Please take a deep breath. Now:

There's no one-click way to undo a Refresh, but here is a procedure to revert to your pre-Refresh data. It takes 5 minutes, but that may be faster than recovering individual files and loading those into your new profile.

Check inside the "Old Firefox Data" folder that Refresh adds to your desktop for a folder with a semi-randomized name. If there's only one, that probably has your old settings and add-ons. If there's more than one, you'll want to work with the one that was updated most recently.

Once you have identified the profile folder you want to restore, here is my suggested "old profile resurrection procedure":

Overview

These are the steps described in more detail below:

1. Create a new Firefox profile
2. Remove everything from that new profile folder
3. Copy in everything from the old profile folder

Create a new Firefox profile (Windows)

Exit Firefox completely, and then start up in the Profile Manager by pasting the following into the Start menu search box, or the Start > Run dialog, and pressing Enter:

firefox.exe -P

Note: Any time you want to switch profiles, exit Firefox and return to this dialog.

Click the Create Profile button, assign a name like OldSettings, and skip the option to change the folder location. Then select that new profile in the dialog and start Firefox.

Open the New Profile folder in Windows Explorer

Firefox in the new profile should look like a factory fresh installation. Open the Troubleshooting Information page using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
• Help menu > Troubleshooting Information
• type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table, click the "Show Folder" button. Firefox will launch your brand new profile folder in Windows Explorer.

Leaving that folder open, switch back to Firefox, and Exit using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "power" button
• (menu bar) File > Exit

When Firefox closes, the profile folder should be front and center, or you can activate it using the Task bar.

Copy Old Data in Place of New

In that new profile folder you just popped open -- NOT the one on your desktop -- select all the contents (you can use Ctrl+a) and delete (you can press the Delete key on the keyboard).

Leaving that window open, open or switch over to your Old Firefox Data folder. Drill down into your old profile folder. At this level you should see a folder named bookmarkbackups among other things.

Select everything (Ctrl+a) and Copy (either right-click > Copy or Ctrl+c).

Switch to the empty new profile folder in other window and Paste (either right-click > Paste or Ctrl+v). This may take a minute since some of the files are large.

Start Firefox

Firefox should start up in that "new" profile with the resurrected old profile data. Success?

Yes. THANK YOU.

I think you should say 15 minutes, not 5. And if I just had to move a couple of folders, that might have been faster, but I tried moving 5 earlier, and none of them worked.

I modified one sentence in your directions, to indicate the box I saw: Click the Create Profile button, assign a name like OldSettings, and skip the option to change the folder location. (he means don't choose folder) Then select that new profile in the dialog and start Firefox.

Thank you for your quick response. Now I can work.

Thanks for all the great idea! This was really helpful. It has helped me too.. Thanks again!

I'm having the same issue!!!! I knew I shouldn't have tried something new on Firefox!! It's not a good time for this to happen since my husband just passed away and I can't think straight!!! I love my original windows and tabs!!!!! Please help me with this! A phone number would be nice for me to call and get real help!!!! Please don't just email me with instructions...it won't help!!!!!

I'm a MAC user.

Hi dianeabby, Mozilla does not have a telephone support service. Can you get a friend or family member to assist locally?

The process for Mac is very similar to the one posted earlier in this thread:

Overview

These are the steps described in more detail below:

1. Create a new Firefox profile
2. Remove everything from that new profile folder
3. Copy in everything from the old profile folder

Create a new Profile

Since I don't have hands on experience with Mac, I'll refer you to our support article: Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles.

When you create the new profile, please ignore the option to change the folder location. Just let Firefox choose the location, then start up in the new profile.

Open the New Profile folder in Finder

Firefox in the new profile should look like a factory fresh installation. Open the Troubleshooting Information page using any of these methods:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
• Help menu > Troubleshooting Information
• type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table, click the "Show in Finder" button. Firefox will launch your brand new profile folder in a Finder window.

Leaving that folder open, switch back to Firefox, and Quit using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "power" button
• (menu bar) Firefox > Quit

When Firefox closes, the Finder window showing the new profile folder should be front and center, or you can activate it.

Copy Old Data in Place of New

In that new profile folder, select all the contents and delete so the folder is now empty.

Leaving that window open, open or switch over to your Old Firefox Data folder. Drill down into your old profile folder. At this level you should see a folder named bookmarkbackups among other things.

Select everything and Copy.

Switch to the empty new profile folder in other window and Paste. This may take a minute since some of the files are large.

Start Firefox

Firefox should start up in that "new" profile with the resurrected old profile data. Success?