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FireFox deleted my addons and extensions. How do I get them back?

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  • Last reply by FredMcD

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FireFox stopped working correctly. It offered me some kind of "tuneup" or something. It said nothing about removing all of my addons and extensions and giving me a blank brand new FireFox startup page. How do I get my addons and extensions back?

FireFox stopped working correctly. It offered me some kind of "tuneup" or something. It said nothing about removing all of my addons and extensions and giving me a blank brand new FireFox startup page. How do I get my addons and extensions back?

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The Reset/Refresh feature, if that's what you used, does not have a one-step undo option, unfortunately.

Reset/Refresh copies your settings (profile) folder to the desktop into a folder named "Old Firefox Data". Can you find that folder?

Assuming you have an "Old Firefox Data" folder, check inside for a folder with a semi-randomized name. If there's only one, that probably has your old settings and add-ons. If there's more than one, you'll want to work with the one that was updated most recently.

Once you have identified the profile folder you want to restore, here is my suggested "old profile resurrection procedure":

Overview

These are the steps:

  1. Create a new Firefox profile
  2. Remove everything from that new profile folder
  3. Copy in everything from the old profile folder

Create a new Firefox profile (Windows)

Exit Firefox and start up in the Profile Manager using Start > search box (or Run):

firefox.exe -P

Note: Any time you want to switch profiles, exit Firefox and return to this dialog.

Click the Create Profile button, assign a name like OldSettings, and skip the option to change the folder location. Then select that new profile in the dialog and start Firefox.

Open the New Profile folder in Windows Explorer

Firefox in the new profile should look like a factory fresh installation. Open the Troubleshooting Information page using either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
  • Help menu > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table, click the "Show Folder" button. Firefox will launch your brand new profile folder in Windows Explorer.

Leaving that folder open, switch back to Firefox, and Exit. When Firefox closes, the profile folder should be front and center, or you can activate it using the Task bar.

Copy Old Data in Place of New

In that new profile folder, select all the contents and delete.

Leaving that window open, open or switch over to your Old Firefox Data folder. Drill down into your old profile folder. At this level you should see a folder named bookmarkbackups among other things.

Select everything (Ctrl+a) and Copy (either right-click > Copy or Ctrl+c).

Switch to the empty new profile folder in other window and Paste (either right-click > Paste or Ctrl+v). This may take a minute since some of the files are large.

Start Firefox

Firefox should start up in that new profile with the resurrected old profile data. Success?

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Do you know why Firefox reset itself? Are there any crash reports?