Did you also save JSON backups (bookmarks-####-##-##.json) in the bookmarkbackups folder?

In what way did the places.sqlite file change?

Did you make sure that Firefox was closed (Task Manager) when you copied the places.sqlite file to that folder and did you also check that there weren't any other places files present?

I did not make JSON backups bookmarks. I tried to follow the directions in making a new profile, but I didn't see that one in there. The places.sqlite folder changed from 12kb to 416kb. I didn't check task manager before copying, but I didn't copy right after closing either.

Does any of this help figure out what I did wrong?

Thanks for your help

The places.sqlite file should be at least 10 MB because that is the initial size. Firefox increases places.sqlite in 10 MB chunks if necessary. If it was less than that size then you haven't copied the file properly as a binary file.

I looked at the wrong file. the size of the "places.sqlite bookmarks" file is 51200 kb. THis si the actual file name. Should it just be places.sqlite ?

THat was it. The name of the folder was the name I gave it when I copied it. I changed the name of the new profile bookmarks folder to places.sqlite new, and changed the copied file to places.sqlite and the bookmarks showed up when I restarted Firefox.

Thanks for your help.