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How to adjust sync settings before the sync-process starts?

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

REV
REV
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Here is my situation: I have my main personal laptop with a ton of bookmarks and extensions. Now I got a second laptop for work. I want to be able to send tabs from one laptop to the other via the "send tab" feature. So I obviously have to log into Firefox sync. But I DON'T want to have all my bookmarks, settings, history and especially extensions synced on my work laptop. Since I want to have a different set of bookmarks on my work laptop (related to work) I need to turn off the syncing of the bookmarks (unfortunately I don't think it's possible to sync two different sets of bookmarks). Same goes for the extensions, settings and history. So long story short, I want to only use the send-tab feature, and to sync opened tabs.

Now here's the problem. When I log into Firefox sync after a fresh install on my work laptop and I enter my credentials, you are not asked what to sync. The default is to sync everything. After that everything is synced right away within a few seconds, and by the time I went to settings to turn the syncing of bookmarks, extensions etc. off, the bookmarks already synced and a ton of extensions start to appear. And probably all my settings that I don't want on my work laptop are synced, too.

Is there a way to choose what to sync BEFORE the syncing starts? That would actually be pretty smart...

Here is my situation: I have my main personal laptop with a ton of bookmarks and extensions. Now I got a second laptop for work. I want to be able to send tabs from one laptop to the other via the "send tab" feature. So I obviously have to log into Firefox sync. But I DON'T want to have all my bookmarks, settings, history and especially extensions synced on my work laptop. Since I want to have a different set of bookmarks on my work laptop (related to work) I need to turn off the syncing of the bookmarks (unfortunately I don't think it's possible to sync two different sets of bookmarks). Same goes for the extensions, settings and history. So long story short, I want to only use the send-tab feature, and to sync opened tabs. Now here's the problem. When I log into Firefox sync after a fresh install on my work laptop and I enter my credentials, you are not asked what to sync. The default is to sync everything. After that everything is synced right away within a few seconds, and by the time I went to settings to turn the syncing of bookmarks, extensions etc. off, the bookmarks already synced and a ton of extensions start to appear. And probably all my settings that I don't want on my work laptop are synced, too. Is there a way to choose what to sync BEFORE the syncing starts? That would actually be pretty smart...

All Replies (4)

FredMcD
FredMcD
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Do this first.

Work Offline Press Alt or F10 to bring up the toolbar. Then File > Work Offline

REV
REV Question owner
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Thanks for your help. I solved it in a similar fashion, by enabling airplane mode after hitting "ok". But unfortunately this only lead to more problems. It seems that it is not possible to only turn of the syncing of the bookmarks on only one device. I want my bookmarks of my private laptop and of my cell phone to be in sync, as well as have them backed up to the cloud just in case. But as soon as I turn of bookmark syncing on my work laptop, it also deactivates syncing on my private laptop and my cell phone. This implementation is downright crude!

FredMcD
FredMcD
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I would suggest using a thumb drive and manually enter the data yourself.

Modified by FredMcD

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Maybe clear data on the Sync server by changing the password of this Firefox Account. That way you need to use the correct password on all devices to initiate a sync.

You can also try to modify the related engine prefs on the about:config page. That would be these Boolean prefs.

  • services.sync.engine

You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I accept the risk!" to continue.