How to import settings/bookmarks on computer that was wiped with no backup.
I had to 'refresh' the windows system due to some issues. Without realizing I would need to make a backup of my Firefox files to retrieve my profile later I was not able to. I am looking to see how I can get back all my settings and bookmarks with this installation of Firefox without having a prior backup. Also, system restore will not work, as 'refreshing' the system erases those. Thank you.
Chosen solution
Did you ever create a Firefox Sync account to copy your data to Mozilla's servers? If not, it would be what can be recovered on your hard disk or personal backups.
The usual kind of Reset in recent versions of Windows retains your old user folder, but moves it here:
C:\Windows.old\Users\your-user-name\
Can you find that folder? If so, your Firefox data probably is in there -- and here is how I suggest accessing it:
First, it would be helpful to set Windows to show hidden files and folders. This article has the steps: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hidden-files
Then click into:
C:\Windows.old\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
Note: you might find a cache folder under AppData\Local, but all the important stuff is under AppData\Roaming.
Here you may find one or more semi-randomly named folders. The one with the most recently updated contents probably is the one you want to restore from.
Bookmarks Only
Drill down into the old bookmarkbackups folder and copy the two most recent backups to a convenient location such as the desktop.
The Restore feature will replace the default Firefox bookmarks (and anything you just added since the Reset) with the older set of bookmarks. If you need to preserve newly added bookmarks, use the export feature first, before the Restore, and then the Import feature afterwards. The following articles have the details:
- Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer -- to access the backups on the desktop, use the "Choose file" command on the menu
- (Optional) Import Bookmarks from an HTML file
Success?
Complete Restoration
This post has my suggested procedure for resurrecting your entire old profile in your new installation of Firefox. Please note the use of copy instead of move throughout the process. This allows you to try again if it fails somewhere along the way.
https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1024189#answer-638319
Any luck?
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Chosen Solution
Did you ever create a Firefox Sync account to copy your data to Mozilla's servers? If not, it would be what can be recovered on your hard disk or personal backups.
The usual kind of Reset in recent versions of Windows retains your old user folder, but moves it here:
C:\Windows.old\Users\your-user-name\
Can you find that folder? If so, your Firefox data probably is in there -- and here is how I suggest accessing it:
First, it would be helpful to set Windows to show hidden files and folders. This article has the steps: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hidden-files
Then click into:
C:\Windows.old\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
Note: you might find a cache folder under AppData\Local, but all the important stuff is under AppData\Roaming.
Here you may find one or more semi-randomly named folders. The one with the most recently updated contents probably is the one you want to restore from.
Bookmarks Only
Drill down into the old bookmarkbackups folder and copy the two most recent backups to a convenient location such as the desktop.
The Restore feature will replace the default Firefox bookmarks (and anything you just added since the Reset) with the older set of bookmarks. If you need to preserve newly added bookmarks, use the export feature first, before the Restore, and then the Import feature afterwards. The following articles have the details:
- Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer -- to access the backups on the desktop, use the "Choose file" command on the menu
- (Optional) Import Bookmarks from an HTML file
Success?
Complete Restoration
This post has my suggested procedure for resurrecting your entire old profile in your new installation of Firefox. Please note the use of copy instead of move throughout the process. This allows you to try again if it fails somewhere along the way.
https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1024189#answer-638319
Any luck?
Thank you very much. I had gone over the support post for "Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer" multiple times. A key piece of information that it doesn't tell you for those like myself who had a system refresh (or similar) and thought the folder was completely gone is the C:\Windows.old\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles folder. This was exactly what I needed. Thank you very much for your quick response and help. You are a life saver!