Bookmark bar is empty every time I restart FF - I have a solution to this issue, but past posts related to this were not helpful
FF 45.0.2
Issue - bookmark toolbar would not display content, though bar was shown (empty). Right clicking menu button, and unselecting view this bar, then selecting view for this bar would bring it back temporarily, until FF was restarted. Other symptoms: left click 'Open Menu' button did not work. I could still get at options through the view menu bar, then from Tools > Options. Trying to install the 'password exporter' add-on did not work - '+ Install' did not work. A few other things did not work (FF related pages would not display), but forget them now.
Earlier posts on resolving this or a similar issue had no affect. Tried resetting to factory defaults, uninstalling/reinstalling (w/o removing profile). Removing files per other posts. No impact.
I was able to resolve this issue. Posting here as there were many others who were impacted this in other posts, so thought this may be helpful.
Solution -
- export bookmarks as html from 'show all bookmarks' window - save three files needed for logins/saved passwords (see below) - note: did not try to save add-ons; if needed: would need to list and reinstall them; might have sufficed to leave add-ons directory under
Mozilla folder under AppData, but did not want to risk this being part of the problem.
- uninstall FF - cd %APPDATA%; cd ..; Under local, Roaming, remove Mozilla directory (no other Mozila products installed; did not need to keep add-ons) - use IE or other browser to download and install new instance of FF. - import bookmarks from html - shutdown FF, copy 3 login/password files into place (see below for location)
Notes - I also did a backup of bookmarks, which is a json file, but the import of this failed. The import of the html version was successful.
logins and saved passwords -- requires three files to be saved and copied back into place: key3.db, logins.json, signons.sqlite. -- The location of the folder: Help > Troubleshooting Information > 'Show Folder' will bring up the folder in explorer. -- Harvest the three files from here **before** uninstalling and removing FireFox -- use again to find new location where orig files must be copied back to
Chosen solution
I did try the Refresh feature first; it has no impact on my situation.
For the bookmarks backup (json), I did use both 'backup' and 'restore'. I also happened to 'export to html' along with the backup, to have a more easily readable form for reference. As it turned out, the 'restore' of the json failed, but the 'import from html' worked, so it was good I had both. I have not verified that *all* were imported correctly, but for the few I've tried since importing, no issues. And most importantly, the bookmarks toolbar now appears at start of FF, with no further steps on my part needed. I have also verified that the login/password manual restore worked (at least for one login/password used.
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Wow, did you try Firefox's Refresh feature first? I don't know whether it "cleans up" the problem files or would simply copy them over to the slimmed down profile. (Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings)
With the "backup" format for bookmarks (.json file), you would need to use Restore instead of Import. If the Restore failed, that could indicate the problem was corrupted bookmark data. Hopefully they were all recovered using Export/Import.
Chosen Solution
I did try the Refresh feature first; it has no impact on my situation.
For the bookmarks backup (json), I did use both 'backup' and 'restore'. I also happened to 'export to html' along with the backup, to have a more easily readable form for reference. As it turned out, the 'restore' of the json failed, but the 'import from html' worked, so it was good I had both. I have not verified that *all* were imported correctly, but for the few I've tried since importing, no issues. And most importantly, the bookmarks toolbar now appears at start of FF, with no further steps on my part needed. I have also verified that the login/password manual restore worked (at least for one login/password used.
I forgot to say that this behavior, as far as I can tell, started with the update to FF 45.0.x. I'm at 45.0.2 now, but I think this was a recent update, and it started with one of the previous updates.
Make sure that toolbars like the "Bookmarks Toolbar" are visible.
- "3-bar" menu button > Customize > Show/Hide Toolbars
- View > Toolbars
You can tap the Alt key or press F10 to show the Menu Bar - Right-click empty toolbar area
Open the Customize window and set which toolbar items to display.
- "3-bar" menu button > Customize
- check that "Bookmarks Toolbar Items" is on the Bookmarks Toolbar
- if "Bookmarks Toolbar Items" is not on the Bookmarks Toolbar then drag it back from the Customize palette to the Customize window to the Bookmarks Toolbar
- if missing items are in the Customize palette then drag them back from the Customize window to the toolbar
- if you do not see an item on a toolbar and in the Customize palette then click the Restore Defaults button in the Customize palette window to restore the default toolbar set.
You can check for problems with the places.sqlite database (bookmarks and history) in the Firefox profile folder.
See also: