https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/update-firefox-latest-version?cache=no Update Firefox to the latest version 55.0.3

Are you talking about the history 'tree' only goes to 6 months, or is your history not show those entries at all?

What is the latest shown in your history?

Firefox will show an older than 6 months section that stores all this older history if that is what you are referring about.

Make sure that you have enabled the columns that are applicable and that you see the dates in the History Manager (Library; Views -> Show Columns).

Current Firefox versions keep a maximum number of visited page and do not have a time limit for the history. Firefox determines automatically how many pages can be kept without affecting the performance. You can see the current value of this maximum as the value of the read-only pref places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages on the about:config page. You can create a new integer pref named places.history.expiration.max_pages if you want to modify the automatically calculates number of pages to keep. Be cautious though with modifying the value of this pref. Note that you can do a copy and paste of history items to a bookmarks folder.

See Marco Bonardo's blog about this subject:

• http://bonardo.net/mozilla/2012/02/13/places-got-async-expiration.html

I have not updated to 55.0.3, yet. I'll work on that after I give you this information. It is interesting that Firefox did not automatically ask me to do a restart to update, which it always has done, before. I do mean the history 'tree?' that shows up when I click on show all history, which is just above clear recent history. Only 6 months info shows up. With my Safari, it goes back years and years and years. I rarely use Safari, usually, just for stuff to print out for the 92-year-old mother, if the Firefox print comes out weird. I will look for History Manager, too. I just noticed I got replies so I thought to post this. I'll be back!

The Library window has categories for different periods. If there is any stored history that goes back more than 6 months there should be a last item for that. I've attached a screenshot as an example.

If you are looking for something in particular, it's easiest to use the search box at the upper right.

See also:

• Norwell History Tools: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/norwell/

I updated to version 55.0.3. I am referring to history in the menu that pulls down to Show all History, to Library list that only goes to 6 months. There used to be an option that says more than 6 months. There does not seem to be a way to set preferences or choose things in the Library window, so one can have search history going back a year or years. Safari lets one do that, and Firefox used to. There must be a way. Or is it something Firefox has gotten rid of?

I am going to look into the Norwell History Tools suggestion. I'll get back to you on that.

patricialee said

There used to be an option that says more than 6 months.

That should appear ONLY if you actually have history going back more than 6 months. To see ALL your history and sort by last visit date, you can do a search in the Library search box (upper right corner) for http (which matches nearly all URLs) and click the Most Recent Visit column heading to use that sort order. (If it's already the current sort column, clicking will switch between newest to oldest, and oldest to newest order.)

For a trial run, I did a search of Wikipedia, since I have been using that for eons. I was able to only go back to May, no matter what I did. How can I see previous history?

Firefox does not keep your history forever. Old entries are removed to make room for new ones. What you see is what there is right now. You may be able to set Firefox to store more pages so less history is discarded. Please see cor-el's reply: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1173068#answer-1000757

How many history items do you have if you enter a common character like a dot (.) or colon (:) in the history search bar in the Library?

EDIT: Maybe better to use the Verify Integrity button on the "Help -> Troubleshooting Information" page to see some stats..

I put in a : and the search still brought up only untill 5/25/17. I read your other post and felt it was beyond my tech capabilities. I like to go back and look over years of searches for patterns and to see what was going on in my life with networking at certain times, etc. When I discovered the "more than 6 months" option had disappeared, I thought I should follow up on this inquiry for all future users.