Firefox Sync and Cloning a Profile to another Device

I want to copy/clone information in my Firefox Profile (Bookmarks, Logins, ..) from one device to another. Once that was accomplished, then I would enable Firefox Sync fo… (read more)

I want to copy/clone information in my Firefox Profile (Bookmarks, Logins, ..) from one device to another. Once that was accomplished, then I would enable Firefox Sync for the two devices.

Scenario: Device “A” (Profile A): Primary/Original/Source Device “B” (Profile B): Copy/Clone/Duplicate

I understand that if I set up Firefox Sync first and then sync the two devices what I will get is a combination/fusion of the information on the 2 devices, i.e., all the “good” stuff in Profile A plus all the superfluous stuff in Profile B that I would just as soon ignore/delete – which is not what I want. This issue has been raised in a number of other posts on this forum but with no suitable resolution offered (that I could find). I’m wondering if there might be a “work-around” that would achieve the desired result.

So ... would this work?

1) Back everything up first (of course!) 2) Glean any unique information to be preserved (Logins, etc.) from Profile B and incorporate it into Profile A (Profile A now has everything essential!) 3) Purge Profile B

   a) Create a New Profile on Device B (and delete old?)
   b) Delete everything possible from the new Profile B (default bookmarks, etc.)

4) Login to Mozilla account and enable Sync

The idea is to create a “blank” Profile on Device B so that when Profile A and Profile B are Synched together (combined), Profile A remains unchanged, and Profile B is populated with everything in Profile A (a perfect copy!). The result that I want after Sync is essentially A+B=A, the solution of which is of course B=0, hence the focus on creating a "blank" Profile B.

Instead of purging Profile B as above, an alternate method might be to first “pre-load” Bookmarks in Profile B by the usual method of Backing up Profile A Bookmarks and then Restoring them to Profile B. At this point Profile A and Profile B Bookmarks would be exactly the same and Synching the two devices should make no changes to either’s Bookmarks. Logins and other information would still have to be purged, but this could at least be a head start.

Presumably this idea could be extended to more than 2 devices (but with only one being the “Primary”).

Note that I am (myself) only concerned about Bookmarks and Logins, and am thus glossing-over how other information that might be important to others (Browsing History, Tabs, etc.) might be Synched.

Could someone from Mozilla/Firefox with a knowledge of the inner workings of these features please comment as to the efficacy of this “work-around”?

Thanks.

Asked by Steve O 1 day ago

Last reply by Steve O 6 hours ago

How do I import my mobile bookmarks to my desktop firefox

All of my desktop bookmarks are on mobile, but after resetting my password they won't sync back to my desktop. I can't even access them from my desktop, despite browsing … (read more)

All of my desktop bookmarks are on mobile, but after resetting my password they won't sync back to my desktop. I can't even access them from my desktop, despite browsing data still being clearly accessible. I have 10 years of bookmarks on my mobile device that for whatever reason now will not transfer to my desktop firefox no matter what I try. Since there's no way to manually export to xml on mobile I have no way of accessing these and I am at risk of losing 10 years of bookmarks, many of which are vital to the work I do.

Asked by casskemail 6 days ago

Last reply by casskemail 5 days ago

Qyestionable pop-ups?

I keep getting pop-ups in the right lower corner from "mozilla firefox" (not sure if they are legit). They will say: "zeus.2020 trojan detected" or "virus detected" or "s… (read more)

I keep getting pop-ups in the right lower corner from "mozilla firefox" (not sure if they are legit). They will say: "zeus.2020 trojan detected" or "virus detected" or "system is infected", etc. All have "Mozilla Firefox" in the upper left of the pop-up, and "via rgfirewall.xyz" at the bottom. Is this truly legit, or is it just a nuisance? I've just been closing them with the x or dismiss buttons.

Asked by jbrt 6 days ago

Last reply by jbrt 6 days ago

Set image as desktop background no longer works

I just switched to a new HP Pavilion 14 running Windows 11. Previously, I had no problems using the "set image as desktop background" right click function, but now it no … (read more)

I just switched to a new HP Pavilion 14 running Windows 11. Previously, I had no problems using the "set image as desktop background" right click function, but now it no longer works. Instead, I get a solid color screen.

Asked by dankoh 1 week ago

Last reply by dankoh 6 days ago

Firefox deleted all profiles instead of just the one I asked

I opened firefox profile manager using 'firefox -p' and tried to delete one profile...firefox deleted all profiles except 'default' and 'default-release'...even with them… (read more)

I opened firefox profile manager using 'firefox -p' and tried to delete one profile...firefox deleted all profiles except 'default' and 'default-release'...even with them firefox renamed them with some number suffix and created new folders with the same name ('default' and 'default-release')...I have checked /home/ubuntu18/.mozilla/firefox folder...all profiles/folders gone...UPDATE: As I was typing this there was power loss, firefox deleted old 'default' and 'default-release' too...How to get all profiles back?

Asked by FFLinux 1 day ago

Last reply by FFLinux 22 hours ago

All spaces are removed when pasting text

Hello! After the recent update, any text I insert remains without spaces and all words are written together. I disabled all extensions: no result. The problem did not occ… (read more)

Hello! After the recent update, any text I insert remains without spaces and all words are written together. I disabled all extensions: no result. The problem did not occur in other browsers.

Asked by 1max 1 day ago

Last reply by 1max 1 day ago

Thank you!

Team, I am a longtime user and supporter of FF. I can't tell you how much I love the the layout of Firefox on Windows in v. 133 with the vertical tabs. Just as important … (read more)

Team, I am a longtime user and supporter of FF. I can't tell you how much I love the the layout of Firefox on Windows in v. 133 with the vertical tabs. Just as important is the fantastic, new font rendering. Thank you so much. I used to make multiple adjustments to the font in about:config when I installed FF on Windows. Now, the fonts look fantastic out of the box. Great job, team!

Bill Fischer

Asked by Bill Fischer 2 days ago

Last reply by Bill Fischer 2 days ago

Looks Like You Reinstalled Firefox

For the past month or two, at random times when I open Firefox, I see a message stating, "Looks like you reinstalled Firefox." To be clear I have not uninstalled Firefox… (read more)

For the past month or two, at random times when I open Firefox, I see a message stating, "Looks like you reinstalled Firefox." To be clear I have not uninstalled Firefox in any instance where this message has been displayed.

When this happens, I’m unable to browse the web. To resolve the issue, I have to remove the uBlock Origin extension and reinstall it. Once I’ve done that, browsing returns to normal. However, I then need to reconfigure my filters and adjust settings within FireFox

I’ve tried uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox to see if that would prevent this issue, but it hasn’t worked.

This problem is specific to my PC—it has never occurred on my MacBook.

Any assistance in understanding why this happens and how to prevent it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Asked by zeroguard 3 days ago

Last reply by zeroguard 2 days ago

Incorrect Input

Whenever I use (control + shift + V) to paste to the format in my google sheet it inputs the value into the cell below my selected cell. Please see my attachment. It may… (read more)

Whenever I use (control + shift + V) to paste to the format in my google sheet it inputs the value into the cell below my selected cell. Please see my attachment.

It may look like I selected both cells but I made several attempts & got the same result.

Asked by Jonathan Serrano 2 days ago

Last reply by Jonathan Serrano 2 days ago

browser.tabs.ontop

I had to reinstall Win 11 on a laptop, which required me to also reinstall Firefox. The version installed was 133.0 (64-bit). The tabs are above the address bar. I want t… (read more)

I had to reinstall Win 11 on a laptop, which required me to also reinstall Firefox. The version installed was 133.0 (64-bit). The tabs are above the address bar. I want them below. I cannot find the browser.tabs.ontop setting in about:config.

Any suggestions would be aprreciated.

Asked by joe125 8 hours ago

Last reply by joe125 8 hours ago

Firefox 133.0 on Intel Mac does not show any extensions on toolbar

I did a search to try and fix this. Suggestions included, checking if Private Windows are on, Customizing Toolbar, making sure all extensions are enabled and Refresh Fire… (read more)

I did a search to try and fix this. Suggestions included, checking if Private Windows are on, Customizing Toolbar, making sure all extensions are enabled and Refresh Firefox, all of which I did with no results. Before I go nuclear and uninstall/install Firefox, are there any other suggestions to solve this issue?

Asked by dicky109 2 days ago

Last reply by dicky109 8 hours ago

Down arrow on the right hand side is missing

I'm using Firefox 133 (64 bit) and just recently the down arrow on the right hand side is missing. I still have the up arrow. How do i get the down arrow back. Thx for… (read more)

I'm using Firefox 133 (64 bit) and just recently the down arrow on the right hand side is missing. I still have the up arrow. How do i get the down arrow back.

Thx for your help in advance.

Asked by markjagan866 1 week ago

Last reply by markjagan866 6 days ago

How Do I Open Discord Links in the Discord App?

As the subject says, I'm trying to get Discord links to open in the Discord desktop app instead of a Firefox tab. The 'Applications' section of my Firefox settings that h… (read more)

As the subject says, I'm trying to get Discord links to open in the Discord desktop app instead of a Firefox tab. The 'Applications' section of my Firefox settings that has the settings to handle 'mailto' and 'magnet' links in external apps doesn't have any setting for Discord links for me to change, and I can't figure out how to add one.

Asked by bookwormnick 6 days ago

Last reply by bookwormnick 4 days ago

problems with text selection using touch

Hi, there are bugs with text selection when using touch. The video below explains. But simply selecting text is really buggy and the bugs happen randomly, long pressing o… (read more)

Hi, there are bugs with text selection when using touch. The video below explains. But simply selecting text is really buggy and the bugs happen randomly, long pressing on text sometimes selects text sometimes not, sometimes opens context menus sometimes not. The preferred behavior is to select text and open the context menu at the same time.

Debian 12, Wayland, Firefox 133, Thinkpad yoga

video

Asked by lyzen 1 week ago

Last reply by lyzen 3 days ago

Problem using Copy as cURL (Windows)

I've just updated from Firefox 101.0.1 to Firefox ESR 115.18.0 (I'm still using Windows 7, so can't get a more recent release). I have a program which reads a cURL comman… (read more)

I've just updated from Firefox 101.0.1 to Firefox ESR 115.18.0 (I'm still using Windows 7, so can't get a more recent release). I have a program which reads a cURL command from the clipboard then runs cURL repeatedly with slightly modified versions of the command. The command is read from the clipboard rather than pasted into the command prompt window because it may be more than 4096 characters. This no longer works with the updated version of Firefox. Comparing the cURL commands from the two versions of Firefox showed lots of "^" characters had been added. For example "120Months|Yield|RiskScore" had become "120Months^|Yield^|RiskScore". When I edited the cURL command to remove the "^" characters, everything worked like it had before the Firefox update. I suspect this is related to the changes introduced by Bug 1777800. I would like to know whether the problem can be reproduced using up-to-date versions of Firefox and Windows. Starting with web page https://www.trustnet.com/fund/price-performance/t/investment-trusts?norisk=true&PageSize=25 use the network monitor to capture the result of moving to the next page of data, Copy as cURL (Windows) and use the result. Do you get a response containing the data for the next 25 funds or a very small file containing an error message?

Asked by paul921 21 hours ago

Last reply by paul921 9 hours ago

daten einfach gelöscht wiederherstellen

hallo ich brauche bitte dringende hilfe undzwar habe ich mein pc formatiert und habe mich wie gewohnt im firefox browser angemeldet und wollte meine daten synchronisieren… (read more)

hallo ich brauche bitte dringende hilfe undzwar habe ich mein pc formatiert und habe mich wie gewohnt im firefox browser angemeldet und wollte meine daten synchronisieren und nun habe ich gemerkt das einfach alles weg ist meine passwörter lesezeichen usw

mein account ist mit ein authenticator gesichert ich bitte euch ich brauche meine daten wieder welche möglichkeit gibt es da

danke

Asked by Danijel Dinkic 3 days ago

Last reply by Danijel Dinkic 3 days ago