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Can't recover prior browser

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Hello,

I have Firefox browser and ATT internet and email. I was unable to load email today until I spoke with live ATT tech support. He instructed me in clearing cache and cookies, had me open a private window, then asked me to open another window. He did get my ATT email restored, but when I had 2 windows open I accidentally closed my main window which had many pinned tabs and other tabs I wished to get to. Yes, too many tabs! So I have a new browser which does not have the configuration I want which is the one I had when I first called ATT. So I made a mistake and closed the wrong browser, I knew it as it happened but it was too late, I guess speaking with and listening to the tech messed up my concentration. I have made this mistake before and closed the wrong browser but fumbling around somehow I managed to recover the browser I wanted, I don't remember how exactly. I think it has been a couple of years since I screwed up this way. The History section of my Firefox menu does not offer a selection called 'restore previous session' that the instruction page shows, the only options at the top are Recently closed tabs, Recently closed windows, Search history. Then a bar followed by Clear Recent history, then today's history in the new browser. So I only get history from today's new browser. I am old and not tech savvy there is a lot of terminology I do not understand, I need a kindergartner's step by step instruction on this I am afraid, in clear English. I am afraid to do things like refresh or reinstall without knowing what I am doing. I appreciate your help. I use desktop Firefox for email, reading items of interest, social media, ordering merch. I do not do gaming, I have no website. It is late and I am going to bed soon. You can email me at jaelizlang@att.net. Thanks so much, Jane Langston, Clarkston GA

Hello, I have Firefox browser and ATT internet and email. I was unable to load email today until I spoke with live ATT tech support. He instructed me in clearing cache and cookies, had me open a private window, then asked me to open another window. He did get my ATT email restored, but when I had 2 windows open I accidentally closed my main window which had many pinned tabs and other tabs I wished to get to. Yes, too many tabs! So I have a new browser which does not have the configuration I want which is the one I had when I first called ATT. So I made a mistake and closed the wrong browser, I knew it as it happened but it was too late, I guess speaking with and listening to the tech messed up my concentration. I have made this mistake before and closed the wrong browser but fumbling around somehow I managed to recover the browser I wanted, I don't remember how exactly. I think it has been a couple of years since I screwed up this way. The History section of my Firefox menu does not offer a selection called 'restore previous session' that the instruction page shows, the only options at the top are Recently closed tabs, Recently closed windows, Search history. Then a bar followed by Clear Recent history, then today's history in the new browser. So I only get history from today's new browser. I am old and not tech savvy there is a lot of terminology I do not understand, I need a kindergartner's step by step instruction on this I am afraid, in clear English. I am afraid to do things like refresh or reinstall without knowing what I am doing. I appreciate your help. I use desktop Firefox for email, reading items of interest, social media, ordering merch. I do not do gaming, I have no website. It is late and I am going to bed soon. You can email me at jaelizlang@att.net. Thanks so much, Jane Langston, Clarkston GA

All Replies (4)

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Firefox is just a Browser your ATT email is on their server and they are the one that can fix or recover the lost emails not Firefox.

Helpful?

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Hi Jane, you were very close. Please expand this menu (they should both have the same list):

  • "3-bar" menu button > History > Recently Closed Windows
  • (menu bar [Alt key]) History > Recently Closed Windows

Does Firefox still have the missing window listed there?

Helpful?

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No, I'm afraid it doesn't have the missing window I seek. The only recently closed window I found was an unimportant Google pop up that I created signing in on one of these subsequent windows I have opened. I closed it, not needed.

The instructions I have seen show an additional menu item labeled something like "restore closed windows". This option appears to be missing from the history portion of my Firefox menu.

Thank you jscher2000 as you do seem to understand what I'm looking for. I am in this fix because I closed some windows in the wrong order and wish to recover the one I was using when I first interacted with the ATT tech about fixing my email. I do have the email now but in a new window which I created after losing the one I am trying to recover, which had a big buttload of pinned and open tabs on it. I will know it when I see it!

As stated I encountered this situation before and somehow recovered a prior window but don't remember how I did it, it has been a few years and on prior Firefox versions. Let me add that it should not be as difficult as they are making it to recover prior windows. I can't be the only person who has been in this fix caused by closing multiple windows in the wrong order.

I am now being offered from Firefox an update on the menu bar, and am instructed to restart now for update. I want to do some other things first today with the windows and email I have now before I do this update, for fear that it will cause me to lose more items that can't be retrieved.

Thank you for your reply, if you have additional info please let me know, thanks, Jane jaelizlang@att.net

Helpful?

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Hi Jane, you can snooze the update for later. It doesn't look like it would help the immediate issue:

https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/132.0.2/releasenotes/

If the Recently Closed Windows menu only listed one window, hmm, I'm not sure where the others went. When you hover over the button on the Windows Taskbar, does it show thumbnails for any windows that are not visible on screen?

If not, could you make a backup of your existing session history files? Here's how:

You can open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either

  • "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

In the first table on the page, find the Profile Folder row and click the "Open Folder" button. This should launch Windows' File Explorer listing the contents of your current profile folder.

Copy out session history files

In your profile folder, double-click into the sessionstore-backups folder. Save all files here to a safe location such as your Documents folder.

What files did you find?

The kinds of files you may find among your sessionstore files are:

  • recovery.jsonlz4: the windows and tabs in your currently live Firefox session (or, if Firefox crashed at the last shutdown and is still closed, your last session)
  • recovery.baklz4: a backup copy of recovery.jsonlz4
  • previous.jsonlz4: the windows and tabs in your last Firefox session
  • upgrade.jsonlz4-build_id: the windows and tabs in the Firefox session that was live at the time of your last few updates

Sometimes you can tell from the last modification time which one will have your missing tabs, but not always.

Optional File Contents Preview

These compressed files are a pain to view, so I created a tool on my website to list out their contents. If you want to try that, you can drag and drop it onto the large box on the following page, then click the "Scrounge URLs" button:

https://www.jeffersonscher.com/ffu/scrounger.html

If you don't get a list within 15 seconds, that probably means the script is caught in a loop. You may need to close the tab to avoid a tab crash and then try again in a new tab.

If you get a useful list, use the "Save List" button to archive it as a web page of clickable links for future reference, in case no other approach is successful.

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