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Firefox stops working when I try to type in the bookmarks sidebar search - it's happening on 2 different computers

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  • Last reply by drschnitz1

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Firefox stops working when I try to type in the bookmarks sidebar search - it's happening on 2 different computers. What do I do? Thank you.

Firefox stops working when I try to type in the bookmarks sidebar search - it's happening on 2 different computers. What do I do? Thank you.

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

This could be a problem with the places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder.

  • use the "Places Database" -> "Verify Integrity" button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page

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).

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Thank you so very much for your thoughtful and detailed response. I really appreciate it. However, it turned out - my IT person came yesterday - that I had over the years imported and re-imported endless bookmarks, and , when we deleted the irrelevant stuff, the problem went away. I do remain grateful to you nonetheless. Jeff