Restoring history from a second device with Sync
Hello,
IT support wiped my browser history on Laptop A. I also have Laptop B, which hasn't been used in a couple of weeks, and which is connected to Laptop A through Sync. Ideally I'd like to import the history from Laptop B to Laptop A, as this would be an almost total restore.
Laptop A losing its history is the most recent activity though, and I'm worried that as soon as I open Firefox on Laptop B, Sync will overwrite B's history with the (now blank) history from A.
So, is it possible to get B's data onto A through Sync, without A wiping B? Can I generate a backup from B through other means without Sync overwriting it?
Many thanks,
Charlotte
Chosen solution
cor-el, you put me on the right track! I got my history back through Laptop B's places.sqlite file, after disabling Sync on each so that Laptop A wouldn't overwrite it.
I'll show my work, in case it helps others:
- Turned off syncing on Laptop A. (Also turned off the internet, unnecessary but it made me feel better.)
- Exported bookmarks to html.
- Booted up Laptop B, opened Firefox, turned off syncing.
- Made a copy of places.sqlite and transferred it to Laptop A.
- I couldn't overwrite A's places.sqlite file with B's (permissions issue), so I renamed A's to places-postwipe.sqlite and then dragged in the file from B.
- Imported my bookmarks back in from the html file.
Now I have all of my bookmarks and most of my history. Thank you!
Read this answer in context 👍 0All Replies (2)
Syncing history has its limits.
- Synced history expires in 60 days.
- New history is only uploaded for the last 30 days.
Note that you can backup places.sqlite to have a copy of the history (places.sqlite stores bookmarks and history) and possibly transfer this file to another profile. You lose bookmarks that aren't in this places.sqlite copy, so you may want to create an HTML or JSON backup on beforehand to be able to restore the bookmarks
You can look at this NirSoft utility to inspect or backup history:
Chosen Solution
cor-el, you put me on the right track! I got my history back through Laptop B's places.sqlite file, after disabling Sync on each so that Laptop A wouldn't overwrite it.
I'll show my work, in case it helps others:
- Turned off syncing on Laptop A. (Also turned off the internet, unnecessary but it made me feel better.)
- Exported bookmarks to html.
- Booted up Laptop B, opened Firefox, turned off syncing.
- Made a copy of places.sqlite and transferred it to Laptop A.
- I couldn't overwrite A's places.sqlite file with B's (permissions issue), so I renamed A's to places-postwipe.sqlite and then dragged in the file from B.
- Imported my bookmarks back in from the html file.
Now I have all of my bookmarks and most of my history. Thank you!
Modified by cha.warren