Just did that . I got the file named

bookmarks_from_json.html

and did the normal steps "All bookmarks" and "Import from HTML".

Nothing however happened. Nothing was transferred and i still do not see the bookmarks if i open sidebar

If you open that HTML file in a Firefox tab, does it seem to contain your bookmarks?

Imported bookmarks may appear in a new folder at the end of the Bookmarks menu, or under Other bookmarks. I assume you don't see it there, either.

I don't know what's wrong with the "Places" system in your Firefox. In Firefox 55, there was an issue for users who had an apostrophe or perhaps an accented character in their Windows user name or profile name. However, that should have been fixed before Firefox 56 and should no longer be an issue.

Did you ever rule out a possible interfering extension by testing restore/import in Firefox's Safe Mode? In its Safe Mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.

If Firefox is not running: Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox.

If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
• Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

and OK the restart.

Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).

Any improvement?

To no avail. I went into Safe Mode but the result was the same. I try to import the bookmarks html but nothing shows up

Thanks for continuing to help

Did you try cor-el's suggestion to remove the places.sqlite database? You can launch your profile folder while Firefox is open, but you need to exit out of Firefox completely and let it wrap up database updates before renaming or deleting places.sqlite. https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1172684#answer-999955

jscher2000, i had done that and just repeated now without success.

JAMA

I am still in a bind here. I have tried past recommendations and have failed every time. I even uninstalled FF and re-installed - same problem. I uninstalled Spybot and re-installed - same problem.

Any new idea / recommendation will be helpful. I am getting close to move to Google Chrome, reluctantly.

Thanks

One other thing you could try while you wait for any solution is to try a fresh Firefox profile. You may want to put copies of a couple bookmark backups and your HTML export in a convenient location first.

New Profile Test

This takes about 3 minutes, plus the time to test your bookmarks backup and migrate other data you require.

Inside Firefox, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it.

Click the Create a New Profile button, then click Next. Assign a name like Nov2017, ignore the option to relocate the profile folder, and click the Finish button.

After creating the profile, scroll down to it and click the Set as default profile button below that profile, then scroll back up and click the Restart normally button. (There are some other buttons, but please ignore them.)

Firefox should exit and then start up using the new profile, which will just look brand new.

Does restoring a backup file or importing an HTML file work any better in the new profile?

When you are done with the experiment, open the about:profiles page again, click the Set as default profile button for your normal profile, then click the Restart normally button to get back to it.