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Having a dreadful time migrating my Firefox settings to new PC

  • 12 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 11 views
  • Last reply by hseibel2

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My profile folder is C:\Users\hseib\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\pftm4b0j.Default User. It is the only profile under "Profiles". When I open the file "pftm4b0j.Default User" it looks like all my data successfully migrated from my old PC. But when I launch Firefox, no bookmarks, no passwords, no add-ins, no nothing. Any help welcome.

My profile folder is C:\Users\hseib\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\pftm4b0j.Default User. It is the only profile under "Profiles". When I open the file "pftm4b0j.Default User" it looks like all my data successfully migrated from my old PC. But when I launch Firefox, no bookmarks, no passwords, no add-ins, no nothing. Any help welcome.

Chosen solution

I think this one is 64-bit Firefox for Windows:

[Install308046B0AF4A39CB]

I don't know what this one is, but if you could remove the profile path without causing a problem, it's not the installation of Firefox you are running:

[InstallE7CF176E110C211B]


Did you find these files in your backup or on your old computer, as the case may be:

jscher2000 said

If you go back to your source folder, can you find these files:
  • places.sqlite (bookmarks and history)
  • prefs.js (most settings)
  • logins.json (saved logins)
  • key4.db (decryption key for saved logins)
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All Replies (12)

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Hi, are you logged in under that Windows user? Most likely you are, but if not, that could explain it.

Could you check this page:

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. (Each profile has two folders and one or more buttons. 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.

Two questions:

(1) Does the Root directory for that profile match the path you want Firefox to be using?

(2) Are there any other profiles listed on the page?

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Thank you for the reply. The about:profiles page seems to be ok. It says:

Profile: Default User This is the profile in use and it cannot be deleted. Default Profile yes Root Directory C:\Users\hseib\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\pftm4b0j.Default User Local Directory C:\Users\hseib\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\pftm4b0j.Default User

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This profile should be listed in profiles.ini to make it possible for Firefox to use this profile, so it sounds that you didn't copy profiles.ini as well

You can edit profiles.ini or use the Profile Manager to create a new profile and use the Choose Folder button to register this profile.

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Hi hseibel2, perhaps something went wrong when you copied your old files into the Root Directory folder.

If you go back to your source folder, can you find these files:

  • places.sqlite (bookmarks and history)
  • prefs.js (most settings)
  • logins.json (saved logins)
  • key4.db (decryption key for saved logins)
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If you are logged into Firedfox on the old computer then your info should have synced. Then logging into Firefox on the new computer, your bookmarks, passwords, add-ons should start to copy over.

When I'm in Window, Mac, or Linux all of my data syncs except the tabs if I recall correctly when I sign into my Firefox account.

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I think that a file like prefs.js that stores a lot of profile and computer specific data might best be left out of transferring data although transferring extension data (indexdDB; storage/default folder) would require the UUIDs as stored in extensions.webextensions.uuids.

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I went up one level to "Profiles" and it listed the following. The bottom entry is wrong - that's the profile for my old computer. Should I simply delete it?

[Install308046B0AF4A39CB] Default=Profiles/pftm4b0j.Default User Locked=1

[Profile0] Name=Default User IsRelative=1 Path=Profiles/pftm4b0j.Default User

[General] StartWithLastProfile=1 Version=2

[InstallE7CF176E110C211B] Default=Profiles/vlo2n5mr.default-1600181730780 Locked=1

Thank you for all your help

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Yes, you can remove that last install section.

If you copied installs.ini as well then also check that file because that file is used as a backup that Firefox can use to restore install sections in profiles.ini.

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I deleted reference to my old computer profile (vlo2n5mr.default-1600181730780) on both profiles.ini and installs.ini. I restarted Firefox and still nothing. Any ideas? Thank you

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I removed reference to "vlo2n5mr.default-1600181730780" in both profiles.ini and installs.ini but it still didn't work. Any suggestions?

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Chosen Solution

I think this one is 64-bit Firefox for Windows:

[Install308046B0AF4A39CB]

I don't know what this one is, but if you could remove the profile path without causing a problem, it's not the installation of Firefox you are running:

[InstallE7CF176E110C211B]


Did you find these files in your backup or on your old computer, as the case may be:

jscher2000 said

If you go back to your source folder, can you find these files:
  • places.sqlite (bookmarks and history)
  • prefs.js (most settings)
  • logins.json (saved logins)
  • key4.db (decryption key for saved logins)
more options

Thank you, I went back and replaced the four files listed and my logins and bookmarks appeared! Very happy! Drinks on me!