Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Lolu chungechunge lwabekwa kunqolobane. Uyacelwa ubuze umbuzo omusha uma udinga usizo.

How to retrieve bookmarks.

more options

I have had firefox refuse to load so I downloaded a new version. I then found that I did not keep my old bookmarks. I have followed the instructions to get the stored bookmarks but I get the message that Windows cannot open the file so i asked it to find the program on the web but with no success. What do I do and am I able to retrieve the previous Firefox bookmarks? I am using XP.

I have had firefox refuse to load so I downloaded a new version. I then found that I did not keep my old bookmarks. I have followed the instructions to get the stored bookmarks but I get the message that Windows cannot open the file so i asked it to find the program on the web but with no success. What do I do and am I able to retrieve the previous Firefox bookmarks? I am using XP.

All Replies (4)

more options

You need to restore a JSON backup in Firefox in the Bookmarks Manager (Library) and not use an external application.

  • Bookmarks -> Show All Bookmarks -> Import & Backup > Restore

The name of a JSON bookmarks backup file includes a total item count (folders and separators included) and an hash value to prevent saving the same backup more than once.

  • bookmarks-YYYY-MM-DD_<item count>_<hash>.jsonlz4.

more options

Thanks for the help. I don't understand this : bookmarks-YYYY-MM-DD_<item count>_<hash>.jsonlz4. I did the restore as suggested but nothing seems to have changed and I still do not know if I can find my bookmarks from the previous Firefox download.

more options

That is the way Firefox saves a compressed .jsonlz4 in the bookmarkbackups folder. This folder stores rotating backup up to a maximum of 15. The title of such a backup includes the total item count, so you can easily see how many bookmarks you had at the time this backup was created.

  • bookmarks-2016-12-31_3432_xxxxxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx==.jsonlz4

Restoring a backup should give you the bookmarks stored in this file.

more options

jamek said

I have followed the instructions to get the stored bookmarks but I get the message that Windows cannot open the file so i asked it to find the program on the web but with no success.

What file was it that you wanted to open? Files with extensions like .sqlite or .jsonlz4 are not meant to be opened and viewed like documents. They are data storage formats that Firefox reads on its own.