Refreshing Firefox should keep your bookmarks preserved.

It sounds like Firefox may have created a second profile on your system. Your Firefox profile contains files with user content, like bookmarks. If Firefox created a second profile during the refresh, your old bookmarks should still be located on your original profile.

To see if you have a second profile, please do the following:

1. Enter about:support in the Firefox address bar
2. Locate the Profile Folder section of the Application Basics table
3. Click the Show Folder button
4. This will open your current Firefox profile in the Windows explorer
5. Now navigate up one level in explorer to open the folder that contains all profiles

If you see more than one folder inside of this folder, please let us know because it is likely that the old bookmarks are stored there. If you only see one folder, please let us know so that we can explore some more solutions.

Just out of curiosity, what was your reason for refreshing Firefox? Were you having another issue with Firefox prior to refreshing?

Do you have an "Old Firefox Data" folder on the desktop in case you have used the Refresh feature in Firefox and have created a new profile?

If you have an "Old Firefox Data" folder on the desktop then you can recover some personal data from a recent profile in that folder.

You can copy files like these to the current Firefox profile folder to recover specific data.

• bookmarks and history: places.sqlite
• bookmark backups: JSON backups in the bookmarkbackups folder
• SQLite files like cookies.sqlite (cookies) and formhistory.sqlite (saved form data)
• logins.json and key3.db (decryption key) for Passwords saved in the Password Manager
• cert8.db and possibly cert_override.txt for (intermediate) certificates stored in the Certificate Manager
• persdict.dat for words you added to the spelling checker dictionary
• permissions.sqlite and possibly content-prefs.sqlite for Permissions and Site Preferences
• sessionstore.js for open tabs and pinned tabs and tab groups

You can use this button to go to the current Firefox profile folder:

• Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

I tried responding to your emails but it failed to deliver, and there was no link to this question. I finally found this page again, so here's what I responded with:

@Wesley Branton:

"Hello,

Ok I tried the above steps, and it appears I have only one profile.

When I try to load the archived bookmarks back into Firefox via the prompts, it asks if I am sure, etc. but it doesn't actually restore the bookmarks.

Now I have an additional bookmark restore point that popped up today, not sure why.

Regards, Nick"

@cor-el:

"Hello,

That is a lot of good information, but I'm not sure how that works.

Firefox has the built-in restore through the "Import and Backup" options, and I can see the archived file displayed there, but it does nothing when you select to restore it.

I mean, why would they make this so insanely difficult for people to do? Why don't they just save the bookmarks as an html file or something?

Thanks for your help.

Regards, Nick"

I appreciate your help with this, but it seems that the software is written for IT's not people.

Regards, Nick

You can check for problems with the places.sqlite database (bookmarks, history) in the Firefox profile folder.

• https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/places-maintenance/

See also:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bookmarks_history_and_toolbar_buttons_not_working_-_Firefox
• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Bookmarks+not+saved#w_fix-the-bookmarks-file