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Firefox Sync deleting recently added bookmarks

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 9 views
  • Last reply by FredMcD

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This has been happening since a few versions back. New bookmarks keep disappearing after sync. In the latest scenario, I had added multiple bookmarks to multiple folders (within the bookmarks toolbar folder) on Laptop A last week. I worked on Laptop B yesterday, but did not make any changes to bookmarks. I hadn't used Laptop B in a couple of weeks. Today I went back to Laptop A and all the new bookmarks I had added last week were gone! The new folders I added were still there though. I do not have enabled on mobile devices. Sync is only enabled on these laptops.

In another instance, I was only using Laptop A. One bookmark I had on the bookmarks toolbar that I use all the time disappeared. I would add it back and in a couple of days it would disappear again. This kept repeating for several weeks. Laptop B was never powered on during this time. I was able to work around it by placing the bookmark in it's own folder.

I'm really pissed that a weeks worth of research is now lost. If this can't be resolved I will have to switch to another browser. Please help.

This has been happening since a few versions back. New bookmarks keep disappearing after sync. In the latest scenario, I had added multiple bookmarks to multiple folders (within the bookmarks toolbar folder) on Laptop A last week. I worked on Laptop B yesterday, but did not make any changes to bookmarks. I hadn't used Laptop B in a couple of weeks. Today I went back to Laptop A and all the new bookmarks I had added last week were gone! The new folders I added were still there though. I do not have enabled on mobile devices. Sync is only enabled on these laptops. In another instance, I was only using Laptop A. One bookmark I had on the bookmarks toolbar that I use all the time disappeared. I would add it back and in a couple of days it would disappear again. This kept repeating for several weeks. Laptop B was never powered on during this time. I was able to work around it by placing the bookmark in it's own folder. I'm really pissed that a weeks worth of research is now lost. If this can't be resolved I will have to switch to another browser. Please help.

All Replies (2)

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Firefox keeps backups of the bookmarks in the bookmarkbackups folder, so you can check this out.

  • Bookmarks -> Show All Bookmarks -> Import & Backup -> Restore

The name of an automatically created JSON bookmarks backup in the bookmarkbackups folder includes a total item count (folders and separators included) and an hash value to prevent saving the same backup more than once. You also see this count in the Restore menu drop-down list.

  • bookmarks-YYYY-MM-DD_<item count>_<hash>.jsonlz4.

See also:

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If you have sync, and there is a problem anywhere, Shut Down Sync Immediately On All Devices to prevent the problem from spreading. Type https://accounts.firefox.com/settings<enter> in the address box. Once the problem is fixed, perform the same repair on all computers/profiles before using sync again.


[v57+] Places Maintenance is built into Firefox.

Type about:support<enter> in the address box.

You will find Places Database near the bottom. Press the Verify Integrity button.

If any errors are reported: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/fix-bookmarks-and-history-will-not-be-functional

The places.sqlite file contains your History and Bookmarks. And it looks like it is corrupted.

Type about:support<enter> in the address box.

Under the page logo on the left side, you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Folder. To its right press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Now Close Firefox.

Locate the above file. Then rename or delete it. Restart Firefox. The browser should then create a new place.sqlite and recover your bookmarks from the backup files.

Note: Your history is not backed up and will be lost.