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Old firefox datas

  • 6 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 32 views
  • Last reply by Denys

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I can't delete old firefox datas folder from my desktop

I can't delete old firefox datas folder from my desktop

All Replies (6)

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Hi,

What happens when you try to do that?

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It need administrator after I give it it says "seek permission from {username}"

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Not sure what may cause this, but if you're an administrator on your device, you can try the following (assuming you're on Windows): Warning: this will permanently delete the folder and all the files inside, so make sure you don't need any of them before proceeding.

  1. Press Win+R.
  2. Enter cmd and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
  3. Windows should ask you to allow the Command Prompt make changes to your device. Click Yes.
  4. In the opened window, enter rmdir /s /q "path/to/folder" (replace path/to/folder with the path to your folder) and press Enter.
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You may have done a Refresh at some point. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings

Note: The refresh will place your old Firefox profile on your desktop in a folder named Old Firefox Data. If your problem persists, you can partially restore lost information by copying files to the newly created profile. If you no longer need this folder, we encourage you to delete it, since it contains sensitive information.
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Denys said

Not sure what may cause this, but if you're an administrator on your device, you can try the following (assuming you're on Windows): Warning: this will permanently delete the folder and all the files inside, so make sure you don't need any of them before proceeding.
  1. Press Win+R.
  2. Enter cmd and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
  3. Windows should ask you to allow the Command Prompt make changes to your device. Click Yes.
  4. In the opened window, enter rmdir /s /q "path/to/folder" (replace path/to/folder with the path to your folder) and press Enter.


This did absolutely nothing at all. All the commands ended with "access denied". Is there any other way to remove all this junk?

Modified by Margie Lazou

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Margie Lazou said

This did absolutely nothing at all. All the commands ended with "access denied". Is there any other way to remove all this junk?

Hi Margie,

Try the following (replacing path/to/folder with the path to your folder):

  1. Press Win+R.
  2. Enter cmd and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
  3. Windows should ask you to allow the Command Prompt make changes to your device. Click Yes.
  4. In the Command Prompt, enter takeown /f "path\to\folder" /r /d y and press Enter.
  5. In the Command Prompt, enter icacls "path\to\folder" /grant %username%:F /t and press Enter.
  6. Close all your opened applications, except of the Command Prompt
  7. Press Win+R.
  8. Enter resmon and press Enter. A Windows Resource Monitor window will open.
  9. In the Search Handles, paste your path\to\folder (e.g., copied from the Command Prompt) and press Enter.
  10. Pay attention to the PID column. Now you'll force-stop all the processes using the folder.
  11. For each of the processes listed, in the Command Prompt run taskkill /PID <pid_number> /F (replacing <pid_number> with the corresponding number from the Resource Monitor PID column).
  12. In the Command Prompt, run rmdir /s /q "path/to/folder" again.

Does that help?

Modified by Denys

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