Firefox Community Forum

Roughly every 2 weeks I backup important files to a external hard drive.

One of the things I always backup is my Firefox profile. I have been doing this for years without any problems.

I 7zip my profile and copy it to the hard drive.

I tried to do this yesterday (July 25 2025), and was getting access denied messages for files in the profile. So I tried to simply copy the profile. Same thing access denied.

I cleared the history, used wise disk cleaner, rebooted my machine and tried again. Same thing access denied when trying to backup or copy the profile.

I am assuming that this is happening since 141 because I updated Firefox since the last time I backed up my profile, and never had a problem previously.

Could anyone have an idea what the problem is? Thank you for your time.

helloooo

i am experiencing an issue with firefox where backup (Firefox Backup) is not working since version 148.0

problem: - when I try to create a backup, i get the error: “Hmm, there was a problem with the backup. Please try again in a few minutes.”

what I have already tried: - enabled and disabled backup password - changed the backup folder/location - cleared browser cache - tested across multiple updates (issue persists)

- backup is enabled, but I cannot create one - the error occurs every time - restarting the browser and system did not help

I went to [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-backup] and under "Create a Firefox backup file" at step 3 it says, "Scroll down to Backup, and click Manage backup" but when I went there no such "Manage backup" option exists as you can see in the attached screen capture. So what gives? How can I "Create a Firefox backup file"? I am using Firefox v147.0 (64-bit) on Windows 11 Please instruct. Thanks RJB

Hello, when automatic offline backup in stable firefox was first introduced, it worked perfectly fine. It created automatic backups in folder I pointed to. Unfortunately few weeks later it stopped working completely, no idea why. I tried following support article, which is limited to turning backup off, deleting folder and turning it on again. Unfortunately it did not help. As soon as backup starts, it gives me error and does not create any file. It shows "creating backup..." for few seconds, then this banner disappears and only error banner remains.

Can you suggest me advanced troubleshooting for this? Maybe there is some log file which could point me in right direction?

I am wondering if it is some issue with Polish language, because I point to D:\Firefox backup\Restore Firefox but it creates "Przywróć Firefoksa" folder.

I fear I must reset or reinstall Firefox. Before I do that, I want to save the URLs of the open windows. Or save a larger set of URLs, such as shown in the Library window at History>Last 7 Days.

How can I save this data?

Firefox update today 1-14-26 says Restore FF with a backup file" Instructions say go to Settings/Sync/Backup/Manage Backup. My Sync has no Backup option, only shows: Sync Manage account Device Name Syncing: ON You are syncing these items across all your connected devices: Bookmarks Open tabs Add-ons Settings Connect another device . How to proceed?

(I don't recall setting Syncing to "On" before; it also showed me as automatically logged in to my account.) Assistance appreciated! Thanks!

Hi,

On the "Your Firefox has updated" page, I recently found out that in addition to Firefox Sync, you can also create a backup in the form of a local file. When I try to follow the instructions on the support page for the function (here I get stuck. For some reason I am only allowed to choose a file to restore my data, but I am not allowed to create a new backup. I have tried refreshing Firefox and even creating a new profile, but both have the same issue. I am not seeing a "manage backup" button either (see screenshot).

It's not the end of the world thanks to Firefox Sync, but I would like to get it working as a nice backup :)

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give me!

I am trying to export/import my book marks from one macOS computer to another (intel to Apple silicon), however, all of my imports and restore attempts fail. My last restore attempt failed with the following message: Firefox Unable to process the backup file. Any other suggestions?

I have Firefox installed on a Windows 11 desktop. The profile is missing, yet Firefox is working fine, and I see all of my bookmarks, etc.

I have windows set to show hidden files.

When I try to run %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ it tells me that the location is unavailable.

I cannot find the profile anywhere in file explorer, despite multiple tries to search for it.

If I go to Help > Troubleshooting Information, I see a "Location is not available" message, shown in the attached image.

I could uninstall and reinstall Firefox, but I'd prefer to solve this because the exact same thing is happening to my Thunderbird profile. It doesn't exist anywhere, yet I can see all of my emails and it appears to be working properly. I only found this problem because I wanted to backup my emails but was unable to.

Both of these profiles must exist somewhere, but I've tried everything to find them. Please help me fix this in Firefox, and then if I have a fix here I'll try to apply it to Thunderbird, where I have a lot of emails I'd hate to lose.

If I go to the profile folder, exit firefox then copy and paste the folder to a backup location. The attempted backup fails. Something about permissions as I recall. I have tried many things unsuccessfully. Something has changed that does not allow for the backup of profile folders. Adding a backup option to the profile manager would be nice. I noticed some people have found work-arounds but I need a straight-forward procedure for backing up my folders. No work-arounds please, just a simple procedure. May I ask for help with this issue?

Is there anyplace that shows how to use what the new release says on the 146.0. I got the message below when viewing new options in 146.0, but going to settings, sync just wants me to sign in and do a cloud backup.

Doesn't sound like what is in message below that I got after updating to 146.0. From what I found looking around, you are suppose to go to setting, sync, click on backup and choose location. There is no option backup, just an option to sign on. Below is message I got when checking what is in update 146.0:

Windows 10 users can now automatically protect their passwords, bookmarks, and more by turning on backup in Firefox. Your browsing data is saved daily on your device and can be encrypted with a password When you set up a fresh install of Firefox on any operating system for a new device or your current one, you can restore from this backup and pick up right where you left off. This feature is currently available on Windows devices and will be coming to other operating systems soon.

I want to move my whole folder and to backup and move it to a new PC. But it says when moving a file called activity-stream.discovery_stream I need a permission from myself.

Does ‘Firefox’ automatically send extra ‘backup authentication code’ once I use up the current lot it sent?? If not, what does 1 do for extra extra ‘backup authentication codes’ ??

I'm using Firefox 153.0 on a Windows 11 desktop. I'm trying to use the feature that backs up my profile (bookmarks, history, and other data). When I turn Backup on, I'm asked where to store the backup, and I accept the default of putting it on my OneDrive. When a backup begins, an empty folder named "Restore Firefox" appears in my OneDrive, as expected. Firefox shows a message like "backup in progress." After a minute or so, the "Restore Firefox" folder disappears. After another minute or so (not immediately), Firefox tells me the backup failed and that I should try again later.

I assume the backup failed because the folder it was trying to use isn't there, but why did it get deleted?

There is ample space on my OneDrive and on my local system (100s of GB). I am using the ESET security software package, but it did not raise any warnings or errors.