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restore firefox to an older date with bookmarks

  • 8 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by cor-el

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for some reason (or due to FF refresh or due to setting Windows to an older date) I lost all my FF bookmarks. I do not see how a Windows system restore should effect my FF browser bookmarks... (and yes, in Chrome I still have them all).

Is there a way to restore/revert FF to an older date (ie just to yesterday before applying all these changes)?

(Note, I have browsed tens on FF forums asking similar question and got all kind of experts instructing how to import from Chrome, from Windows, how to refresh, and all sort of self-explanatory items. This is not the case. I would like someone to instruct me in simple English how to "restore firefox to an older date with bookmarks", ie get my bookmarks how they were in firefox just yesterday, if there is any way. Maybe get also the plug-inns and extensions. Maybe. Chrome, hmmm, seems to work just fine. I should conclude more.

for some reason (or due to FF refresh or due to setting Windows to an older date) I lost all my FF bookmarks. I do not see how a Windows system restore should effect my FF browser bookmarks... (and yes, in Chrome I still have them all). Is there a way to restore/revert FF to an older date (ie just to yesterday before applying all these changes)? (Note, I have browsed tens on FF forums asking similar question and got all kind of experts instructing how to import from Chrome, from Windows, how to refresh, and all sort of self-explanatory items. This is not the case. I would like someone to instruct me in simple English how to "restore firefox to an older date with bookmarks", ie get my bookmarks how they were in firefox just yesterday, if there is any way. Maybe get also the plug-inns and extensions. Maybe. Chrome, hmmm, seems to work just fine. I should conclude more.

All Replies (8)

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Hi, System Restore can cause problems with Firefox, especially if you restore to a point before an update.

Please look on your Desktop for a file named Old Firefox Data - Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings.

If the file isn't there, you can try this: Open bookmarks > Show All Bookmarks > Import and Backup > Restore, and see if you have a backup there.

If not, please see -

If your question is resolved by this or another answer, please take a minute to let us know. Thank you!

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Thanks for the info (ie thanks for trying) As I already mentioned (read my original msg) there is nothing in my firefox, refresh don't lead anywhere, bookmarks is an empty folder (so "Show All Bookmarks" is blank), old profile does not exist and basically my firefox is empty of any content; hence I deleted FF (Uninstalled); then I did install it again, but basically just to move old file of bookmarks I had saved, to another browser, and for some odd reason it can be read as html only via FF. Obviously I plan to use more of Chrome from now on, if not exclusively. Maybe also IE Edge, that came on my new computer, but I still have to test it. Firefox however disappointed me.

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and take note: Why should "System Restore can cause problems with Firefox"??? What does Microsoft has in common with Mozilla (other than the M in the beginning?). Why should my my system restore affect a browser at all? This is my logic, maybe I do not understand much, but is seems that in Google/Alphabet they think alike....

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Why should "System Restore can cause problems with Firefox"???

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/using-windows-vista-system-restore/ Same for WIn 7, 8, & 10

Under How Does Using System Restore Affect My Personal Files?

System Restore is different than making backups–it specifically works on the underlying Windows system, rather than everything on your hard drive. As such, System Restore does not save old copies of your personal files as part of its snapshot. It also will not delete or replace any of your personal files when you perform a restoration. So don’t count on System Restore as working like a backup. That isn’t what it’s intended for. You should always have a good backup procedure in place for all your personal files.

The Firefox Profile is personal files / user data files. System Restore is basically for the Windows Registry / "system files".

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Another top contributor... who does not read the question, the issue, and just shoot from the hip; or maybe these (contributors) are all computer generated files? Did you read the question, contributor? -- it was not Under "How Does Using System Restore Affect My Personal Files?" (with all the long irrelevant answer attached) - but it was "Why should any system restore affect a browser"??? It should not (to the least of my understanding, or what it should be, logically). It did not affect Chrome... So, back to Chrome...

Modified by Erik111

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Using System Restore can cause your Firefox installation to get corrupted because specific white-listed files are restored to an older copy and some files might be removed. Windows doesn't tel what files will be restored and it is all or nothing. I would recommend to do a full backup of the Firefox profile folder before doing a System Restore just to be sure.

This can mean that when profiles.ini would be restored to an older version that you can change to another profile folder. If you still use the same profile then I don't think that the bookmarks would be affected.

Do you have any backups listed in the bookmarkbackups folder?

  • Bookmarks -> Show All Bookmarks -> Import & Backup -> Restore

I think that a new restore point is created before doing the restore to be able to undo the restore, so maybe check this. System Restore Explorer: http://nicbedford.co.uk/software/systemrestoreexplorer/

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Thanks for the reply and explanations, cor-el; I am still with the belief that this Mozilla Firefox approach is flawed, if not to say illogical (to me, but who am I anyway). According to your approach (of storing FF profile, including especially bookmarks, on the hard drive of "my computer", and only there) and in this scenario once I lose my computer (crash, damage, theft, whathaveyou)-- I lose my entire Firefox profile!!!! (yes including my bookmarks). How erroneous is that?! This also means I can't work on another computer (that I have not previously installed there my bookmarks) or any other device.... I think Google got it right. I can work on any device, anytime, anywhere, regardless if my computer crashes or I am far away from it.


(and to your other note, Do I have any backups listed in the bookmark backups folder-- I have already mentioned few times I have nothing there; it is empty. All I needed is to go back one day or two, obviously to no avail).

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You can check if you have an orphaned profile that isn't registered in profiles.ini and that doesn't show in the Firefox Profile Manager. You can check that by opening the current profile folder via the about:profiles page and go up one level to see if there are unlisted profiles present.

If you have found an orphaned profile then you may want to recover some personal data.

  • C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\