
Profile Permissions
Starting with Firefox 141, I noticed the profile folder is locked down by Mozilla by way of folder permissions, to the extent that I (as administrator) cannot even take ownership of the folder. Even after I completely uninstalled Firefox and restarted my computer I can't take ownership of the folder, nor can I delete it - access is simply denied. I have to literally boot up with a Linux Live distro to be able to delete it. This is invasive and NOT OK!!
I work with multiple profiles that require backups and be copied. I also have a 'master profile' which is set up to co contain all my settings and addons - when I require a new profile I simply copy it over and voila. Not even this is possible anymore, as Mozilla has locked down the entire folder tree, I can no longer copy a new profile into C:\Users\*USER*\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles.
I also cannot copy existing profiles (and therefore also not able to backup) out of C:\Users\*USER*\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles - access denied. This is uncalled for by Mozilla. I have complete removed Firefox from my computer, including registry entries, and even after that I'm still denied access and cannot even delete C:\Users\*USER*\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla.
The only solution to to any of the above issues is to either reboot into Windows Safe Mode or bootable media of another OS. But this is totally impractical - Mozilla cannot expect of me to stop all my work and restart my PC every time I need to perform any of the above mentioned issues.
This is highly invasive by Mozzilla - to not even be able to delete a profile folder without any trace of Mozilla on my computer???? Come on, FIX THIS !!!
Will Mozilla please provide the solution?
All Replies (4)
Hi
Are you making sure that you have closed Firefox completely before trying to access the profile?
Yes mate. I'm an advanced user. Is it not clear... even with Firefox removed the profile is still locked
That's when trying to backup my profiles to a NAS
xpk, several people have reported similar. This issue will probably need to be reported to Bugzilla to bring it to the attention of developers.
In the meantime, some people have found success with a workaround of creating a new profile in a location that is outside of any Mozilla AppData folders, then transferring original profile data (possibly from a backup) into the new location. All while Firefox is closed, of course.
Not a solution, but at least this might give you a working profile that you can backup using the methods that you are used to.
See the three posts starting from 8/9/25, 3:56 AM in the following thread, for more detailed steps. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1525355