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Half my bookmarks disappear every day. Why?

  • 8 respostas
  • 1 has this problem
  • 9 views
  • Last reply by J.L.Miller

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Starting about a week ago, I've experienced about half my bookmarks disappearing every day. Every time, I go back to the previous backup and restore them. I have turned off Firefox's syncing of bookmarks and use Xmarks. Whenever I restore my bookmarks, I force a sync with Xmarks, and the bookmarks hold for the day, but the next morning, half of them are gone again. I can't tell whether Firefox is corrupting them or Xmarks is, so I'm asking in both places.

Starting about a week ago, I've experienced about half my bookmarks disappearing every day. Every time, I go back to the previous backup and restore them. I have turned off Firefox's syncing of bookmarks and use Xmarks. Whenever I restore my bookmarks, I force a sync with Xmarks, and the bookmarks hold for the day, but the next morning, half of them are gone again. I can't tell whether Firefox is corrupting them or Xmarks is, so I'm asking in both places.

All Replies (8)

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Separate Issue; Your System Details shows;

Installed Add-ons

Long URL Please 0.5.1.1-signed.1-signed (longurlplease@darragh.curran) Long URL Please Mod 0.5.1.1-signed.1-signed (longurlplease@tseng)
Having more than one version of a program may cause issues. You must remove the older programs. Then get the current full installer.


If you have sync, and there is a problem anywhere, Shut Down Sync Immediately to prevent the problem from spreading. Once the problem is fixed, perform the same repair on all computers before using sync again.


Fix your bookmarks problem. Now Copy the bookmarks file manually to the other computers. This should fix the problem.

places.sqlite : History and Bookmarks.

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You tell me that I should "shut down sync immediately" if there is a problem. I don't detect the problem until *after* sync (or maybe something else) has erased many of my bookmarks. I then restore them from a few days back, and everything returns. The next morning, many of my bookmarks are again deleted.

You also say, "Fix your bookmarks problem." Well, yes, that's exactly what I'm hoping to do, and that's why I posted here. I'm hoping to get some guidance on determining what's happening and how to stop it.

I have restored my bookmarks to both affected computers, but the issue keeps recurring.

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Have you shut down sync?

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Any chance you have a "mobile" device connected to that Sync account?

1. Xmarks version of "sync" isn't compatible with Firefox Sync - many users have found corrupted or lost bookmarks when using both.

2. If that happens when using Sync alone. Disable Sync on all connected devices, then restore a backup on each corrupted device, and also run Places Maintenance on each device to fix the database, as that corruption may have been present and undetected before you started seeing that problem. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/places-maintenance/

Then, change your Sync password to wipe the corrupted data from the Sync server.

As you connect each device back to the Sync server take it slow, one device at a time and allow each some time to "sync completely" - the first device would need the longest time, IMO.

And definitely leave the "mobile" devices to last reconnected and maybe wait a few days to see if that problem is solved fully before connecting any "mobile" device. That is where problems such as that start, IMO; more than laptop / desktop devices alone.

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@Fred - yes, Firefox sync has been completely disabled ever since I became aware that two syncing processes could interfere with one another.

@edmeister - yes, I have Xmarks on both my PCs and Android 'phone. I disabled Xmarks on both, and so far, my bookmarks remain healthy. I've enable Firefox sync on my PC, but I find no way to do so on my 'phone (Samsung Galaxy S6 running Marshmallow). For that matter, I can find no way on the 'phone to even import my Firefox bookmarks. The menu options to which I see reference in some posts don't exist.

One issue leads to another...

Thanks for your responses.

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Here is a thought; Change the password for sync. This will clean out all data (security feature). Once done, first sync the main. Then one at a time, the others

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J.L.Miller said

... I've enable Firefox sync on my PC, but I find no way to do so on my 'phone (Samsung Galaxy S6 running Marshmallow). For that matter, I can find no way on the 'phone to even import my Firefox bookmarks. The menu options to which I see reference in some posts don't exist. One issue leads to another... Thanks for your responses.

I can't answer that I don't have a mobile device and don't do support for same. Firefox for iOS and Firefox for Android each have their own section in this forum.

See these Android specific support articles: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/get-started-firefox-android https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/sync-bookmarks-tabs-history-and-passwords-android

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the-edmeister said

I can't answer that I don't have a mobile device and don't do support for same. Firefox for iOS and Firefox for Android each have their own section in this forum. See these Android specific support articles: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/get-started-firefox-android https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/sync-bookmarks-tabs-history-and-passwords-android

Thanks for the links. Whacking Xmarks seems to have solved the problem on my PCs. I'll go after my cell 'phone next.