Syncing mozilla account on iphone and desktop
I was fresh installing windows on my desktop but because i've always used mozilla i never actually checked my password. When i installed it after installing windows i couldn't remember my password so naturally i reset it . But then I noticed that all my bookmarks and saved passwords are gone ( i know why is this and it is totally understandable) so i checked my mozilla on my iphone where i used the same account. All the passwords and bookmarks are still there but i am logged out of the account. My question is if i log in with the current password on the iphone , will the data sync or it will be wiped because of the new password? Is there some way to extract the passwords and bookmarks form my iphone if the way i mentioned above wipes the data?
All Replies (1)
Mozilla Services, including Sync, uses the Firefox Accounts system. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/access-mozilla-services-firefox-account
Once you reset your Firefox Account (FxA) password the old password will no longer work for that account; the new FxA password has to be used.
Q1: When you do reset the FxA password all the data saved on the Sync server is deleted from the server, but the data on the devices which are connected to that FxA isn't touched - it remains on each device inside the Firefox Profile folders.
Q2: Extracting data (like logins) from Firefox for iOS or Firefox for Android ("mobile Firefox") is all but impossible. But that data isn't touched when the FxA password is changed.
The FxA password is used to algorithmically create a "64-character key" which is used for Sync to encrypt user data as it sent to the Sync server where that data remains encrypted and then unencrypted when that data is sent to a device that is being used on that Sync account. No one except for the user ever see's that "key", it's not available to Mozilla or Sync support personnel. Although not knowing / remembering your FxA password isn't "fatal", you should have it saved somewhere if you're going to count on Sync to protect your data and allow that data to be synchronized among your various devices. And you need to keep in mind that Sync isn't intended to be used in lieu of a proper backup of your Firefox user data. Depending upon the add-ons you have installed and what types of data or settings they save for you once to get that desktop connected to Sync again, you'll find that some of the data saved by add-ons may be gone. Sync isn't 100% when it comes to add-ons; there is no way that with the wide variety of add-ons that are made for Firefox users that Mozilla could ever consider what types of data storage which add-on developers come up with. There are many hidden preferences added to Firefox by add-ons and in some cases those prefs are documented poorly if at all. A full backup of the Firefox Profile is a must for users who use add-ons for Firefox.