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Moving Multiple Firefox Profiles - Confused by Profile Names and Profiles Aren't Recognized on New Computer

  • 2 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by pegasis3

pegasis3
pegasis3
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I have 100s of profiles that i need to move to a new computer but the names of the profiles are not .default (see attached screenshot named "Profile names on old computer") - they appear instead to be what i named the profiles.

And when I do move them to the Profile Directory, they aren't recognized in Profile Manager, I assume because they don't end in .default (see screenshot named "Profiles on New Computer" and screenshot "New computer's Profile Manager").

But on my old Macbook, they are recognized just fine. What am I missing or doing wrong?

Thank you

I have 100s of profiles that i need to move to a new computer but the names of the profiles are not .default (see attached screenshot named "Profile names on old computer") - they appear instead to be what i named the profiles. And when I do move them to the Profile Directory, they aren't recognized in Profile Manager, I assume because they don't end in .default (see screenshot named "Profiles on New Computer" and screenshot "New computer's Profile Manager"). But on my old Macbook, they are recognized just fine. What am I missing or doing wrong? Thank you
Attached screenshots

Chosen solution

There's a pair of files that Firefox consults to understand the contents of the Profiles folder. Those are stored upstream:

  • /Firefox/installs.ini
  • /Firefox/profiles.ini
  • /Firefox/Profiles/...

You could try copy/pasting the entire Firefox folder to your new installation. Hopefully you don't need the current Firefox folder contents at the destination. If you need to rescue things from it, rename it to FirefoxTEMP for the time being to get it out of the way.

Then when you run the Firefox profile manager, it should be like old times again.

But I'm a Windows person, so, I can't be sure Mac works like that, too. Let us know?

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All Replies (2)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Chosen Solution

There's a pair of files that Firefox consults to understand the contents of the Profiles folder. Those are stored upstream:

  • /Firefox/installs.ini
  • /Firefox/profiles.ini
  • /Firefox/Profiles/...

You could try copy/pasting the entire Firefox folder to your new installation. Hopefully you don't need the current Firefox folder contents at the destination. If you need to rescue things from it, rename it to FirefoxTEMP for the time being to get it out of the way.

Then when you run the Firefox profile manager, it should be like old times again.

But I'm a Windows person, so, I can't be sure Mac works like that, too. Let us know?

pegasis3
pegasis3 Question owner
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That worked - thank you very much.