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Lolu chungechunge lwabekwa kunqolobane. Uyacelwa ubuze umbuzo omusha uma udinga usizo.

A window with all its tabs dissappeared, won't show on restart...

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Merely typing an email when the tab and window it was in shut down (am using linux mint and most recent FF build.) I have difficulty understanding programmer directions as typically given but can follow a path > to files and folders. I found firefox old backups and sessions folder but none of the session restore files are dated, won't open and won't restore. I wish there was a straight-forward path to restore "my sessions" when issues develop. Just show me where the file path > where the files are > and what to click. Thank you.

Merely typing an email when the tab and window it was in shut down (am using linux mint and most recent FF build.) I have difficulty understanding programmer directions as typically given but can follow a path > to files and folders. I found firefox old backups and sessions folder but none of the session restore files are dated, won't open and won't restore. I wish there was a straight-forward path to restore "my sessions" when issues develop. Just show me where the file path > where the files are > and what to click. Thank you.

All Replies (20)

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First, could you check whether either of these are available (not hidden or grayed out):

  • "3-bar" menu button > History > Restore Previous Session
  • (menu bar) History > Restore Previous Session

If they are missing or grayed, check either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > History > Recently Closed Windows
  • "Library" toolbar button > History > Recently Closed Windows
  • (menu bar) History > Recently Closed Windows

Can you get any closed windows back that way?


Session history files (from sessionstore-backups) don't have the date in the file name, but your file system should let you know the last modification date.

What did you find? Typically:

  • recovery.jsonlz4: the windows and tabs in your currently live Firefox session (or, if Firefox crashed at the last shutdown and is still closed, your last session)
  • recovery.baklz4: a backup copy of recovery.jsonlz4
  • previous.jsonlz4: the windows and tabs in your last Firefox session
  • upgrade.jsonlz4-build_id: the windows and tabs in the Firefox session that was live at the time of your last update

Optional File Contents Preview

Did you find this tip in one of my other replies? I have a tool on my website to list out the contents of these compressed files. If you want to try that, you can drag and drop it onto the large box on the following page, then click the "Scrounge URLs" button:

https://www.jeffersonscher.com/ffu/scrounger.html

If you don't get a list within 15 seconds, that probably means the script is caught in a loop. You may need to close the tab to avoid a tab crash and then try again in a new tab.

If you get a useful list, use the "Save List" button to archive it as a web page of clickable links for future reference, in case no other approach is successful.

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three bar menu button > history > recently closed windows (is grayed out) there is no "restore previous session" in history.

History > recently closed windows (is grayed out)

There is no "recently closed windows" in the "Library."

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Do any of the files from sessionstore-backups have recent tabs?

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There are only six files in that folder-- previous.js, recovery.bak, recovery.js, and 3 files with upgrade.js and a number; and none contain the word recent or have tabs.

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meanwhile the sessions folder has backup-203.session or a total of 203 session files.

Okulungisiwe ngu germeten1

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germeten1 said

There are only six files in that folder-- previous.js, recovery.bak, recovery.js, and 3 files with upgrade.js and a number; and none contain the word recent or have tabs.

One way to judge how recent they are is to check the last modified date in your file browser. As a Windows person, I don't know how you do this on Linux.

Another option is to use my Scrounger page.

germeten1 said

meanwhile the sessions folder has backup-203.session or a total of 203 session files.

Those aren't created by Firefox. Depending on how long you have been using this same Firefox profile, perhaps they date back to Firefox 56 or earlier when the old Session Manager extension saved its file in a folder named sessions.

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OK, but how do I find my session from say 2 days ago? If I could do that I could restore everything.

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You can try to restore a recent upgrade.jsonlz4-<build_id> when available.

You can use the button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page (Root directory).

You will normally find these files in the sessionstore-backups folder:

  • previous.jsonlz4 (cleanBackup: copy of sessionstore.jsonlz4 from previous session that was loaded successfully)
  • recovery.jsonlz4 (latest version of sessionstore.jsonlz4 written during runtime)
  • recovery.baklz4 (previous version of sessionstore.jsonlz4 written during runtime)
  • upgrade.jsonlz4-<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.jsonlz4 to replace the current file with Firefox closed.

  • make sure to backup the current sessionstore.jsonlz4

You can look at this tool to inspect a compressed jsonlz4 sessionstore file.

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Use one of these to close Firefox if you are currently doing that by clicking the close X on the Firefox Title bar, especially if you have multiple windows open to prevent losing tabs in unnoticed windows.

  • "3-bar" menu button -> Exit (Power button)
  • Windows: File -> Exit
  • Mac: Firefox -> Quit Firefox
  • Linux: File -> Quit
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I have none of those files in sessionstore-backups. This is what I do have.


/home/owner/Desktop/Old Firefox Data/fs1fd771.default/sessionstore-backups/previous.js /home/owner/Desktop/Old Firefox Data/fs1fd771.default/sessionstore-backups/recovery.bak /home/owner/Desktop/Old Firefox Data/fs1fd771.default/sessionstore-backups/recovery.js /home/owner/Desktop/Old Firefox Data/fs1fd771.default/sessionstore-backups/upgrade.js-20160425120036 /home/owner/Desktop/Old Firefox Data/fs1fd771.default/sessionstore-backups/upgrade.js-20160511224619 /home/owner/Desktop/Old Firefox Data/fs1fd771.default/sessionstore-backups/upgrade.js-20160608193719

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That looks an old profile that got saved in 2016 in the "Old Firefox Data" folder when you refreshed Firefox, so those files are likely not of much use.

There aren't any files in the sessionstore-backups folder in your current profile folder ?

Okulungisiwe ngu cor-el

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No, no files. Unless I'm not looking in the right place? "Old Firefox Data"? Nothing in there to speak of.

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The "~/.mozilla/firefox/" folder where the xxxxxxxx.default-release profile would normally be found is a hidden folder. Some recent Linux distros have moved to using the snap version and store its profiles in a different location.

  • ~/snap/firefox/common/.mozilla/firefox/

Did you try the "Open Directory" button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page?

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I'm in the help > about:support > Open Directory: > usr > lib > firefox ...folder now. What should I be looking for?

Okulungisiwe ngu germeten1

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I had four open windows, one dissappeared. It shows up in bottom tabs when I open the browser and dissappears again.

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germeten1 said

I'm in the help > about:support > Open Directory: > usr > lib > firefox ...folder now. What should I be looking for?

If you use the Open Directory button on the "Profile Folder" row (or maybe it's "Profile Directory"), then within the profile folder, you should find sessionstore-backups.

germeten1 said

I had four open windows, one dissappeared. It shows up in bottom tabs when I open the browser and dissappears again.

Bottom tabs? Is this similar to the Windows Taskbar where each open window has a thumbnail?

Is the window on the Recently Closed Windows list?

If not, can you switch to one of the tabs in that window by entering part of its title or URL in the address bar (Switch to Tab feature)?

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My tabs at the bottom show windows open that contain all the tabs in that particular window. One dissappeared and shows up on restart but promptly dissappears again as the others load. Recently closed windows contained google account sign in, no other tabs, is grayed out, not active. If it showed I surely would have done it. That's why I asked where to find past sessions to restore.

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I can't think of a reason for Firefox to restore a window and then close it and hide it from the Recently Closed Windows list.

Have you found the sessionstore-backups folder with the latest files in it?

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No I have not. I mean I found that folder per above but there are no sessions stored in it. Why do developers need to hide it?

Okulungisiwe ngu germeten1

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Well amazingly, my window came back, thank god. It seems if I'm running telegram concurrently, it puts too much drain on my computers resources and something has to give. Hopefully it will reload upon reboot, finger crossed. But this still doesn't help me find my way around my sessions, something like it is sure to happen again.

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