Can I delete a profile folder if it is empty?
After updating to FF 36.0.4, I did some routine maintenance; cleared the cache, history and cookies. Went to reboot FF afterward and unfortunately it would not open. I followed the FF support instructions to locate my profile folder, trashed the prefs.js file and rebooted FF, after which time it opened and worked perfectly. During this process I discovered that I have 2 profile folders; one was completely empty but the other has many files in it.
How did I end up with an empty profile folder, and is it okay to delete it? I assume this folder is not necessary, but none of the support articles cover an "empty" profile folder. If it is okay to remove it, do I just move it to the trash, or is there a more complicated means by which to remove an empty profile folder? By complicated, I'm referring to the support article at "https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles#w_removing-a-profile" which had my head spinning and now I'm afraid to do anything. I'm wondering if the empty folder is really empty, or if it just appears to be empty but in reality there are hidden files associated with it that are stored elsewhere on the computer. Good heavens. Thank you.
Chosen solution
If the folder is empty, you can delete it. You aren't using it anyway, since firefox wouldn't function with an empty folder, and firefox only uses one profile folder.
Read this answer in context 👍 1All Replies (4)
Only profiles that have been registered properly show in the Profile Manager and can be removed there. A way to register a profile is to use the Profile Manager and use the "Choose Folder" button to browse to that folder to register a missing profile and add it to the profiles.ini file. This also makes it easier to remove possible profile folders in the location for the disk cache that you might otherwise miss. Once such an unregistered profile shows in the Profile Manager then you can easily remove it properly including the disk cache.
- /Users/<user>/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/<profile>/
- /Users/<user>/Library/Caches/Firefox/Profiles/<profile>/Cache
The compatibility.ini file and the prefs.js file shows what Firefox version has last used the profile in case you want to check this. Such unregistered profiles indicate that there have been problems with the profiles.ini file.
Thank you for your help cor-el, but I am not able to understand your response. Perhaps I was not clear enough in my post, so if you can help me further I would appreciate it. I checked out the "profiles.ini_file" link, but those Mozilla articles are beyond my ability to understand.
a) When I go to the location "/Users/<user>/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/<profile>/" I have 2 default folders. Each folder is titled with its own unique series of letters/numbers, and both folders contain the word "default" in the title. One of those default folders is completely empty (that is the folder I was wondering if I could just drag to the trash). The other default folder has 49 items in it, some of which are folders that contain other items. This obviously is my working profile folder.
b) When I go to "/Users/<user>/Library/Caches/Firefox/Profiles/<profile>/Cache" I can only go as far as /Users/<user>/Library/Caches/Firefox/Profiles, as there is nothing contained in that final Profiles folder. It is empty.
I am just wondering if the empty default folder at "/Users/<user>/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/<profile>/" serves any purpose, and if not, can I drag it to the trash. I would simply do so but I wanted to make sure first that it does not serve some obscure purpose, even though the folder is completely empty. Thank you.
Modified by youngjane1118
Chosen Solution
If the folder is empty, you can delete it. You aren't using it anyway, since firefox wouldn't function with an empty folder, and firefox only uses one profile folder.
Thank you user293!