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How can I view a previous Bookmark file to restore one Bookmark?

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How can I view a previous Bookmark file to restore one Bookmark on a computer running Windows 10?

I would like to selectively restore a Bookmark folder that disappeared recently. Since I have added more Bookmarks to my present Bookmarks file, I need to just copy or restore one Bookmark from an older Bookmark file. As I recall, this was easy using Windows Explorer but appears to be rather complicated in Firefox.

How can I do this without too much trouble?

Thanks

How can I view a previous Bookmark file to restore one Bookmark on a computer running Windows 10? I would like to selectively restore a Bookmark folder that disappeared recently. Since I have added more Bookmarks to my present Bookmarks file, I need to just copy or restore one Bookmark from an older Bookmark file. As I recall, this was easy using Windows Explorer but appears to be rather complicated in Firefox. How can I do this without too much trouble? Thanks

All Replies (13)

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Wayne Carpenter said

The size of the Bookmark backups is approx. 7, 750 KB.

That seems pretty large. The script in the page must be having a problem processing it. If you look at the text in the box, does it look like regular keyboard characters, or gibberish? This is what I mean by keyboard characters:

{"guid":"root________","title":"","index":0,"dateAdded":1219946831611000,"lastModified":1629492438128000,"id":1,"typeCode":2,"type":"text/x-moz-place-container","root":"placesRoot","children":[{"guid":"menu________","title":"Bookmarks Menu","index":0,"dateAdded":1219946831611000,"lastModified":1627497929645000,"id":2,"typeCode":2,"type":"text/x-moz-place-container","root":"bookmarksMenuFolder","children":

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The code I posted in that thread is the same code as used by Firefox internally and shouldn't have a problem with handling large file being C++ code and not JavaScript. If you use the multi-line editor mode in the console then it even might be rather easy as you merely need to paste the code and click a button. The code opens a file picker window where you can navigate to the location where you have stored the file. When there are no errors then you see a message about the file path of the decompressed file.

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Yes, the imported backup file's characters look like they should. I had already attached a screenshot but I attached another to show the text. I get no errors any where concerning concerning the attempt to gte my Bookmarks back.

it was mentioned, "The code I posted in that thread is the same code as used by Firefox internally and shouldn't have a problem with handling large file being C++ code and not JavaScript." But I am a "problem magnet!"

As for using the multi-line editor mode in the console, I am not familiar with it and didn't want to have to go to such great lengths to simply restore a few missing Bookmarks. It was relatively easy in Windows Explorer. I didn't even have to ask Support to do it.

Why can't the Firefox Bookmark Backup Reader/Decompressor, work like it's supposed to? Is there some setting that needs to be changed in the "HTML "Export" Format:" options?

It is taking quite a while to do this and in the meantime I noticed the saved older Backups were rolling off and new ones saved so I saved some older ones in a separate folder.

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In case there is a problem with the extra options, try only checking the box for "Add indenting (for easier reading)".

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Finally, as a result of my question about the Options, that no one had mentioned before, I made some headway! The HTML Export worked. The next very significant issue is how do I get all the many Bookmarks back into my current Bookmark file without too much more trouble? See screenshot of first two pages of a 16 page Word document attached for all of my Bookmarks in a Bookmark titled "Cell Phones."

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Hi Wayne, using the built-in features, your options are limited. You can open the Bookmarks Sidebar, right-click the parent folder > Add Folder, then drag and drop individual links onto the folder to add them there.

There might be an extension to bulk add bookmarks for a group of selected links. I have not used anything like that myself.

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This is really ridiculous to have to drag and drop each individual Bookmark at a time since I have what seems like 500 or maybe more 1,000? Bookmarks to move. Whoever designed Firefox did NOT think that anyone would loose a parent Bookmark folder and find it out later after they had added more Bookmarks so they would not want to do a complete restore of a previous Bookmark!

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If you want to move more than one bookmark to the same folder then you can select them all in the usual way (Ctrl/Shift) and use cut and paste to move them to this folder.

Modified by cor-el

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This does not work. As soon as I click on a Bookmark holding down the Ctrl/Shift keys, the link opens a new Tab in Firefox and does allow me to select all of them.

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You need to do operations on multiple bookmarks in the Library, you can't do this in a menu although you might be able to do this in the sidebar (control click at the far left in this case).

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It wasn't mentioned earlier that I needed to use the Library for the Ctrl/Shift key and drag method.

I did eventually get all of the missing Bookmarks in the Cell Phones parent folder moved back into my current Bookmarks.

I also eventually found a missing Bookmarks parent folder way off in a different place from where it should be. It should have been a parent folder but it was several sublevels deep in a completely unrelated place than it should have been. As I recall, this is not the first time this has happened. I do not understand how this occurs as I am the only one that uses the computer and I don't do such weird things as moving a parent folder into a completely unrelated place several sublevels deep.

The Firefox programmers need to:

1. Make it easy to restore individual Bookmarks 2. Show the location of misplaced Bookmarks using the Search function.

Thank you.

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