Did you create an HTML backup or a JSON backup?

Make sure the bookmarks backup file has the correct (lowercase) file extension:

• .html for a HTML backup (needs to be imported and merges bookmarks)
• .json for a JSON backup (needs to be restored and replaces bookmarks)

If you are not sure about the file type then you can open the file in Firefox via "Firefox > New Tab > Open File" or "File > Open File". A JSON backup will show as one long text line without line breaks and a HTML backup shows as a web page with clickable links.

A JSON backup starts with: {"title":"","id":1,"dateAdded": An HTML backup starts with: <!DOCTYPE NETSCAPE-Bookmark-file-1>

See also:

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/how-do-i-use-bookmarks
• Bookmarks -> Show All Bookmarks -> Import & Backup
  Restore
  Import Bookmarks from HTML

Just a html backup. I was doing it all in a hurry because my computer kept crashing and i was afraid it wasn't gonna come back from one of the hard crashes. I saved it to my desktop then moved it to my flashdrive.

I'm unsure how to open it up in a new tab.. i don't see an open file option. But when i click properties on the html, this is what it looks like.

https://gyazo.com/950c159b63a7bb8cf78d86c1ab9bece0

That looks OK.

You can tap the Alt key or press F10 to show the Menu Bar with the File menu. You can also drag the file in a Firefox window.

The whole page is blank and this is what it shows in the search bar

https://gyazo.com/42115f972f059a0cacc07a261eddfafb

That's a bad sign, bookmarks.html shouldn't be blank. If you view source (Ctrl+u) do you see any bookmarks listed there? You can use Find (Ctrl+f) for http to skip through the file.

Anyway, if you have the bookmarks in Chrome, Firefox should be able to import them from Chrome. See: Import bookmarks and other data from Google Chrome.

I see nothing but a loading circle in the middle of the page. The bookmarks i have in Chrome were the ones i saved on Chrome. I don't see my Mozilla bookmarks on Chrome. But the html file i used to import on Chrome is the same i'm trying to use on Mozilla, but it only worked on Chrome. I synched Mozilla and Chrome and exported the html file for both and one just for Mozilla. Neither work in Mozilla.

Sorry, I lost you there.

Chrome is or is not showing the bookmarks you want to import into Firefox?

If Chrome IS showing those bookmarks, try the article I linked to in my earlier reply.

If Chrome IS NOT showing those bookmarks, I don't know what you mean that it "worked on Chrome."

Chrome is showing the bookmarks i exported and imported for Chrome. Mozilla is not showing the bookmarks i exported and imported for Mozilla. But the html is the same for both because i synched Chrome and Mozilla before i exported. I don't understand why it is working on Chrome and not Mozilla.

I tried importing from Chrome, but it just copied the same Chrome bookmarks into my Mozilla.

Hopefully i explained that better :)

I don't know if it makes a difference or not, but when i right click the html on my desktop, it tells me that it opens with Chrome and it has the Chrome symbol next to it. Do i need to change what it opens with maybe?

How did you sync Chrome and Firefox? I'm not aware of any way to do that. An add-on??

I imported Chrome into Mozilla then exported the html. Microsoft told me to do it that way in order to save both browser bookmarks and such.

Usually using Firefox's Import feature -- either the one documented in the above article or Import Bookmarks from an HTML file -- would not replace your Firefox bookmarks with Chrome's bookmarks, but would combine them.

Are you sure there isn't a second bookmarks.html file in your collection somewhere that you created by exporting from Firefox? I assume you used the steps in this article to create that file: Export Firefox bookmarks to an HTML file to back up or transfer bookmarks.

That's what i thought it did, but that html file is only working for Chrome. I have two html files. One that is titled bookmarks.html and one i titled firefoxandchromebookmarks.html (for my own records) I tired the bookmarks one and changed the name on the firefoxandchrome to just bookmarks and tried it. Nothing :/

Hi DanielleL, the file name should not matter. If you open the longer-named file in a tab in Firefox or Chrome, is it blank or does it contain bookmarks? Did you check the source view (Ctrl+u)?

Did you check the ownership of the file via the right-click context menu in the Properties in case there is a permission or security issue?

jscher2000 - It's blank when i open it in both browsers. And when i try to check the source, all i get is a spinning load circle then this pops up https://gyazo.com/072c98632ac20677c1b2c57c5e8da91a

cor-el - Here is a screenshot of the security of the html https://gyazo.com/0a131f3961c73c84a11fe84a5d341d7d

DanielleL said

jscher2000 - It's blank when i open it in both browsers. And when i try to check the source, all i get is a spinning load circle then this pops up https://gyazo.com/072c98632ac20677c1b2c57c5e8da91a

Well, that's definitely not normal. "00 00" is a null character that shouldn't appear in a .html file. If you look further, do you see any characters or other pairs of numbers that might correspond to actual text? Actually I suspect not or it should have been displayed in the tab. It's sounding like this is not the right file.

No characters at all, just a long string of 0's. It's the same file i used to import my bookmarks into Chrome, that is why this is so mind boggling to me on why it won't work with Mozilla.

That file shouldn't work in Chrome, either. Maybe if you logged Chrome into your Gmail account those bookmarks were restored from your account rather than from the file??

Note that the screenshot shows the permissions for System and not your (Danielle) permissions.

Make sure that the file is UTF-8 and not UTF-16 or another encoding. Try to open the File in Firefox and check the encoding.

• View -> Text Encoding