Mozilla Firefox my Bookmarks have disappeared

Hello,

Over time, valid information may have disappeared.

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

It is usually hidden, so you need to manually enter the first 4 levels in the input area of the explorer.

Also, see the official site: https://support.mozilla.org/fr/kb/sauvegarder-restaurer-informations-profils-firefox

In this profile, there is a bookmarkbackups directory that contains copies of favorites.

Have you found this history? How much history do you have?

As a second step, the best would be to create a new profile and import a copy of your favorites.

Hello,

Press Windows + R
Type --> control panel and OK

File Explorer Options
View tab
Check --> show hidden files, folders, and drives
Apply and OK.

On the desktop, go to the folder --> old firefox data
Copy these 5 files --> bookmarkbackups, places.sqlite, favicons.sqlite, key4.db, and logins.json

Go paste them into your profile:
Press Windows + E
--> C:\users\your username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxdefault
You will be prompted to replace, and you agree.

Restart firefox and see what happens.

Hello,

If you're having trouble, check method 2 in this post.
Start with the profile manager in Firefox and then use the command ''about:profiles'' second.

Good luck.

--
pistouri

We no longer know exactly which environment we are testing. As mentioned by pistouri, we should create a new profile.

It could also come from the installed version of Firefox.

We could then test the recovery of the saved bookmarks on a portable version, which would be independent of the installed version, to at least validate the backups. Given the repetition of the messages, we need to consider that the backups may be corrupted and unusable.

To recover a portable Firefox: Click here

Wait 5 seconds, save the file in a directory that you can find later

Close all the windows that might be open in Firefox.

Then run the file FirefoxPortable_70.0.1_French.paf.exe at the installation location, you will get a program FirefoxPortable.exe which you launch.

With this version, test the restoration of a file, one of those present in the desktop directory, old Firefox as indicated on choose a file: https://forums.commentcamarche.net/forum/affich-36275313-mozilla-firefox-mes-marque-pages-ont-disparus#9

Hello,

Following your message 15.

→ If I choose a file, I open it, it is indicated as a JSON file, and I am asked for the file name.
Do not open it.

Try this procedure to restore your bookmarks with your folder ''old Firefox data''.
Open FIREFOX.
Go to Bookmarks.
If you see nothing, right-click at the top of Firefox and check Menu Bar (Personal Toolbar while you're at it).
Or use the keyboard shortcuts Alt + M.
Click on → Show Bookmarks
A window opens.
1- Go to → Import and Backup
Expand the small arrow
2- Click on → Restore (it’s the second line)
3- At the bottom of the window click on → Choose File


The explorer opens.
Select → Desktop (where your old Firefox data should be, in principle).
Or directly on ''old Firefox data'' if you see it.
Select → Old Firefox Data
Select your Default profile folder → Example ouq5yaqv.default

Open the .default folder
Click on → bookmarkbackups

Choose a backup from the list based on the date you want.
Click on Open.

Close the windows and check if your bookmarks have been successfully restored.
If everything is good, the backup JSON has been successfully restored.

See you later

--
pistouri

Hello,

You have a nice error message.
It should be resolved.

The error message:
The bookmarks and history system will not be operational because one of Firefox's files is currently being used by another application...

Follow this procedure:
Close Firefox and wait about 1 minute to ensure the process is fully stopped.
You need to create a new profile.
Press the Windows + R key
Copy and paste

firefox.exe -profilemanager

Then click OK

Click on → Create a profile...



Click on → Next

Delete everything in the box → Default User
Put the name or first name you want, and to ensure there’s no duplicate with another profile, add the number 1 at the end
Click on → Finish


Launch Firefox, you should no longer see this error message.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your Bookmarks
Go through the procedure again 16.

Another solution is to sync your bookmarks with your other device
Whether it's your phone or smartphone (log in to your Firefox account)
If you don't have one, create a Firefox account
Check the procedure
On your PC
It's the button → Enable Sync
If the connection is already established, click then on Connect another device…
Wait while it syncs.

Finally, let us know if you succeeded with one of the two methods.

Question:
''I love extensions too ''
What is an extension too?


Good luck, there is still hope, it's not lost after all.

Hello,

We are happy for you.

When you've finished drying your tears, we'll try to bring some color back to your Bookmarks.
→ ''are a bit down without their respective colored logo''

Solution 1
you just need to open them once, that's all.
If some have a ''globe'' instead of the logo, don't worry, it's simply the site that doesn't have a logo/icon.

Solution 2
Carefully follow the procedure step by step, it's not as complicated as it may seem.

Install the extension Default Bookmark Folder
You should see the Default Bookmark Folder icon displayed next to the address bar (URL).
Left-click on the icon, a dialogue box will appear.
Go to → Settings

Go to the tab → Built-in Bookmarking in Firefox
Section / line → Select where new bookmarks will be added:
Select → Bookmarks Menu
Section line → Select where new tagged tab folders will be added:
Select → No folder selected (the default Firefox folder will be used)


Now go to the tab → Quick Bookmarking
Check the 3 boxes:
- Enable quick bookmarking icon
- Enable quick bookmarking shortcut (Alt + Shift + D)
- Enable quick bookmarking context menu

Scroll down to → Select where new bookmarks will be added:
Select → Bookmarks Menu
Note: your bookmarks will no longer automatically go into ''Unsorted Bookmarks''

Scroll down to → Select the color of the icon when the current page has a bookmark:
Leave the color ''Red''.


That's it.

Note that you can enable dark mode in the extension's page for better visibility.
At the top right, you see a ''sun'', activate the highlighted box.


Edit:
If you don't see the Default Bookmark Folder icon next to the address bar:
1- Go to the menu (it's the horizontal lines located at the top right)
Then click on the line → Customize
Drag the icon next to the address bar (Hold left-click on the Default Bookmark Folder icon, drag it to the address bar and then release the left-click).


2- Another solution to access the extension's settings (Settings).
Erase everything in the address bar and copy/paste → moz-extension://f81c35a5-4ff1-421e-9227-1f9d127ae380/options/options.html

Or:
Erase everything in the address bar and copy/paste → about:addons
Click on the little dots next to the Default Bookmark Folder extension
Go to → Options


That's it.

Close Firefox and then restart it.
Check the color of the bookmark icons.

A+
--
pistouri

Hello,

Redo the procedure from message 3

In the folder "old Firefox data"
→ Copy these 5 files --> bookmarkbackups, places.sqlite, favicons.sqlite, key4.db, and logins.json

But you need to show hidden files and folders, otherwise you won't see AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxdefault

The path:
C:\users\your username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxdefault


Show hidden files and folders:
Check the procedure.

Image of the path:


Open the folder that ends with ''Default''
And paste the 5 files.

Then hide the hidden files and folders again.
Close this explorer window.

Info:
Before doing the procedure, close Firefox if you have it open.

Open it again to check.

For → "unable to process the backup file".
You must have clicked on bookmarks, which changed the file extension that no longer matches, if that's the case, you'll see the Firefox logo instead
The backup of the bookmarks folder is .jsonlz4 files


Hoping you didn't open it with Firefox, for example, otherwise it's done for, and I don't know how to reassociate the .jsonlz4 file extension (I had this bad experience when Firefox 4 came out, now it's version 70).

→ A recurrent error message in the taskbar in red (you click on learn more and that's where the mess begins, sending you from one page to another without solving the problem)
→ What can I do for the future and how to remove this damned message when I open Firefox, red bar at the top when opening the page.
Post a screenshot please.

→ which browser is the best.
Firefox has plenty of extensions to add and respects privacy.
It’s up to you to try others to compare if you’re looking for speed.

→ Should I change in my settings the default browser that was Firefox and switch to Chrome?
It's your choice, but if you want Firefox as default, you need to set it up properly again, because for example, it will be the one to open HTML links from your messaging.

→ What about Explorer that I had skipped?
Microsoft disallows it, avoid it.
Read the info

→ Why do these "people" from Mozilla F never respond to messages???
???
Poorly posed or delicate question or others.
Did you post on the Mozilla forum?

Good luck.

--
pistouri