Restore bookmarks

Solved
HeeroYuy Posted messages 1337 Status Membre -  
 Didierdc44 -
Hello,

Recently my PC had a problem: every time I start it, my configuration resets as if I just bought the PC.

So I bought a new desktop PC.
I transferred the hard drive to the new PC but Windows is not installed on it.
I haven't lost any data on the hard drive, but the PC crashed before I had the chance to backup my bookmarks.

I read on the Firefox support that I just need to transfer the profile folder to recover the bookmarks which are apparently contained in the places.sqlite file.

However, I tried and still can't recover my bookmarks.

I would like to recover my bookmarks.

Any help would be appreciated.

4 réponses

jee pee Posted messages 31911 Registration date   Status Modérateur Last intervention   9 947
 
Hello,

First, are you sure about the directory from which you are retrieving the file? Check the consistency with its date/time.

The Firefox profile on your disk will be under a hierarchy like:
X:\Users\XXXXXXXXXX\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\73pjrbc3.BIS where XXXXXX corresponds to your old profile name and the last level is random.

I just tested it by creating a new profile and simply copying the places.sqlite file, it works well.

Otherwise, another method is to use the subdirectory of the old profile "bookmarkbackups"; inside there are files with a .jsonlz4 extension.

In Firefox, go to bookmarks/show all bookmarks, then import/restore and select a .jsonlz4 file. Don’t be impatient; loading may take some time depending on the number of bookmarks. I have several thousand, and it took 2/3 minutes.

Best regards

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HeeroYuy Posted messages 1337 Status Membre 126
 
First of all, thank you for your response and the time you take to help me.

Please know that it is indeed in the directory indicated by Firefox support that I copied my entire profile folder xxx.default. I copied this folder as well as the profiles.ini file onto a USB drive just in case.

My PC being really powerful, I just performed the procedure you mentioned and it worked. My hundreds of bookmarks were directly integrated into Firefox.

I will therefore make a clean backup so that I can delete the old folder.

Thanks again for your help!
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Didierdc44
 
Good evening to those on this topic,

After a Firefox bug that made it disappear, I did a fresh installation and found myself without my bookmarks.
Since then, I've been trying to tinker with several methods I've seen online, without success.
I do have a file in .jsonlz4 format, but when I go to Firefox,
Bookmarks,
Show all bookmarks,
Library,
Import and Backup,
Restore,
Choose File,
I do get to Bookmarkbackups but my .jsonlz4 file does not appear because it's not in .json format.
And if I set it to "All Files," it appears in the list but I can't install it because of "Unsupported file type."
Any idea?

My name is Didier, I'm 60 years old, and I have a PC running Windows 10.
Thanks to anyone who has an idea for a solution.

Didier
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jee pee Posted messages 31911 Registration date   Status Modérateur Last intervention   9 947
 
Hello,

When I go to restore, I see dates just like on: https://support.mozilla.org/fr/kb/restaurer-marque-pages-deplacer-ordinateur

If your files are in an old location, you'll probably need to copy them to your current profile directory under the bookmarkbackups directory.

Another method is to copy the places.sqlite file from your old profile to your new one with Firefox closed.
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jee pee Posted messages 31911 Registration date   Status Modérateur Last intervention   9 947
 
What version of Firefox do you have? Because when I choose a file, it indeed offers me both JSON and JSONLZ4 formats.
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Didierdc44
 
Good evening,

Thank you for your response.

Actually, I installed version 4.0.

And I only have the option for the two file formats, just .json

As for my places.sqlite file, I can't remember which one is the right one because I was messing around.
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jee pee Posted messages 31911 Registration date   Status Modérateur Last intervention   9 947
 
the version 4??? we're at 63
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Didierdc44
 
Jee pee

A big thank you.

Indeed, when I lost Firefox on my PC, I typed the word Firefox in the Windows 10 search bar (at the bottom left of the screen).
And it suggested Firefox version 4.0, which had been on my PC for a few years.
Then, in Firefox 4.0, the software told me there were no updates available.
Yet, I found the browser to be very different from the one I use every day.

Thanks to you, I downloaded the Firefox browser from the Mozilla website and installed it.
Then, I restored the .jsonlz4 file I had with all my bookmarks.
And I found everything again.

Thanks again.

I wish you a wonderful continuation.
Didier
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