Once the browser was closed, undoing a bookmark delete is not possible.

yes i thought as much butas there are backups is it possible to extract the book marks i need without restoring them

thanks

These can't get your data back, but will help in the future.

These add-ons can be a great help by backing up and restoring Firefox

FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) {web link} FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions, history, passwords, and more. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your saved files individually into installable .xpi files. It will also make backups of files that you choose.

OPIE {web link} Import/Export extension preferences

thanks for that , i will get febe.

im curious about the following:

 before i go can u pls explain why i cant get the lost bookmarks by first making a backup, then restoring an old backup which contains the lost bookmarks and selecting/copying or writing down the lost ones . Then finally restoring the backup that i just made

thanks

It is possible, but you have to know what you are doing.

First, save your current bookmarks. You can create a backup of the current places.sqlite file. But, you are better off doing this;

To open the Bookmarks Manager, press the Alt or F10 key bring up the tool bar, and select Bookmarks. Hot key is <Control>(Mac=<Command>) <Shift> B.

Once the window is open, at the top of the page, press the button labeled Import and Backup. Select Export Bookmarks To HTML, and follow the prompts and save it to a HTML file. Copy the file to another computer. Repeat the instructions above, BUT select Import Bookmarks From HTML,

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/restore-bookmarks-from-backup-or-move-them

Now try to restore a backup file.

Restore Bookmark Backups

To open the Bookmarks Manager, press the Alt or F10 key bring up the tool bar, and select Bookmarks. Hot key is <Control>(Mac=<Command>) <Shift> B.

Once the window is open, at the top of the page, press the button labeled Import and Backup. Select Restore. From the list, pick the file you want and click it.

The backups are stored in a jsonlz4 file named something like this; bookmarks-2016-06-29_1424_enD1GTHya0JmicnYWg4V4g==.jsonlz4 In this example; 2016-06-29 = date created, 1424 = number of entries.

If you can get your backup installed, you can then import the bookmarks from the HTML file you created earlier.

thanks for that,

i assume i can export them to another place like a flash drive or usb disk instead of another computer

but while i was waiting to hear back i discovered that i have a AOMEI backup . As a result i explored it and now have a places.sqlite folder saved to my desktop, which should as i understand contains the book marks.

may i ask how do i either read, or use that places.sqlite folder in the routine you describe above

if i can read it i don't mind copying the bookmarks by hand if they cant be copied normally

ill do whichever u think is easiest thanks

It should be fairly easy to get back a deleted folder of bookmarks as long as it was not too long ago. I have done it a few times. EASY is of course relative you may need a bit more help or you may be able to follow this:

Firefox itself stores snapshot bookmark backups of several dates. Create a new additional Firefox profile for temporary use. You will be able to use the profile manager (Or the new profile picker - but I don't think that works fully or correctly at present) to start Firefox your chosen profile.

• Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles

Use the bookmarks manger {Ctrl + Shift + B) with the original Firefox profile just to look at the bookmarks restore options but DO NOT restore any, use the date and number information to identify the relevant restorable backup.

With the original profile in use use the troubleshooting information page and its button to open the Firefox profile folder. See

• Use the Troubleshooting Information page to help fix Firefox issues
  Tip key in to the addressbar about:support & press Enter as a quick method of opening that special page

That will help you find the actual bookmark backup files, note the file names have useful information in them.

Close Firefox. Use the profile Manger to open Firefox with the new profile. Restore a set of bookmarks that has the correct folder in it. Now using the bookmarks manager delete all the other folders leaving only the one you require. Use the option in the bookmarks manager to export that as HTML.
Alternatively if you find it easier export the whole lot as HTML and edit that - but I think using the bookmarks manager is a more user friendly method for most people.

Close Firefox open with your standard profile and import the HTML bookmarks. Those will now append somewhere in the current bookmarks and you can drag and drop it to any desired location.

If you have not fixed it using Fred's method and want more help with that method or this one please say so.

stinkydog said

thanks for that, i assume i can export them to another place like a flash drive or usb disk instead of another computer but while i was waiting to hear back i discovered that i have a AOMEI backup . As a result i explored it and now have a places.sqlite folder saved to my desktop, which should as i understand contains the book marks. may i ask how do i either read, or use that places.sqlite folder in the routine you describe above if i can read it i don't mind copying the bookmarks by hand if they cant be copied normally ill do whichever u think is easiest thanks

The easiest method of using and editing places.sqlite is in the Firefox bookmarks manager.

It is a fairly standard sqlite database, and there are simple standalone programs or Firefox addons that will edit such databases, bit they are rather complicated and easy to damage, it is way easier to use the user friendly bookmarks manager of Firefox.

Using an old copy of places.sqlite still leaves you with the problem of appending or somehow editing in further information this time from the newer copy of places.sqlite

To answer the direct question. To read the places.sqlite in the bookmarks manager (use an aditional profile) overwrite the existing places.sqlite with the replacement, whilst Firefox is closed, and then open Firefox and the bookmarks manager will have those bookmarks and History.

A suitable sqlite viewer add on if you want to edit it is

• SQLite Manager 0.8.3.1-signed.1-signed
  https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/sqlite-manager

P.S. I have not tried it recently, not sure it will still work, but it has been possible to drag and drop bookmarks between bookmarks managers of separate instances of Firefox. I even did it between I think it was waterfox & firefox.

well, i made new profile however the places.sqlite on my desktop is a not recognized type

only thing is that when i located the places.sqlite in the system backup it was inside a folder called chrome_ debugger_ profile

any ideas

thanks

To use the file places.sqlite you need to overwrite the genuine and active places.sqlite - whilst Firefox is closed - with the one you wish to use. It is safest to do that in a spare additional Firefox profile.

You can not normally open a places.sqlite with Firefox. You can if you use a suitable addon and register the database.

Sorry I am not sure about that file if it was in

chrome_ debugger_ profile

Possibly is some cached file, possibly a temporary file and maybe an old one. You should not need to go searching for such files anyway, your restorable backups should have the missing bookmarks in them. Just take care NOT to overwrite the current bookmarks database that is why I suggest restoring them in to a new additional profile.

sorry i was not clear. I made new profile then open it [closed the other]

anyway ff needs to be open to access the restore screen

also, [did u miss all this about it being rescued from the system [not FF] backup and being now on my desktop] i did have to search for it cause it was on a system back up on a temp drive made for viewing it

to complicate matters places.sqlite is not present in my current, regular profile, so where could regular bookmarks be hiding [not the lost ones]

thanks

Firefox always has a places.sqlite file if it has been used.

If you delete or rename the places.sqlite file Firefox will recreate one when it restarts. In recreating that if it is a new profile it is a new places.sqlite with only the handfull of default bookmarks in it. If the profile has been in use then the places.sqlite is created and uses the latest valid bookmarks backup to populate it with bookmarks. The recreated file will not include any History.

When you open Firefox, and then open the bookmarks library you have the restore option

Bookmarks Library -> Import & Backup -> Restore

Note at the bottom of that list is

-> Choose File

You may use that to browse to your backup bookmarks.

If you have multiple profiles each profile should contain the file

places.sqlite

If it is a profile that has been in use for more than a single session it will also start building up a list of backup files.

I often suggest anyone looking for lost and duplicated Firefox Profiles searches for the file places.sqlite With any luck that file is unique to Firefox profiles.

I notice you mentioned a backup. Where is the original profile that you had problems with . Are you now using another computer or have wiped the hard disk drive ?

Have you searched your machine and any backups for the folder

bookmarkbackups

What about if you search for files

bookmarks-2016*

and

*JSONLZ4

Note Windows uses * {star or asterisk) as a wildcard. So those searches find files beginning or ending with the stated part of the name. (The Windows search is not case sensitive it treats jsonlz4 and JSONLZ4 the same - that may not be the case on other Operating Systems)