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Unable to restore bookmarks, even after backup file conversed to html

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After allowing Firefox to do a refresh, and losing my bookmarks as a result, I followed the instructions I found elsewhere in this forum to restore the bookmarks. I successfully located the backup file, and I can get all the way through converting the *.jsonlz4 file to *.html, but when I try to import the *.html file through the library menu, nothing happens, and nothing changes. I can open the *.html file locally, and see a list of my bookmarks, and they are functional, but the are not incorporated or saved back into Firefox. The address bar looks like this:

file:///C:/Users/kwilliams/Desktop/bookmarks_from_json.html

Is there a way to re-incorporate the bookmarks? At this point, I am faced with clicking on each link on the html list and creating new bookmarks one entry at a time.

After allowing Firefox to do a refresh, and losing my bookmarks as a result, I followed the instructions I found elsewhere in this forum to restore the bookmarks. I successfully located the backup file, and I can get all the way through converting the *.jsonlz4 file to *.html, but when I try to import the *.html file through the library menu, nothing happens, and nothing changes. I can open the *.html file locally, and see a list of my bookmarks, and they are functional, but the are not incorporated or saved back into Firefox. The address bar looks like this: file:///C:/Users/kwilliams/Desktop/bookmarks_from_json.html Is there a way to re-incorporate the bookmarks? At this point, I am faced with clicking on each link on the html list and creating new bookmarks one entry at a time.

Chosen solution

Our posts crossed. Never mind!


Hi karen_williams, does Firefox display any error message during or after importing? If it's a large file, it may take some time.

After importing, the imported bookmarks sometimes appear in their own folder called something like Imported Bookmarks in one of these places:

  • Bottom of the Bookmarks Menu
  • In the Other Bookmarks category

If you check those "buckets" by clicking them in the left pane of Library window (Ctrl+Shift+b or "Show All Bookmarks"), can you find that folder anywhere?

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Either I missed this step entirely, or maybe it was obvious to all but me, but when I closed Firefox completely, and then reopened it, everything was restored as I had expected. So the last step in the restore process should have been "Restart Firefox." I hadn't closed it yet, because I had so many tabs open trying to fix the issue. All better now. Thanks very much.

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Chosen Solution

Our posts crossed. Never mind!


Hi karen_williams, does Firefox display any error message during or after importing? If it's a large file, it may take some time.

After importing, the imported bookmarks sometimes appear in their own folder called something like Imported Bookmarks in one of these places:

  • Bottom of the Bookmarks Menu
  • In the Other Bookmarks category

If you check those "buckets" by clicking them in the left pane of Library window (Ctrl+Shift+b or "Show All Bookmarks"), can you find that folder anywhere?

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer