Unable to restore a second Firefox -window (Restore previous session grayed out)
I have been keeping two Firefox -windows open for many months already. However, earlier tonight when I was cleaning I assume I accidentally pressed something on my keyboard which caused the second window to close. Obviously the first thing I thought of doing was to click "History - Restore previous session", but this was grayed out. I also did close the only window that was left open (perhaps a mistake?) and that window still restores normally. So my question is, how do I get the second Firefox window back?
I tried to find threads which would give an answer to my question, but some of them mentioned something about sessionstore.bak -files or having several sessionstore.js -files, but in this case in my Firefox profile folder there's only one sessionstore.js and it's dated 11.10.2017. Does this mean that all tabs which were open between 11.10 and 1.12. are gone and can't be restored? I managed to find the info that current releases of Firefox don't have sessionstore.bak -files so those older discussions were of no help.
If the information is significant, I have NOT used the "Show your windows and tabs from last time" setting in the the options.
Chosen solution
Please back up everything in sessionstore-backups to a place where Firefox won't overwrite it.
Could you check the "Recently Closed Windows" menu? This is available on either:
- Library toolbar button > History panel
- History toolbar button
- (classic menu bar) History
Or the keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+N to undo the last window closed.
Does that bring it back?
By default, Firefox only remembers 3 closed windows, so hopefully the one you want is still available in your current (restored, I assume) session.
Read this answer in context 👍 2All Replies (6)
I had some troubles attaching my screenshots in the opening post, so I will add them here.
Not sure if they reveal anything important.
Modified by Anttn
There is a way that does not need work a rounds. Download and Install the Developers Edition https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/developer/ it has a compatibility mode at the end of the install. Do not need to use the tools. Plus the Blue Firefox is cool.
Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.
Chosen Solution
Please back up everything in sessionstore-backups to a place where Firefox won't overwrite it.
Could you check the "Recently Closed Windows" menu? This is available on either:
- Library toolbar button > History panel
- History toolbar button
- (classic menu bar) History
Or the keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+N to undo the last window closed.
Does that bring it back?
By default, Firefox only remembers 3 closed windows, so hopefully the one you want is still available in your current (restored, I assume) session.
Oops, you still run Firefox 56. Use the menu bar; tap the Alt key or F10 key to activate it if it's hidden.
Next...
If Recently Closed Windows doesn't have your missing window, but you think it might be in an earlier session, here's the story on those session history files you backed up.
Firefox 56 changed the names and file formats.
OLD: .js/.bak - uncompressed JSON
NEW: .jsonlz4/.bakz4 - compressed JSON
So your screenshot shows you have previous.jsonlz4 from 23.15 and an upgrade... file from 27.10.
To previous the contents of those files, you can use this tool on my website. It also lets you save an HTML list of the URLs in history as an alternate way to access the sites if you are unable to convince Firefox to accept one of those files as a substitute for the one it looks for at startup (sessionstore.jsonlz4).
Thank you so much jscher2000!
The first solution worked already. Somehow the "Restore Closed Windows" had managed to escape my eyes, and I do feel kind of silly now. Surprised the window was that easy to recover, especially as I had already played around a little bit and closed and opened Firefox more than once.
I'll be sure to bookmark this page if I ever get into a situation where the solution is not as simple.