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bookmarks missing

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by cor-el

retta13
retta13
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I had a bunch of bookmarks that I've accumulated over the years, and now for no reason, they're all gone. Apple couldn't help, and the RESTORE feature didn't help.

Please help. This is YEARS of bookmarks that I trusted would always be there so that I could access important websites.

I had a bunch of bookmarks that I've accumulated over the years, and now for no reason, they're all gone. Apple couldn't help, and the RESTORE feature didn't help. Please help. This is YEARS of bookmarks that I trusted would always be there so that I could access important websites.

All Replies (3)

FredMcD
FredMcD
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http://kb.mozillazine.org/Unable_to_process_the_backup_file_-_Firefox

jscher2000 has a tool on his website to extract out your bookmarks and save them to an HTML-format bookmark export file. If you want to try it, here is the page:

https://www.jeffersonscher.com/res/bookbackreader.html

To open the bookmarkbackups folder in Finder, use the "Open in Finder" button in the first table on the Troubleshooting Information page, and double-click into bookmarkbackups where you should see several dated files. From there you can drag and drop onto the conversion tool.

To import the HTML file, see the steps in this article: Import Bookmarks from an HTML file.

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Hi retta13, what happend when you tried to use the Restore feature? For example:

  • No files listed other than the current date
  • Error message -- what was the message?
  • Silent failure (nothing new appeared)

Did the problem occur immediately after updating from Firefox 66 to Firefox 67? Firefox 67 created a new default profile (settings folder) and the migration could have hit a glitch. To check on that:

If you haven't already, could you quit out of Firefox and do a normal MacOS X shutdown and restart to complete any pending updates and release any file locks.

If Firefox again starts up without your data, could you check whether your stuff is available in a different profile, as follows:

Profile Manager Page

Inside Firefox, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it.

This page should list at least one profile and could list many. Please do not use any Remove buttons!

The profile that Firefox is currently using will have this:

This is the profile in use and it cannot be deleted.

Do you have another profile named default or default-longnumber listed on this page? If so, you can check whether it is the one you were using recently by clicking its Launch profile in new browser button.

If it isn't what you want, simply close that new window.

If it IS what you want, back on the about:profiles page, click the Set as default profile button for that profile so Firefox uses it automatically at the next startup.

Any progress so far, or do we need to keep looking for your data in some other places?

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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If you use the Time Machine or other backup then try to restore file(s) from this backup.

You can use the button on the "Help -> Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page.