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How can I restore passwords from a computer backup?

  • 4 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 484 views
  • Last reply by bcarson51

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I recently backup up my entire computer than did a factory reset. When I restored everything it did not return the mozilla saved bookmarks or passwords. I was able to find and restore the bookmarks but have not been able to restore the passwords. I am looking for a solution to finding and storing, copying, or printing out the list of passwords in the back up copy.

Thank you

I recently backup up my entire computer than did a factory reset. When I restored everything it did not return the mozilla saved bookmarks or passwords. I was able to find and restore the bookmarks but have not been able to restore the passwords. I am looking for a solution to finding and storing, copying, or printing out the list of passwords in the back up copy. Thank you

Chosen solution

You can only access passwords stored in signons.sqlite if you have the correct key3.db file that stores the encryption key needed to decrypt the names and passwords. If copying the two files to the current Firefox profile folder doesn't work then you may have a wrong key3.db file.

Make sure that you have copied the two files to the correct location with Firefox closed.

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

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All Replies (4)

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hello, firefox stores all your personal information like bookmarks and passwords in the profile folder. you can import your passwords by copying the files named key3.db & signons.sqlite from your old profile folder into your new profile folder.

Profiles - Where Firefox stores your bookmarks, passwords and other user data

Recovering important data from an old profile

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I tried this and I ended up with no passwords, old or new.

Is the problem that the files I found are in a full computer backup not just a Mozilla info backup?

Is there a way to open the password in the backup and print them out to retrieve them?

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Chosen Solution

You can only access passwords stored in signons.sqlite if you have the correct key3.db file that stores the encryption key needed to decrypt the names and passwords. If copying the two files to the current Firefox profile folder doesn't work then you may have a wrong key3.db file.

Make sure that you have copied the two files to the correct location with Firefox closed.

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

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Thank you, it worked well, once I looked for the files to match.

Thank you for your help.