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Bookmarks missing and can't be restored after sync - firefox desktop

  • 2 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 28 views
  • Last reply by Seattlite

Seattlite
Seattlite
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I had to completely wipe my machine yesterday. All of my desktop bookmarks from Firefox are still available on Firefox for Android (on my phone), however, syncing my FireFox account has not restored those bookmarks to my desktop.

I went to Library > Bookmarks > All Bookmarks and then to Import/Backup > Restore, however, the only file available to restore is from this morning when I downloaded and installed Firefox back to the machine.

Firefox on Android says it needs to sign in again. I'm concerned that doing so will wipe out the desktop bookmarks that are still stored there.

I had to completely wipe my machine yesterday. All of my desktop bookmarks from Firefox are still available on Firefox for Android (on my phone), however, syncing my FireFox account has not restored those bookmarks to my desktop. I went to Library > Bookmarks > All Bookmarks and then to Import/Backup > Restore, however, the only file available to restore is from this morning when I downloaded and installed Firefox back to the machine. Firefox on Android says it needs to sign in again. I'm concerned that doing so will wipe out the desktop bookmarks that are still stored there.

All Replies (2)

Paul
Paul
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Hi

Thank you for your question about the Firefox Sync service.

It appears from your question, that you are using Firefox Sync as a back up service. This is not what Sync is designed to do. The Firefox Sync service takes a copy of the data you wish to include and transfers it to a second device (typically a mobile device such as a tablet or a telephone) running a copy of Firefox. The storage in between all attached devices is both temporary and fragile and is not stable enough to be (and is not designed as) a reliable backup service.

If you have a copy of your Firefox profile for desktop Firefox, you may be able to recover your bookmarks and other data. Please have a read of this article.

If you have a copy of your data on a mobile version of Firefox, please follow these instructions to connect it to Firefox Sync to copy your data.

Seattlite
Seattlite Question owner
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Thanks Seburo. Having read through the link you sent, I'm not convinced that my "Desktop Bookmarks" which are still available on Firefox Android will still be there after I enter the password to re-sync Firefox Android. My guess is that since my "fresh" copy of Firefox on the desktop has essentially no bookmarks that the "Desktop Bookmarks" on Android might all vanish, no...?