Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

lost passwords

  • 1 reply
  • 0 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by cor-el

more options

Hello All I took my box to best buy because it was not working properly. They replaced the drive now I have no access to the passwords saved in firefox. Is there any way to get them back ? I have the old drive ! Any help greatly appreciated Gary

Hello All I took my box to best buy because it was not working properly. They replaced the drive now I have no access to the passwords saved in firefox. Is there any way to get them back ? I have the old drive ! Any help greatly appreciated Gary

Chosen solution

You can copy certain files with Firefox closed to the current profile folder to transfer/recover/backup your personal data. Note that best is to avoid copying a full profile folder.

You can use the button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page (Root directory).


  • 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) and key4.db (decryption key and primary password) for logins saved in the Password Manager
  • cert9.db for 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)
Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (1)

more options

Chosen Solution

You can copy certain files with Firefox closed to the current profile folder to transfer/recover/backup your personal data. Note that best is to avoid copying a full profile folder.

You can use the button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page (Root directory).


  • 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) and key4.db (decryption key and primary password) for logins saved in the Password Manager
  • cert9.db for 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)