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can't figure out how to get actual bookmarks from an old /home folder that I've archived from a previous version of Ubuntu.

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 21 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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I created a tar.gz back-up of my /home folder prior to doing a fresh install of UbuntuStudio 18.04. (The previous version was Ubuntu Studio 16.04, and it wouldn't let me upgrade, so I had to do a whole new installation.) I never "exported bookmarks" because I never realized I could do that! However, I was sure there must have been bookmarks already kept somewhere in my /home folder. However, now I can't figure out how to get at them. Although I can extract all kinds of files dealing with Firefox, I can not figure out how to access or generate Firefox bookmarks from all those files that exists. I'll try to attach a photo of my terminal output for what I can extract from the old /home that had "firefoxbookmarks" in it's name. Can anyone please help me.

But in case it doesn't upload here is my terminal output: usr/share/unity-scopes/firefoxbookmarks/ usr/share/unity-scopes/firefoxbookmarks/__init__.py usr/share/unity-scopes/firefoxbookmarks/unity_firefoxbookmarks_daemon.py usr/share/dbus-1/services/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks.service usr/share/doc/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks/ usr/share/doc/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks/copyright usr/share/doc/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks/changelog.Debian.gz usr/share/unity/scopes/web/firefoxbookmarks.scope usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/unity_scope_firefoxbookmarks-0.1.egg-info var/lib/dpkg/info/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks.md5sums var/lib/dpkg/info/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks.list usr/share/unity-scopes/firefoxbookmarks/ usr/share/unity-scopes/firefoxbookmarks/__init__.py usr/share/unity-scopes/firefoxbookmarks/unity_firefoxbookmarks_daemon.py usr/share/dbus-1/services/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks.service usr/share/doc/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks/ usr/share/doc/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks/copyright usr/share/doc/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks/changelog.Debian.gz usr/share/unity/scopes/web/firefoxbookmarks.scope usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/unity_scope_firefoxbookmarks-0.1.egg-info var/lib/dpkg/info/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks.md5sums var/lib/dpkg/info/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks.list

I created a tar.gz back-up of my /home folder prior to doing a fresh install of UbuntuStudio 18.04. (The previous version was Ubuntu Studio 16.04, and it wouldn't let me upgrade, so I had to do a whole new installation.) I never "exported bookmarks" because I never realized I could do that! However, I was sure there must have been bookmarks already kept somewhere in my /home folder. However, now I can't figure out how to get at them. Although I can extract all kinds of files dealing with Firefox, I can not figure out how to access or generate Firefox bookmarks from all those files that exists. I'll try to attach a photo of my terminal output for what I can extract from the old /home that had "firefoxbookmarks" in it's name. Can anyone please help me. But in case it doesn't upload here is my terminal output: usr/share/unity-scopes/firefoxbookmarks/ usr/share/unity-scopes/firefoxbookmarks/__init__.py usr/share/unity-scopes/firefoxbookmarks/unity_firefoxbookmarks_daemon.py usr/share/dbus-1/services/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks.service usr/share/doc/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks/ usr/share/doc/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks/copyright usr/share/doc/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks/changelog.Debian.gz usr/share/unity/scopes/web/firefoxbookmarks.scope usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/unity_scope_firefoxbookmarks-0.1.egg-info var/lib/dpkg/info/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks.md5sums var/lib/dpkg/info/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks.list usr/share/unity-scopes/firefoxbookmarks/ usr/share/unity-scopes/firefoxbookmarks/__init__.py usr/share/unity-scopes/firefoxbookmarks/unity_firefoxbookmarks_daemon.py usr/share/dbus-1/services/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks.service usr/share/doc/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks/ usr/share/doc/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks/copyright usr/share/doc/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks/changelog.Debian.gz usr/share/unity/scopes/web/firefoxbookmarks.scope usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/unity_scope_firefoxbookmarks-0.1.egg-info var/lib/dpkg/info/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks.md5sums var/lib/dpkg/info/unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks.list
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Your list only shows the content of system (root) folders in /usr and not in /home. The Firefox profile folder in in a hidden folder with a random name in your home directory as you can see on the about:support page.

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Hmmm.... How odd. I am starting to think I somehow(!?) archived the wrong directory and called it /home. Oh dear. So is there no hope?? Thank you for your information.

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The bookmarks in the Firefox profile folder are stored in places.sqlite and there are compressed .jsonlz4 backups in the bookmarkbackups folder.


You can copy certain files with Firefox closed to the current profile folder to transfer or recover personal data.


  • bookmarks and history: places.sqlite
  • favicons: favicons.sqlite
  • bookmark backups: compressed .jsonlz4 JSON backups in the bookmarkbackups folder
  • cookies.sqlite for the Cookies
  • formhistory.sqlite for saved autocomplete Form Data
  • logins.json (encrypted logins;32+) and key4.db (decryption key;58+) for Passwords saved in the Password Manager
    key3.db support ended in 73+; to use key3.db in 58-72, make sure to remove key4.db
  • cert9.db (58+) for (intermediate) certificates stored in the Certificate Manager
  • persdict.dat for words added to the spell checker dictionary
  • permissions.sqlite for Permissions and possibly content-prefs.sqlite for other website specific data (Site Preferences)
  • sessionstore.jsonlz4 for open tabs and pinned tabs (see also the sessionstore-backups folder)