How to recover tabs lost when FF 100.0.2 crashed?
Hello,
When FF on my Windows 10 machine crashed FF asked if I wanted to refresh FF. I said yes, and FF reopened as usual with all my tabs. After I closed and reopened FF the next time, it reopened without any of my tabs. I then discovered that FF had unchecked the “Startup Open previous windows and tabs” box, which I had previously religiously monitored to be sure it was checked. So I lost all my previous tabs.
In my sessionstore-backups folder I found the file upgrade.jsonlz4-20 as last in a list of three more recent file names. I then dropped the file upgrade.jsonlz4-20 in the scrounger tool on this site: https://www.jeffersonscher.com/ffu/scrounger.html. It expanded in the big window, and when I clicked on Save uncompressed JSON as text, I see all the URLs run together in a text file.
How can I use this information to recover my tabs, please? If so, how? Or is there a better way to use the Scrounger – or another – tool?
Otherwise if I delete the three more recent file names in the list above the upgrade.jsonlz4-20 file, and restart FF will I recover the missing tabs? If so would I the check or uncheck the Startup Open previous windows and tabs box?
Lastly, can I restore my missing tabs using Windows’ “System restore” tool from 3 days before the crash?
Many thanks for any help!
All Replies (14)
These links don't solve the problem.
If you have refreshed Firefox then you may also have a recent sessionstore.jsonlz4 or useful backups in the sessionstore-backups folder in the "Old Firefox Data" folder on the desktop. You can copy a sessionstore file to the current profile folder with Firefox closed and rename the file to sessionstore.jsonlz4 to replace the current file.
You can look at this tool to inspect a compressed jsonlz4 sessionstore file.
Thank you for your advice.
Can you explain how I can access the profile folder when Firefox is closed, please?
Also note my question in my first post about using the scrounger tool, which I have used.
Meantime, as I asked, will using the Windows' System restore point created before the crash restore my tabs from before the crash?
Thanks.
First, on the Scrounger, use "Save List" to keep the HTML layout.
Second, your Old Firefox Data folder might have a more up-to-date session file, either:
- [Desktop]\Old Firefox Data\[OLDprofile.folder]\sessionstore.jsonlz4
- [Desktop]\Old Firefox Data\[OLDprofile.folder]\sessionstore-backups\recovery.jsonlz4
Third, how old is the Windows restore point? You can use a utility program to inspect files in a restore point without risking a problematic rollback. This thread has tips on that: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1367290#answer-1481959 (except of course you would be looking for session files instead of bookmark files)
In the restore point, make sure you are looking for the old profile folder name and not the one created by the Refresh process.
@jscher2000 Thanks for this. The "Save List" button is grayed out when I drop the file in the box. And if there's a way to make the "Save list" button clickable, and I click on it, what would I then do please?
Meantime I see earlier upgrade.jsonlz4 files in the sessionstore-backups folder in the Old Firefox Data folder. Again what would I do with one of these?
Otherwise the previous restore point is just a couple of days old, so I'm not worried about losing anything. Do you think going back a few days with System Restore recover my tabs from that date?
Also @cor-el said "You can copy a sessionstore file to the current profile folder with Firefox closed and rename the file to sessionstore.jsonlz4 to replace the current file." Do you know how I can access the current profile folder with Firefox closed?
Thanks again.
You should always be vary cautious with doing a Windows System Restore as you never know what files Windows decides to remove or replace with older versions (profiles.ini and other .ini or .js files might be replaced). That is why Jefferson advised to use a tool to browse restore points and only extract files you really want to recover.
I think that you first need to click the Scrounge URLs button or the fallback button to make the Save List button work.
You can use the button in Firefox and then close Firefox once you are in the correct location. That is safest if you have multiple profiles.
Location used for the main profile that keeps your personal data (Root Directory on about:profiles).
- C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default-release
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data
"AppData" is a hidden folder. You can also use %AppData% as a replacement for "C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\".
Rasika Michael said
@jscher2000 Thanks for this. The "Save List" button is grayed out when I drop the file in the box. And if there's a way to make the "Save list" button clickable, and I click on it, what would I then do please?
Oh, sorry, you first need to click "Scrounge URLs" to generate the list of what is in the file before you can save the list.
@jascher 2000: After dragging the file to the box, the content appeared as I indicated above. I have now clicked "Scrounge URLs," but the "Save List" button is still grayed out.
If there's a way to save the list, how would I then use it to recover and display my tabs in FF?
PS: After 10 minutes the "Processing" message is still there, and the "Save list" button is still grayed out.
HTML list commands: Processing... (Fallback: )
Sorry, if it doesn't generate a list in 15 seconds, the tab probably has crashed and needs to be closed. You can try again in a new tab or a different browser.
I managed to generate an HTML file using the Fallback button.
Can you tell me how I can use this file now to import all the tabs listed there back into Firefox? There are several hundred tabs in the file.
Many thanks.
The HTML file is your backup in case you need to open links manually. Firefox only reads the .jsonlz4 and (in a pinch) .js files.
I have not tested recently, but the switcheroo procedure I recommended a year ago is in this thread: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1342038#answer-1424204
Thank you, I assumed as much about the HTML file.
And thanks for the link. I don't have the time for trying it, though, especially if it fails...
I will now try to use cor-el's proposed solution.