefox. The storage in between all attached devices is both temporary and fragile and is not stable enough to be (and is not designed as) a reliable backup service.

If you have a copy of your Firefox profile for desktop Firefox, you may be able to recover your bookmarks and other data. Please have a read of this article.

If you have a copy of your data on a mobile version of Firefox, please follow these instructions to connect it to Firefox Sync to copy your data. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-set-sync-my-computer#w_connect-additional-devices-to-sync_

Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.

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All Replies (2)

Shadow110
Shadow110
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Chosen Solution

I would think that is the case. Gone. You do not mention another device it is syncing with so : It appears from your question, that you are using Firefox Sync as a back up service. This is not what Sync is designed to do. The Firefox Sync service takes a copy of the data you wish to include and transfers it to a second device (typically a mobile device such as a tablet or a telephone) running a copy of Firefox. The storage in between all attached devices is both temporary and fragile and is not stable enough to be (and is not designed as) a reliable backup service.

If you have a copy of your Firefox profile for desktop Firefox, you may be able to recover your bookmarks and other data. Please have a read of this article.

If you have a copy of your data on a mobile version of Firefox, please follow these instructions to connect it to Firefox Sync to copy your data. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-set-sync-my-computer#w_connect-additional-devices-to-sync_

Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.

Jason (Personal)
Jason (Personal) Question owner
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Thanks. I managed to recover the places.sqlite bookmarks file using some drive recovery software, and got my bookmarks back. :)