Unable to restore bookmarks from old version of Firefox
I downloaded version 38.0.1but my bookmarks then disappeared. I restored the places.sqlite file to the x1a09m34.default file under library/application support/firefox/profiles from my Mac Time Machine and also the .json files from before the new version was downloaded. However when I go to restore the places.sqlite file using 'restore' and 'choose file' it says 'unsupported file type' and if I choose a .json file it says 'unable to process'. So I am stuck....help!
All Replies (9)
The method you are using only works for backed up json files. Also there was an update to how this works a while back, how old was your previous version of Firefox?
In order to restore the places.sqlte file, it needs to be manually put into the active profile folder. Open the folder by going to about:support and scroll down and press the button to open up the Profile Folder. Copy the file to overwrite the other places.sqlite and that should do it.
Are that compressed JSON backups with a .jsonlz4 file extension?
Make sure to remove all other places files like places.sqlite-shm and places.sqlite-wal when you place another places.sqlite file in the Firefox profile folder.
Remove all places.sqlite file(s) in the Firefox profile folder to make Firefox rebuild the places.sqlite database from the most recent JSON backup (bookmarks-YYYY-MM-DD_<item count>_<hash>.json) in the bookmarkbackups folder.
cor-el said
Are that compressed JSON backups with a .jsonlz4 file extension? Make sure to remove all other places files like places.sqlite-shm and places.sqlite-wal when you place another places.sqlite file in the Firefox profile folder. Remove all places.sqlite file(s) in the Firefox profile folder to make Firefox rebuild the places.sqlite database from the most recent JSON backup (bookmarks-YYYY-MM-DD_<item count>_<hash>.json) in the bookmarkbackups folder.
Thanks both I'm afraid no fix worked. Maybe the old Firefox was too old. I'll just have to start all over again. This is very annoying...
You didn't tell us if you have an uncompressed .json backup or a compressed .jsonlz4.
Can you confirm what backup type you have?
cor-el said
Are that compressed JSON backups with a .jsonlz4 file extension? Make sure to remove all other places files like places.sqlite-shm and places.sqlite-wal when you place another places.sqlite file in the Firefox profile folder. Remove all places.sqlite file(s) in the Firefox profile folder to make Firefox rebuild the places.sqlite database from the most recent JSON backup (bookmarks-YYYY-MM-DD_<item count>_<hash>.json) in the bookmarkbackups folder.
Only some new file files created after the installation of Firefox 38.0.1 in the 'bookmarks backup' folder have the file etension .jsonlz4 No files in the Time Machine backup from which I have attempted to restore my places have this file extension. When Firefox opens it seems to automatically load new 'places' or 'session' files even if I've put all '.places' files in the trash and emptied them out before replacing the right '.places' file from Time Machine from the old version of Firefox. I am now totally confused as to the relationship between these 'places. files and .json files. The new version seems to be set to only accept .json files unless you select 'all files' to show 'places' then it doesn't like these. I am no computer bod and this is frankly all getting beyond my abilities...thanks anyway
The JSON backups are backups that you can create manually or that Firefox creates automatically when changes are detected (i.e. the calculated hash that is part of the name is different). Current Firefox version compress these automatically created backups and give them a .jsonlz4 file extension. If the backups in the time machine are very old then they may not be compatible with current releases.
What file dates (time stamp) do these backups have?
If the files are not compressed (i.e. have a .json file extension) then you can inspect them in the Scratchpad (Firefox/Tools > Web Developer). Click the "Pretty Print" button to format the file for readability (a JSON backup is one long line without line breaks).
Modified by cor-el
cor-el said
The JSON backups are backups that you can create manually or that Firefox creates automatically when changes are detected (i.e. the calculated hash that is part of the name is different). Current Firefox version compress these automatically created backups and give them a .jsonlz4 file extension. If the backups in the time machine are very old then they may not be compatible with current releases. What file dates (time stamp) do these backups have? If the files are not compressed (i.e. have a .json file extension) then you can inspect them in the Scratchpad (Firefox/Tools > Web Developer). Click the "Pretty Print" button to format the file for readability (a JSON backup is one long line without line breaks).
OK I did that and I can see the names of sites and pages that were in my bookmarks before the upgrade (surrounded by computer gibberish and numbers). So what use are they now? They won't open or run
You can only restore a JSON backup in a Firefox version that is compatible with this backup. You would have to install this older Firefox version temporarily to be able to restore the bookmarks and then update to the current release or create an HTML backup.
You didn't answer my question about the time stamps of those backups, so could you please do that?
There are methods described in this MozillaZine forum thread to extract links from from a bookmarks JSON backup.
cor-el said
You can only restore a JSON backup in a Firefox version that is compatible with this backup. You would have to install this older Firefox version temporarily to be able to restore the bookmarks and then update to the current release or create an HTML backup. You didn't answer my question about the time stamps of those backups, so could you please do that?
There are methods described in this MozillaZine forum thread to extract links from from a bookmarks JSON backup.
20 May 2015