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when i close my firefox on my MAC.. i lose my pinned tabs.. how do i fix this.

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how do i save them when i "x: out of firefox

how do i save them when i "x: out of firefox

Chosen solution

On Mac you need to make sure that the window with the pinned tabs is still open when you Quit the Firefox application. If you first close all windows and then close Firefox then you lose your pinned tabs and regular tabs. In that case you can check "History -> Recently Closed Windows" for possible windows.

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All Replies (7)

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Hi Arthur, pinned tabs should be saved in the Session History file (sessionstore.jsonlz4) so Firefox can reload them at the next startup.

Could you make sure that your Firefox is not clearing history at shutdown? There are a few relevant settings:

(1) Automatic Private Browsing

History, including session history, is not retained for pinned tabs in private windows.

  • Mac: "3-bar" menu button (or Firefox menu) > Preferences
  • Windows: "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Options
  • Linux: "3-bar" menu button (or Edit menu) > Preferences
  • Any system: type or paste about:preferences into the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it

In the left column, click Privacy & Security, then scroll down to the History section. Either of these will invoke automatic private browsing -- make sure they are NOT selected:

  • Firefox will: Never remember history
  • Firefox will: Use custom settings for history + "Always use private browsing mode"

(2) Not remembering history.

With

  • Firefox will: Use custom settings for history

make sure this box is checked:

[X] "Remember browsing and download history"

(3) Firefox is set to Clear History When it Closes and that includes History

With

  • Firefox will: Use custom settings for history

make sure this box is NOT checked:

[_] "Clear history when Firefox closes"

Or if it is checked, click the Settings button to the right of it and make sure to confirm that History is not being cleared:

[_] "Browsing & Download History"

(4) External software

Some utility or privacy software may clean out browser history. If you use CCleaner, Advanced SystemCare or other third party programs that touch browser data, set them not to touch Firefox data.

Can we rule out those potential causes of the problem?

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Oh, on Mac, Firefox doesn't quit automatically when you X the last window. Maybe that's the problem. Could you try it this way:

Keep the last window open and use the menu, either:

  • (menu bar) Firefox > Quit
  • "3-bar" menu button > Quit

Or if you do use X, at the next startup, restore your previous session and re-open the last closed window from the History menu. Either:

  • (menu bar)
    • History > Restore Previous Session
    • History > Recently Closed Windows
  • "3-bar" menu button
    • Restore Previous Session
    • Library > History > Recently Closed Windows

Can you get them back that way?

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Note that on Mac the most likely cause is using "Clear history when Firefox closes" to clear the history. Clearing history this way includes clearing pinned tabs and no sessionstore.jsonlz4 is created (this file stores the pinned tabs).

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I will just quit out of firefox. I only get that issue when click the "X". but i will just quit moving forward... thanks Guys... trying to move away from Chrome...

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Chosen Solution

On Mac you need to make sure that the window with the pinned tabs is still open when you Quit the Firefox application. If you first close all windows and then close Firefox then you lose your pinned tabs and regular tabs. In that case you can check "History -> Recently Closed Windows" for possible windows.

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Maybe we can simply in the next update implement normal in other OSes behavior close last window means close the browser?

Or maybe on start page at the bottom show button to "Restore previous window" which after restore close current empty window?

Modified by Mellonedain

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Maybe as a short term workaround someone could create an add-on for Mac users that re-opens the last closed window automatically as a reminder to use Quit? I don't know whether that is possible, and I don't have a Mac to test on.

Well, it was a thought.