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FF not saving passwords....found solution

  • 3 replies
  • 5 have this problem
  • 6 views
  • Last reply by mrjlh

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I have been having the same problem that many others have had dating back to 2012. Firefox (ver 24) quit saving and even lost my passwords. I tried "ALL" the tricks and solutions given by the experts. Not one worked! Here's is what I finally did to solve my problem.

1. Backup all your bookmarks, found under "show all bookmarks". Save to you desktop so you can find it again.

2. Find the "Mozilla FireFox" download file from their webpage. Download the appropriate file need for your system.

3. Remember where you down load this file. You'll need to re-install it as a fresh version. Also, I re-installed the newer version of "Nightly" (27.0) which is in beta and has caused some issues before. But it was the only version of FF that works for me.

4. As a precaution check to see if you have Microsoft I.E. still installed on you system. You'll need it in the event you can't re-install FF and need to reconnect to the Internet. I didn't and it got scary but all went well when I re-installed Firefox.

5. Go to the systems "Control Panel" and find "Programs and features" and "uninstall" FireFox.

6. Reboot just to clear any resident memory issues left behind.

7. Find the downloaded file for Firefox. Install it. It goes totally back to square one. You loose all your settings.

8. After install, go to "Show all Bookmarks" to reinstall you save bookmarks. It will ask where the file is so hopefully you remembered where you put it.

9. You will need to reset all your preferred settings one at a time all over again.

10. Under "add-ons" you will need to re-install all those over too. I installed "Save Password Editor" for my system and it works well. There are several to chose from, your choice.

So far my system is back to normal but I still needed to visit all the sites that use a password and completely re-enter every one over again and save them. Password editor made it easy. Copying and pasting the "old key and signon files" as suggested elsewhere didn't work. I fact, things got worse not better.

That's my solution and it worked! Good Luck.....

I have been having the same problem that many others have had dating back to 2012. Firefox (ver 24) quit saving and even lost my passwords. I tried "ALL" the tricks and solutions given by the experts. Not one worked! Here's is what I finally did to solve my problem. 1. Backup all your bookmarks, found under "show all bookmarks". Save to you desktop so you can find it again. 2. Find the "Mozilla FireFox" download file from their webpage. Download the appropriate file need for your system. 3. Remember where you down load this file. You'll need to re-install it as a fresh version. Also, I re-installed the newer version of "Nightly" (27.0) which is in beta and has caused some issues before. But it was the only version of FF that works for me. 4. As a precaution check to see if you have Microsoft I.E. still installed on you system. You'll need it in the event you can't re-install FF and need to reconnect to the Internet. I didn't and it got scary but all went well when I re-installed Firefox. 5. Go to the systems "Control Panel" and find "Programs and features" and "uninstall" FireFox. 6. Reboot just to clear any resident memory issues left behind. 7. Find the downloaded file for Firefox. Install it. It goes totally back to square one. You loose all your settings. 8. After install, go to "Show all Bookmarks" to reinstall you save bookmarks. It will ask where the file is so hopefully you remembered where you put it. 9. You will need to reset all your preferred settings one at a time all over again. 10. Under "add-ons" you will need to re-install all those over too. I installed "Save Password Editor" for my system and it works well. There are several to chose from, your choice. So far my system is back to normal but I still needed to visit all the sites that use a password and completely re-enter every one over again and save them. Password editor made it easy. Copying and pasting the "old key and signon files" as suggested elsewhere didn't work. I fact, things got worse not better. That's my solution and it worked! Good Luck.....

Chosen solution

It should normally work if you delete the two files signons.sqlite and key3.db that are involved in storing the names and password to make this working. Some installed extensions or being in Private Browsing mode can also cause saving new passwords to fail.

Some websites use autocomplete=off to prevent Firefox from saving and filling the name and password automatically.

You can remove autocomplete=off with a bookmarklet to make Firefox save names and passwords and other form data.

Other web pages may be using JavaScript or other ways that aren't working in current Firefox versions and in such a case you will have to use an extension.
It is likely that Firefox won't fill the name/password via the Password Manager as well in such a case.

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In the future, please refrain from posting questions like this one. Instead find a user on the forum with this issue and post your solution as a reply.

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Chosen Solution

It should normally work if you delete the two files signons.sqlite and key3.db that are involved in storing the names and password to make this working. Some installed extensions or being in Private Browsing mode can also cause saving new passwords to fail.

Some websites use autocomplete=off to prevent Firefox from saving and filling the name and password automatically.

You can remove autocomplete=off with a bookmarklet to make Firefox save names and passwords and other form data.

Other web pages may be using JavaScript or other ways that aren't working in current Firefox versions and in such a case you will have to use an extension.
It is likely that Firefox won't fill the name/password via the Password Manager as well in such a case.

Modified by cor-el

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To Cor-el: Your assuming users know how to do that. 90% of the users have no clue of how to incorporate your solution.

Second question...where's the "solved" button? As requested by Computerwhiz.