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Firefox Account sometimes only works with old password (maybe from when FF Sync was separate?)

  • 2 replies
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  • Last reply by fiffox

fiffox
fiffox
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I changed my the password to my Firefox account, let's call the old one "OldPassword" and the current one "NewPassword". When I sign into accounts.firefox.com, I enter "NewPassword", and it works as expected. HOWEVER, occasionally when I try to sign into my Firefox account, it tells me that password is INCORRECT.

The most reproducible situation is when I have some sync issue and I need to sign back into my Firefox Account on mobile in order to reestablish a Sync connection between FF Mobile and FF Desktop. In this situation, entering "NewPassword" fails, but "OldPassword" works!

If I go to accounts.firefox.com/settings/change_password, and enter "OldPassword" in the Current Password field and "NewPassword" in the New Password fields, it will say that I've entered an incorrect current password. When I put "NewPassword" in the Current PW field, it accepts that as correct, but then says, "New password cannot be the same as current password."

My current theory is that Firefox Sync used to be a separate service from the Firefox Account, and users could create a password for each that didn't necessarily have to be the same (That's how it used to work, right? Am I remembering that correctly?) A few years back, Sync got integrated into Account so it all uses one password. At some point, I updated my account password to "NewPassword", but for some reason the Sync part of the system didn't get its credential updated in the same way.

Can anyone provide insight into this situation, or how to fix it? I'd really like to not have to remember two separate FF passwords and guess which one to use each time I need to sign in.

I changed my the password to my Firefox account, let's call the old one "OldPassword" and the current one "NewPassword". When I sign into accounts.firefox.com, I enter "NewPassword", and it works as expected. HOWEVER, occasionally when I try to sign into my Firefox account, it tells me that password is INCORRECT. The most reproducible situation is when I have some sync issue and I need to sign back into my Firefox Account on mobile in order to reestablish a Sync connection between FF Mobile and FF Desktop. In this situation, entering "NewPassword" fails, but "OldPassword" works! If I go to accounts.firefox.com/settings/change_password, and enter "OldPassword" in the Current Password field and "NewPassword" in the New Password fields, it will say that I've entered an incorrect current password. When I put "NewPassword" in the Current PW field, it accepts that as correct, but then says, "New password cannot be the same as current password." My current theory is that Firefox Sync used to be a separate service from the Firefox Account, and users could create a password for each that didn't necessarily have to be the same (That's how it used to work, right? Am I remembering that correctly?) A few years back, Sync got integrated into Account so it all uses one password. At some point, I updated my account password to "NewPassword", but for some reason the Sync part of the system didn't get its credential updated in the same way. Can anyone provide insight into this situation, or how to fix it? I'd really like to not have to remember two separate FF passwords and guess which one to use each time I need to sign in.

All Replies (2)

Paul
Paul
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Hi

Firefox Account is the access control for Firefox Sync - it has been this way for many years.

Once you have Sync set up, you should only rarely need to sign in again - it should quite happily work in the background. Are you able to sign into Sync using your new password?

fiffox
fiffox Question owner
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Paul said
Once you have Sync set up, you should only rarely need to sign in again - it should quite happily work in the background. Are you able to sign into Sync using your new password?

No, that's what I was trying to describe. When I sign in for Sync specifically (like when the browser says you need go sign back in to make your tabs sync across devices) it only accepts OldPassword, even though I sign into my account in all other situations using NewPassword.

Firefox Account is the access control for Firefox Sync - it has been this way for many years.

How many years, do you think? If it's 4-5, my theory could still track.

Modified by fiffox