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Bookmarks are corrupted?

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  • Last reply by cor-el

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So a while ago I opened firefox on my computer and noticed all my bookmarks were dead (they had the globe and wouldn't go anywhere when clicked), I thought 'weird' and didn't do anything at the time because it wasn't what I was busy with at the time. Then, recently, I open firefox and my bookmarks are linked wrong. Like, I have Netflix bookmarked, it says Netflix, it has been netflix for as long as I have used Firefox, but if I click on it, it takes me to an article I read weeks ago at this point -one I did not bookmark or even view repeatedly. In some of my folders all of the bookmarks are missing, like they aren't dead, they're just gone.

But if I go to my ipad firefox and access my desktop bookmarks from that sync -which I literally just re-synced today- I have all my bookmarks. All of them exist, the links are fine, they're there. But I have tried refreshing Firefox, uninstalling and reinstalling it, restarting my computer, logging out of my account, removing all my extensions, everything I can think of and! Nothing!

Also, if I try to restore my bookmarks from an older file, it does nothing. Or it will say it can't access them.

I don't know what's going on. I know if I wanted to I could go through and re-bookmark them all because I do have access to all of them on my ipad, but I mostly want to know if there is a way to fix it on my desktop or even figure out what happened. I can't remember anything happening around the time with my browser. Any help is much appreciated!

So a while ago I opened firefox on my computer and noticed all my bookmarks were dead (they had the globe and wouldn't go anywhere when clicked), I thought 'weird' and didn't do anything at the time because it wasn't what I was busy with at the time. Then, recently, I open firefox and my bookmarks are linked wrong. Like, I have Netflix bookmarked, it says Netflix, it has been netflix for as long as I have used Firefox, but if I click on it, it takes me to an article I read weeks ago at this point -one I did ''not'' bookmark or even view repeatedly. In some of my folders all of the bookmarks are missing, like they aren't dead, they're just gone. '''But''' if I go to my ipad firefox and access my desktop bookmarks from that sync -which I literally just re-synced today- I have all my bookmarks. All of them exist, the links are fine, they're there. But I have tried refreshing Firefox, uninstalling and reinstalling it, restarting my computer, logging out of my account, removing all my extensions, everything I can think of and! Nothing! Also, if I try to restore my bookmarks from an older file, it does nothing. Or it will say it can't access them. I don't know what's going on. I know if I wanted to I could go through and re-bookmark them all because I do have access to all of them on my ipad, but I mostly want to know if there is a way to fix it on my desktop or even figure out what happened. I can't remember anything happening around the time with my browser. Any help is much appreciated!

All Replies (2)

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Hmm, that sounds bad. First, if you haven't already, please do a normal shutdown and/or restart of your system. Restarting Windows can help by freeing up locked files, completing any deferred updates, and resolving temporary file permission issues.

Next, if Firefox still has bookmark problems, could you let us know what you get when you run the "Verify Integrity" diagnosis and repair function. That's here:

Open Firefox's Troubleshooting Information page using any of these methods:

  • "3-bar" menu button > Help > More Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > More Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

Near the bottom, there is a section titled Places Database -- that's the file which stores history and bookmarks. Click the button labeled Verify Integrity. There may be a 10-15 second delay before results appear.

If all is well, the report that appears below the button should start with:

> Task: checkIntegrity
+ The places.sqlite database is sane
+ The favicons.sqlite database is sane
> Task: invalidateCaches
+ The caches have been invalidated
> Task: checkCoherence
+ The database is coherent

Does yours say that, or something else? You can select and copy the report, and then paste it into a reply for review and comment.

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If you use Sync, best is to disconnect Sync temporarily during troubleshooting.

If errors are reported with "Verify Integrity", close and restart Firefox or reboot and retry.

If "Verify Integrity" cannot repair places.sqlite, rename/remove all places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder with Firefox closed. Firefox will rebuild places.sqlite and restore the bookmarks from the most recent JSON backup in the bookmarkbackups folder.

  • keep a backup copy of places.sqlite in case a new places.sqlite database has to be created
  • you lose the history when a new places.sqlite is created

You may have to restore an older bookmarks backup in the bookmarkbackups folder via the Bookmarks Manager (Library).

See also:

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