signing in to firefox sync
I reset my computer. When I reloaded Firefox and tried to sync my bookmarks and passwords, the password I had written down to sync into my Firefox account did not work. I saw that if I reset it, my bookmarks and passwords MIGHT be lost. Then I discovered it was possible to create a Recovery Key to retrieve them, but guess what, you had to sign in to your account to get one, which, of course, I could not. I tried to find a help phone number, but you guessed it, no luck. I then took the chance and changed my password and all of my passwords and bookmarks are gone. Would it not be possible to talk to someone who could help me access the passwords and bookmarks? They must still be on a server somewhere.
Isisombulu esikhethiweyo
It's not possible to recover that data after a password change. Unfortunately, it's a technical limitation.
Instead of storing copies of everything on the Firefox Sync server, your data is encrypted. That way no one can see what that data actually is. Because your Firefox Account password is what's used to encrypt that data, that's also what's needed to read that data again. Since the password is changed on the account, it no longer matches the one used, so that data cannot be opened anymore.
The only way to bypass this would have been to use the account recovery key. However, a lot of users never activate their recovery key.
The only way you will be able to recover that data is if you still have a copy of it somewhere. Perhaps you have another device that was also connected to Firefox Sync?
Another way that the data can possibly be recovered is if you used the Windows reset tool to reset your computer, instead of reformatting the entire drive. If you used that tool, important information is sometimes located in a folder called windows.old on your computer's hard drive. If you have this folder, see if there's a Firefox or Mozilla folder in there.
All Replies (3)
Isisombululo esiKhethiweyo
It's not possible to recover that data after a password change. Unfortunately, it's a technical limitation.
Instead of storing copies of everything on the Firefox Sync server, your data is encrypted. That way no one can see what that data actually is. Because your Firefox Account password is what's used to encrypt that data, that's also what's needed to read that data again. Since the password is changed on the account, it no longer matches the one used, so that data cannot be opened anymore.
The only way to bypass this would have been to use the account recovery key. However, a lot of users never activate their recovery key.
The only way you will be able to recover that data is if you still have a copy of it somewhere. Perhaps you have another device that was also connected to Firefox Sync?
Another way that the data can possibly be recovered is if you used the Windows reset tool to reset your computer, instead of reformatting the entire drive. If you used that tool, important information is sometimes located in a folder called windows.old on your computer's hard drive. If you have this folder, see if there's a Firefox or Mozilla folder in there.
Your information was very helpful, but I cannot find the window.old file. Don't know how to look for it on my Surface Pro 3.
If Windows created this folder then you should find it here: C:\Windows.old