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Importing Bookmarks

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  1. 1) I Followed the instructions and exported my Firefox bookmarks in HTMLformat from a Windows 10 laptop and saved the file on a thumb drive.
  2. 2) I had installed Firefox on a new Windows 11 laptop.
  3. 3) I followed the instructions and tried to imported the HTML file from the thumb drive into the newly installed Firefox on the new Windows 11 laptop.
  4. 4) I got the message "file is empty" when I pressed open so the import did not work as advertised. I looked at the HTML file on the thumb drive and all my bookmarks were there, so the file was not empty.
  5. 5) What do I do to get the newly installed Firefox on my Windows 11 laptop to read/recognized the HTML file I created and to successfully import my bookmarks?????

Thank You for any help you can give. JKH

# 1) I Followed the instructions and exported my Firefox bookmarks in HTMLformat from a Windows 10 laptop and saved the file on a thumb drive. # 2) I had installed Firefox on a new Windows 11 laptop. # 3) I followed the instructions and tried to imported the HTML file from the thumb drive into the newly installed Firefox on the new Windows 11 laptop. # 4) I got the message "file is empty" when I pressed open so the import did not work as advertised. I looked at the HTML file on the thumb drive and all my bookmarks were there, so the file was not empty. # 5) What do I do to get the newly installed Firefox on my Windows 11 laptop to read/recognized the HTML file I created and to successfully import my bookmarks????? Thank You for any help you can give. JKH

Chosen solution

If you still have access to the Windows 10 Laptop, you might try going to Bookmarks -> Manage Bookmarks and click Import and Backup and click Backup and save the bookmarks as a .json file and then import that file into the new Firefox. This is what I've always done. It won't copy the favicons over but it will copy all the bookmarks.

If someone else has worked with importing a HTML Bookmarks file perhaps they can chime in.

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Seçilmiş Həll

If you still have access to the Windows 10 Laptop, you might try going to Bookmarks -> Manage Bookmarks and click Import and Backup and click Backup and save the bookmarks as a .json file and then import that file into the new Firefox. This is what I've always done. It won't copy the favicons over but it will copy all the bookmarks.

If someone else has worked with importing a HTML Bookmarks file perhaps they can chime in.

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Does the file look like a valid HTML file if you open the file in a tab ?

See also:


You can copy certain files with Firefox closed to the current profile folder to transfer or recover personal data. Note that best is to avoid copying a full profile folder.

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).


  • bookmarks and history: places.sqlite
  • favicons: favicons.sqlite
  • bookmark backups: compressed .jsonlz4 JSON backups in the bookmarkbackups folder
  • cookies.sqlite for the Cookies
  • formhistory.sqlite for saved autocomplete Form Data
  • logins.json (encrypted logins;32+) and key4.db (decryption key;58+) for Passwords saved in the Password Manager
    key3.db support ended in 73+; to use key3.db in 58-72, make sure to remove key4.db
  • cert9.db (58+) for (intermediate) certificates stored in the Certificate Manager
  • persdict.dat for words added to the spell checker dictionary
  • permissions.sqlite for Permissions and possibly content-prefs.sqlite for other website specific data (Site Preferences)
  • sessionstore.jsonlz4 for open tabs and pinned tabs (see also the sessionstore-backups folder)
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If you didn't already, please try copy/pasting the bookmark export file to your Windows 11 Documents folder before importing. The reason for this is just to bypass any possible odd permission issues accessing the external media.

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Thanks MarkRH. Your reply did the trick. But I also appreciate all the replies. Thanks to all of you. Regards, Janice