How can I only backup and restore my Firefox settings?
I wish to only backup my Firefox preferences as well as what I changed in about:config. I do not wish any other Firefox data such as Bookmarks, History or Passwords included with it. The use case is that I should be able to share those with my friends to make it quick to setup Firefox in their computer who wish to have the exact same settings as I have. This shall not contain site specific settings.
I currently run Windows 10 but would be happy if the solution is generic that can be applied to other platforms as well.
Please also include how to restore said backup.
Upravil(a) cy_narrator dňa
Všetky odpovede (3)
As you want to share this with other, this isn't easy to be done. Firefox stores all setting changes from the default in prefs.js in the Firefox profile folder and this includes a lot of settings specific to a specific profile/installation like last updated times. If you want to share this file with others then you need to remove all those settings and only keep the changes you made yourself. Note that best is to use a user.js file to initialize a profile and remove this file once the settings are imported and show on the the about:config page. If this is an older profile then you may also have pref settings that are no longer supported in the current release and best is to copy only pref lines that you recognize and understand (i.e. you can link to changes you made in Settings).
WARNING: modifying prefs directly via the about:config page can sometimes break Firefox or cause strange behavior, and there is no guarantee that this will keep working in future Firefox releases, so be cautious with modifying prefs if you aren't sure you understand their purpose. You should only do this if you know what you're doing.
cor-el said
As you want to share this with other, this isn't easy to be done. Firefox stores all setting changes from the default in prefs.js in the Firefox profile folder and this includes a lot of settings specific to a specific profile/installation like last updated times. If you want to share this file with others then you need to remove all those settings and only keep the changes you made yourself. Note that best is to use a user.js file to initialize a profile and remove this file once the settings are imported and show on the the about:config page. If this is an older profile then you may also have pref settings that are no longer supported in the current release and best is to copy only pref lines that you recognize and understand (i.e. you can link to changes you made in Settings). WARNING: modifying prefs directly via the about:config page can sometimes break Firefox or cause strange behavior, and there is no guarantee that this will keep working in future Firefox releases, so be cautious with modifying prefs if you aren't sure you understand their purpose. You should only do this if you know what you're doing.
It seems that prefs.js only stores user modified values from about:config For example when I enable privacy.resistFingerprinting to true and search for privacy in prefs.js using a text editor, I find a matching entry for user_pref("privacy.resistFingerprinting", true); so I think this is what I am looking for. But it also includes things like app.installation.timestamp which is kind of weird thing to include in the settings.
Furthermore, you mentioned user.js but I cannot see that in the profile directory where prefs.js is. Lines on top mention something like
// Mozilla User Preferences // DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE. // // If you make changes to this file while the application is running, // the changes will be overwritten when the application exits. // // To change a preference value, you can either: // - modify it via the UI (e.g. via about:config in the browser); or // - set it within a user.js file in your profile.
So I assume I am expected to create a new user.js file. But I find it sort of redundant. Considering prefs.js already only contains modified about:config enteries. But by what I understand, is it true that enteries stored in user.js replace prefs.js?
Example: if the entry user_pref("privacy.resistFingerprinting", true); is set in prefs.js and the entry user_pref("privacy.resistFingerprinting", false); is set in user.js, will the one in user.js take precedence?
Upravil(a) cy_narrator dňa
The prefs.js file doesn't only store settings that you modify, but also prefs Firefox uses internally.
Yes, entries you place in user.js take precedence over prefs.js, but since this file is read/processed each time you start Firefox you only can make changes for the current session. So you need to remove or rename user.js once this has done its job or you run into issues.