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Firefox keeps going back to default settings

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  • 3 have this problem
  • 87 views
  • Last reply by stakleni

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Usually when I start Firefox, it starts with the settings I have made at the beginning.

1) I have chosen a startup page as default

2) When downloading, I want to be asked where I want to download

3) I have three active add-ons that make my surfing life easier

About two weeks back, this is what I experience every time I start Firefox after I start my computer, and often it's enough that about an hour has passed since the last time I used/ran Firefox:

1) My chosen homepage doesn't open. Instead I get the two default tabs with the pages that are default after a fresh install of Firefox.

2) The download folder is set to default, instead of the setting that I chose myself.

3) My add-ons are nowhere to be found, and I have to add them all over again.

My work-around is to log in and sync Firefox, but that should not be necessary. Every time I start Firefox, it's back to default settings, and it takes a minute or half a minute for the sync to finish.

I have tried a complete uninstall (including cleaning the Mozilla folder from %appdata%) and then installing Firefox again. But it just doesn't work.

So, help.

Usually when I start Firefox, it starts with the settings I have made at the beginning. 1) I have chosen a startup page as default 2) When downloading, I want to be asked where I want to download 3) I have three active add-ons that make my surfing life easier About two weeks back, this is what I experience every time I start Firefox after I start my computer, and often it's enough that about an hour has passed since the last time I used/ran Firefox: 1) My chosen homepage doesn't open. Instead I get the two default tabs with the pages that are default after a fresh install of Firefox. 2) The download folder is set to default, instead of the setting that I chose myself. 3) My add-ons are nowhere to be found, and I have to add them all over again. My work-around is to log in and sync Firefox, but that should not be necessary. Every time I start Firefox, it's back to default settings, and it takes a minute or half a minute for the sync to finish. I have tried a complete uninstall (including cleaning the Mozilla folder from %appdata%) and then installing Firefox again. But it just doesn't work. So, help.

Modified by stakleni

Chosen solution

Do you have an "Old Firefox Data" folder on the desktop in case you have used the Refresh feature in Firefox and have created a new profile?

Do you have multiple profiles if you check that in the default location for profiles?

You can use this button to go to the current Firefox profile folder:

Go up one level to the \Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ folder to check if there is only one profile.

  • C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\

You can check for problems with preferences.

Delete possible user.js and numbered prefs-##.js files and rename/remove the prefs.js file to reset all prefs to the default value including prefs set via user.js and prefs that are no longer supported in current Firefox releases.

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Chosen Solution

Do you have an "Old Firefox Data" folder on the desktop in case you have used the Refresh feature in Firefox and have created a new profile?

Do you have multiple profiles if you check that in the default location for profiles?

You can use this button to go to the current Firefox profile folder:

Go up one level to the \Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ folder to check if there is only one profile.

  • C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\

You can check for problems with preferences.

Delete possible user.js and numbered prefs-##.js files and rename/remove the prefs.js file to reset all prefs to the default value including prefs set via user.js and prefs that are no longer supported in current Firefox releases.

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I didn't have multiple profiles nor any user.js, but anyway... I wasn't actually able to reset Firefox before I re-installed it. Now it seems to work just fine after resetting, all my settings are saved even after a reboot. So I shouldn't have any more problems with it.

Thanks!