Firefox 3.6 should be installed in your Applications folder (and it usually is), so I'll assume that for the below directions.

Normally, when you install a new version of firefox, all of your information should automatically be re-imported, but this is such a large jump (firefox 3.6 is from 2010) that it may not work correctly.

In firefox 3.6, go to "about:support" in the address bar, and next to "profile folder" (in the "application basics" section), click "show in finder". Open a second finder window, and copy the highlighted folder in the first window to a different location by holding down the option key while dragging it (the desktop is a good place to copy it to). You should now have a copy in both locations: the original location, and the desktop (check to make sure this is correct).

Next, download the newest version of firefox from https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/new/. When the disk image has downloaded, open it (or it may open automatically). You should see a window open with a blue background and a firefox logo. Quit firefox, and switch to the window with the blue background. To the right of the firefox logo, you should see a folder icon. Drag the firefox logo onto the folder icon, and wait for it to finish copying (you may need to enter the administrator password for your computer to do this). Next, re-open firefox. If everything worked correctly, you should have version 37, and your data should still be there. If your information is not there, or you still have firefox 3.6, let me know and I will show how to recover the data from the backup folder you created.

You should try to keep firefox up to date. 3.6 is from 5 years ago, has numerous security vulnerabilities, and doesn't support many new features. Newer versions of Firefox usually auto-update, however, so this shouldn't be an issue going forward.

Also, starting in version 29, firefox has a somewhat different user interface. You can learn how to use it in the article Learn more about the design of the new Firefox version 29

Let me know if you run into any issues or have any further questions!

user293,

Thanks for your help.

I have download 37.0.2, and it is installed in /Macintosh HD/Applications. I hilighted the /Firefox/ icon in the /Appilcation window/, then opened the FIrefox info window with command-I. The version shown is 37.0.2 created 4/15/2015.

When I opened the Firefox icon on my dock, Firefox opened without the bookmarks. "About Firefox" shows 37.0.2.

I have the folder /8ebz5dnd.default/ on my desktop per your second paragraph (saved per your instructions before downloading 37.0.2. I also saved the folder /8ebz5dnd.default/ to my external hard drive I use for Time Machine backup - just in case I need it..

Please tell me how to recover the data from the backup folder so that the bookmarks from v 3.6.3 will be shown in 37.0.2.

Thanks for your time, Webheadstl

I don't think that you can restore a JSON backup made in Firefox 3.6.x in the current release as there have been a lot of changes to the file format and the JSON format used in 3.6.x is not compatible with the format used in the current release.

You would have to reinstall the Firefox 3.6.x version (or possibly restore it from the Time machine) and export the bookmarks to an HTML file if you do not have such a backup. Then you can import this HTML backup in the Bookmarks Manager (Library).

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/restore-bookmarks-from-backup-or-move-them

• http://download.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/3.6.28/mac/

I am unable to install the bookmarks from the 3.6.3 folder /8ebz5dnd.default/.

I can install bookmarks from Safari.

How do I convert the bookmarks in the /8ebz5dnd.default/ folder to HTML so thata I can restore bookmarks in HTML?

WebheadStl said

I can install bookmarks from Safari.

If I understand you correctly, you have the same bookmarks in safari as you do in the old profile folder, and copying your safari bookmarks into firefox would have the same effect as copying bookmarks from the profile folder. If this is the case, this is actually much easier. If this is the case:

1. Go to bookmarks menu > show all bookmarks
2. click the backup/restore button (a star icon with a sync icon inside of it, should look like attached photo)
3. choose "import data from another browser"
4. choose "safari" and then "continue"
5. check the "bookmarks" option and uncheck everything else
6. click "continue"

If you have bookmarks in the profile folder that are not in safari, let me know and I will provide instructions on how to copy bookmarks from the profile folder.

Starting over:

I have used Safari for 6 or 7 years.

I have bookmarks within folders on the Safari browser

My wife is a digital alien, so I thought it best for her to use Firefox so that she does not do something wrong while in Safari. So several years ago, I imported the Safari bookmarks into Firefox 3.6.3. Since that time, my wife added a number of webpage bookmarks to her folder in Firefox bookmarks.

All has been well through the Mavericks upgrade.

When I updated to Yosemite, my wife opened Firefox, then opened Mail, and a white square appears on the screen, and the only way to get rid of it was to close Firefox.

So I decided to update Firefox.

It took me several hours over a few days just to find a Firefox webpage with updates.

Before downloading Firefox, I went into Macintosh HD/users/my name/Library/Application Support/Firefox and saved the folder /Profiles/ to my desktop and to my external hard drive that I use for Time Machine.

I then downloaded Firefox 37.0.2, and saved it to my desktop. At that point, I still had Firefox 3.6.3.

So I then moved the Firefox 37.0.2 icon from the desktop to a differently named folder on my desktop.

I then posted my problem to this thread.

Following your instructions, I again downloaded Firefox 37.0.2, and moved into the applications folder as per the .dmg file.

Firefox 3.6.3 no longer is on my hard drive.

Firefox 37.0.2 opened up without the bookmarks from 3.6.3. This is unlike and Apple update. Apple updates also updates data from the previous version.

Now that Firefox 37.0.2 is on my hard drive, I wanted to import or restore the bookmarks in the /8ebz5dnd.default/ folder. But I don’t know how to do that.

But, in Firefox 37.0.2, I was able to import the bookmarks from Safari. So at this time, today, my wife has only her bookmarks from 3 or so years ago. Any webpage bookmark she has added since I imported the Safari bookmarks into her Firefox bookmarks are in the Firefox 3.6.3 folder / 8ebz5dnd.default/.

As of today, I still cannot import or restore the bookmarks in /8ebz5dnd.default/

I don’t know how – there appears to be no option in the Firefox 37.0.2 menu or preferences to do this. But there appears to be an option to import HTML bookmarks.

My question now is how do I import or restore bookmark from the /8ebz5dnd.default/ folder that I saved onto my desktop in a folder that does not have that same name /8ebz5dnd.default/?

iMac OS 10.10.3 Yosemite Safari 8.0.5 Firefox 37.0.2

You can try to copy the places.sqlite file used in Firefox 3.6.x to the current Firefox profile folder so see if that works. Make sure to (re)move any other places.sqlite-xxx file, so only have places.sqlite file. If that doesn't work then you would have to reinstall Firefox 3.6.x temporarily and export the bookmarks in that version to an HTML file like I wrote above. The differences between the 3.6.x versions and the current release are too big to make an automatic conversion work. You would have to update 3.6.x manually until you reach the current version to make migration code work properly.