ll62518475 said

I haven't closed the browser since when i lost it, and not planning to until i get my session BACK. Hell, there has to be some file that still has all of my tabs. No, recovery.bak and recovery.js only shows my current one. So not that. Some other file.

Does the sessionstore-backups folder have a file named previous.js that is large enough to have some/most of your missing session?

Otherwise, we're looking at less reliable sources like Windows shadow copies.

I just want to note that I do not know what is supposed to happen in the two scenarios you mentioned:

(1) Using History > Clear Recent History for a short time span

It doesn't seem logical to delete your currently open windows and tabs from the session history file because they are still open. So that seems very, very strange to me. But I haven't tested it.

(2) Closing the last non-private window

It seems most logical that when you open a new non-private window (for example, using your Firefox desktop shortcut) that window should be able to restore the previous non-private session. But I haven't tested it.

If these behaviors turn out to be repeatable in testing, someone should file a bug to get them changed. However, that kind of thing usually takes months, so the in meantime, you might need some kind of backup system for recovery.js.

Unfortunately, no. Only those two files i have already mentioned. Oh, and thanks, by the way. I thought that with all my swearing and hot-headed approach no one would want to help.

Your System Details list shows the Session Manager extension. I don't know if this extension can contribute to what you experienced, but this is a possibility that you can check. I also do not know if this extension keeps backups differently than the way Firefox handles sessions without this extension.

You can backup the session files in the sessionstore-backups folder in the Firefox Profile Folder to make sure not to lose possible important session data.

previous.js (cleanBackup: copy of sessionstore.js from previous session that was loaded successfully)
recovery.js (latest version of the sessionstore written during runtime)
recovery.bak (previous version of the sessionstore written during runtime)
upgrade.js-<build_id> (backup created during an upgrade of Firefox)

You can copy a file from the sessionstore-backups folder to the main profile and rename the file to sessionstore.js to replace the current file (make a backup copy of the current sessionstore.js).

You can use this button to go to the current Firefox profile folder:

• Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

Oh...

Your Question Details > More System Details shows you have the Session Manager extension. Is that a factor here? I'm not very familiar with this extension.

• Does it show any restorable sessions? or deleted sessions?
• Can you find a folder in your profile named sessions created by Session Manager that might have anything useful in it?

jscher2000 said

I just want to note that I do not know what is supposed to happen in the two scenarios you mentioned: (1) Using History > Clear Recent History for a short time span It doesn't seem logical to delete your currently open windows and tabs from the session history file because they are still open. So that seems very, very strange to me. But I haven't tested it. (2) Closing the last non-private window It seems most logical that when you open a new non-private window (for example, using your Firefox desktop shortcut) that window should be able to restore the previous non-private session. But I haven't tested it. If these behaviors turn out to be repeatable in testing, someone should file a bug to get them changed. However, that kind of thing usually takes months, so the in meantime, you might need some kind of backup system for recovery.js.

Hmm. The windows weren't open at that time. In other words i haven't restored any tabs at the time i accidentally wiped out 1 hour of history (The session file still should have been in tact though). It is still messed up that it deleted all of my tabs, which was approx 150. Unless it detects all tabs that were active or present in 1hr spawn of browser activity and then boom. It would really suck if this is the case... And about private/normal windows. It did happen multiple times to me already. It always deletes my session if i forget to turn off private FIRST. Have no idea how, or why it does that. Unless that not saving any history actually means saving it, but then somehow deleting it after closing private window giving an illusion of not saving at all. But when i turn off private first, normal session then can still re-save its own tabs. But i might just be talking bullshit since i don't know almost anything about how that works. Just picked up for me seemingly logical assumption so really, you don't have to pay any attention to these guesses of mine if you see its illogical for you.

jscher2000 said

Oh... Your Question Details > More System Details shows you have the Session Manager extension. Is that a factor here? I'm not very familiar with this extension.

• Does it show any restorable sessions? or deleted sessions?
• Can you find a folder in your profile named sessions created by Session Manager that might have anything useful in it?

No, i installed it about 30-50 minutes ago in hopes that i could somehow restore tabs. Didn't work... Obviously, i guess. But i will re-check again, just in case.

cor-el said

Your System Details list shows the Session Manager extension. I don't know if this extension can contribute to what you experienced, but this is a possibility that you can check. I also do not know if this extension keeps backups differently than the way Firefox handles sessions without this extension. You can backup the session files in the sessionstore-backups folder in the Firefox Profile Folder to make sure not to lose possible important session data. previous.js (cleanBackup: copy of sessionstore.js from previous session that was loaded successfully) recovery.js (latest version of the sessionstore written during runtime) recovery.bak (previous version of the sessionstore written during runtime) upgrade.js-<build_id> (backup created during an upgrade of Firefox) You can copy a file from the sessionstore-backups folder to the main profile and rename the file to sessionstore.js to replace the current file (make a backup copy of the current sessionstore.js). You can use this button to go to the current Firefox profile folder:

• Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

Yeah, thanks for the advice. I will start to seriously back my browsing profile from now on. For now though, it only shows me:

• recovery.bak
• recovery.js
• sessionCheckpoints.json

Nothing else.

Did you check the recovery files?

You can open such a file in the Scratchpad (Firefox/Tools > Web Developer). Click the "Pretty Print" button to format the file for readability.

• https://developer.mozilla.org/Tools/Scratchpad

Yeah, i did. Just my current session is recorded there.

It's strange that there are no update files at all. Did you use the Refresh feature recently? That would have moved your old profile folder to the desktop inside an Old Firefox Data folder. If you have one, you could check the sessionstore-backups folder in there.

Oh. No, i don't believe i did. And even if i did, i probably deleted the old file. Anyway, realistically thinking, i probably lost them completely. At least i have no hope of retrieving the tabs anymore. I kinda wasted your time, so sorry about that. its fine now. I'm gonna back up my profile from time to time after this. Heh, i feel horrible now.

P.s. Really thanks for trying to help me. It's frustrating when i lose all my tabs. The session saving/restoring methods kinda still needs an update in my opinion, but i doubt any mods or devs will ever check this post of mine. Again, thanks for helping while you could have been doing something else.

Is it possible to close this?

You can mark your concluding post as the solution. But nothing really closes around here for six months unless it gets out of control or wildly off topic.

While developers do not read forum threads, someone with a passion could file bugs for bad behaviors. As I mentioned before, someone would need to reproduce them on a clean profile to rule out settings issues.