What will happen to my existing logins when I enable Firefox Sync?
I run Firefox on several different machines and OSs. I have been using Firefox Sync for history and bookmarks, but not logins. I'm interested in using it for logins as well. I have many logins stored on each Firefox that I use. Some of them will overlap. Some of them will overlap *and* be different (because some are out of date). I do not want to lose any logins.
If I enable logins in Firefox sync, what will happen to my existing saved logins?
What happens to clashes between logins saved on the different instances of Firefox?
Thanks.
Modified by rptb1
All Replies (5)
Generally, Firefox Sync will just make the two browsers match. This means that any logins that are on computer A, but not computer B are sent to computer B and vice versa.
If you are concerned about losing your data, you can backup your Firefox data before syncing.
Hope this helps.
Note that in Firefox 67 you can also use Lockwise to sync passwords to a mobile device. You need to enable logins on a desktop computer in the Sync settings. On mobile you can install the Lockwise (Lockbox) app.
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/sync-logins-firefox-desktop
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/install-or-remove-firefox-lockwise-desktop
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/install-firefox-lockwise-android
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/disconnect-your-firefox-account-lockwise
Lockwise releases for Firefox 67 on desktop:
Wesley Branton said
Generally, Firefox Sync will just make the two browsers match. This means that any logins that are on computer A, but not computer B are sent to computer B and vice versa.
You say "generally". Can you be specific about the cases where it does *not* do what you say?
There are some strange cases where it doesn't sync the passwords of both computers. For example, it will add the extra passwords from Computer A on Computer B, but for some reason doesn't do the same the other way around. In that case, Computer A would have it's passwords and Computer B would have the Computer A passwords plus the additional passwords it had before the sync.
It doesn't seem to happen too much anymore, since I believe Mozilla has made quite a few changes to try and improve the Firefox Sync service.
On each system/profile, Before you begin: Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.{web link} I use an add-on that makes backups of my user profile, Just In Case. Unfortunately, it is not compatible with the current Firefox.
Every now and then, open the profile folder and create a copy of the current profile as is to another location on your hard drive. This way you will have a backup.
If you do this each day, you will not lose much data. This should be done with Firefox Closed.
Note: In case you need to restore from these backups, you may need to overwrite old or corrupted files.
https://www.ghacks.net/2018/07/18/how-to-export-firefox-passwords-in-firefox-57/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/passwordfox.html (Win) PasswordFox v1.58 - Extract the usernames/passwords stored in Firefox Copyright (c) 2008 - 2017 Nir Sofer
Note: Some anti-virus show false positive. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Easily export your passwords from Firefox. https://github.com/kspearrin/ff-password-exporter
Export your passwords from Firefox in a portable CSV or JSON format. It works on Windows, macOS, and Linux. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3 Tools to Decrypt and Recover Passwords Saved in Firefox • Raymond CC https://www.raymond.cc/blog/how-to-find-hidden-passwords-in-firefox/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ https://www.ghacks.net/2018/07/18/how-to-export-firefox-passwords-in-firefox-57/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ https://github.com/kspearrin/ff-password-exporter