How do I retrieve my saved passwords from an old profile into a new one, after an update which won't use the old profile stating "Using an older version of Firefox can corrupt bookmarks and browsing history already saved to an existing Firefox profile..."
Apparently my firefox updated yesterday ( aug 9 2022), it now shows I'm running 91.12.0esr. However it now says I can't use my old profile, stating: "Using an older version of Firefox can corrupt bookmarks and browsing history already saved to an existing Firefox profile..." So, how do i go about retrieving all of my passwords and get them into the new profile?
Réiteach roghnaithe
Okay, let me think. 102.1.0 is in the "new" Extended Support Release series and users of the "old" Firefox 91-based Extended Support Release series should be migrating to it automatically in a month or two. Somehow yours rolled forward and back already??
You can manually download the new ESR from here -- you need to change the version selector to the new one:
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/#product-desktop-esr
And that would be the most seamless way to use the upgraded profile. Please refer to this article on installing manually: How to download and install Firefox on Mac.
And of course, if at any point the installer asks about removing data, don't do it.
Note: after updating, you probably will need to go into about:profiles and use the "Set default" button on your older profile to switch back to that one.
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That's strange. You have the latest Firefox in the Extended Support Release of Firefox 91 series. Does the browser look any different?
There are two files you need to copy/paste from your old profile to bring over saved logins:
- logins.json
- key4.db
As a Windows user, I can't tell you the best way to work with Finder, but two comments:
(1) To find links to your various profile folders, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Return to load it. The "Root" directory has the good stuff, and each one should have an Open Folder or Show in Finder button.
(2) You can't replace files while Firefox is running, so you'll need to Quit Firefox before renaming/replacing those two files. Please be careful to copy in the right direction and not wipe out your good files.
More information about files: Recovering important data from an old profile
Thank you for your reply! Unfortunately, that is what I have been trying to do, but to no avail. Now I am wondering if there is a way to uninstall this version and revert to the previous one so I can export this information and then import it back in after the update? Open to any other suggestions as well...
In the "old" profile folder, if you open the compatibility.ini file in a text editor (just to view), what version does it say was last using that profile folder? For example, mine looks like this (the part after the _ might be a more precise build ID, I'm not sure):
LastVersion=103.0.2_20220808125904/20220808125904
LastVersion=102.1.0_20220718131551/20220718131551
for my "old profile" that's the version - LastVersion=102.1.0_20220718131551/20220718131551 my "new" profiles (of which I now have two) both show - LastVersion=91.12.0_20220718130424/20220718130424
Réiteach Roghnaithe
Okay, let me think. 102.1.0 is in the "new" Extended Support Release series and users of the "old" Firefox 91-based Extended Support Release series should be migrating to it automatically in a month or two. Somehow yours rolled forward and back already??
You can manually download the new ESR from here -- you need to change the version selector to the new one:
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/#product-desktop-esr
And that would be the most seamless way to use the upgraded profile. Please refer to this article on installing manually: How to download and install Firefox on Mac.
And of course, if at any point the installer asks about removing data, don't do it.
Note: after updating, you probably will need to go into about:profiles and use the "Set default" button on your older profile to switch back to that one.
Thank you! I'll let you know how it turns out
Success! Apparently what happened was an update was pushed, then reverted (this is a work computer so a lot of things happen behind the scenes). After installing the newest version, everything is back working again! Thanks for your help (and patience)!