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Firefox won't restore previous sessions

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  • Last reply by cor-el

hywelt
hywelt
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I have been using FF for years and a few months ago it stopped restoring pages from the previous session. I have tried everything to solve this issue - refreshing FF, deleting old sessionstores, disabling add-ons - but nothing seems to work. Anybody got any wise words?

Windows 10, 50.1.0

I have been using FF for years and a few months ago it stopped restoring pages from the previous session. I have tried everything to solve this issue - refreshing FF, deleting old sessionstores, disabling add-ons - but nothing seems to work. Anybody got any wise words? Windows 10, 50.1.0

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cor-el
cor-el
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Make sure you do not run Firefox in permanent Private Browsing mode (Always use Private Browsing mode; Never Remember History).

  • Options/Preferences -> Privacy -> Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history"
  • Deselect: [ ] "Always use Private Browsing mode"

Does Firefox create sessionstore files in the sessionstore-backups folder?

You can check for problems with the sessionstore.js file in the profile folder that stores session data. When sessionstore.js is deleted you lose pinned tabs and open tabs and you will have to recreate them, so if necessary make a note or bookmark them.

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

Firefox uses sessionstore.js in the profile folder to store session data. Sessionstore.js is only present when Firefox is closed. The sessionstore.js file is created from recovery.js when you close Firefox and is removed and copied to previous.js when you start Firefox to make is possible to restore the session at any time.

Backup the session files in the sessionstore-backups folder in the Firefox Profile Folder to make sure not to lose possible important session data. Do NOT close Firefox when Firefox is already running.

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

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).

See also: