Recovering important data from an old profile

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  • Revision id: 17493
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  • Creator: scoobidiver
  • Comment: Redirects to the Profiles articles for important data and files
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  • Reviewed by: AliceWyman
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A Firefox profile stores all of your important data, such as your bookmarks, history, cookies, and passwords. This article explains how to copy the files to a new profile, lists important files in the profile and describes what information is stored in these files.

If you are having a problem with Firefox then sometimes, rather than trying to find and fix the exact cause of the problem, it is easier just to make a new Firefox profile and copy your most important data over to it. Making a new Firefox profile and then copying over certain files gives you a fresh start while retaining your important personal data.

Note: Because your preferences and extensions are often the causes of problems, this article does not explain how to copy these between profiles. Therefore, if you follow the steps in this article, you will have to reinstall your extensions and reconfigure your Firefox preferences afterward.

Back up your current profile

Before starting it is recommended that you make a complete backup of your existing Firefox profile in case something goes wrong. Please read the Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles article for how to do this.

Create a new Firefox profile

For information on how to create a brand new Firefox profile, please read the Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles article, paying specific attention to the Creating a profile section.

Copying files between profile folders

Note: Firefox must be closed down while copying files between profile folders.

  1. Open your profile folder:

    • Click the menu button Fx89menuButton, click Help and select More Troubleshooting Information.From the Help menu, select More Troubleshooting Information. The Troubleshooting Information tab will open.
    • Under the Application Basics section next to Profile FolderDirectory, click Open FolderShow in FinderOpen Directory. A window will open that contains your profile folder.Your profile folder will open.
    Note: If you are unable to open or use Firefox, follow the instructions in Finding your profile without opening Firefox.

  2. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  3. Right-clickHold down the control key while you click on a file you want to copy and choose Copy.
  4. Open the new Firefox profile folder.
  5. Right-clickHold down the control key while you click inside the profile folder and choose Paste Item.

Repeat steps 2-5 for each file you wish to transfer over to your new profile folder.

While copying your personal data from an old Firefox profile to a new Firefox profile, it is possible that you could copy over the file that is causing the problem you are trying to get rid of! The more files you copy over, the greater the chance of this happening. It is therefore recommended that:

  • You copy over only the minimal amount of files that contain your most important data that you simply can't live without.
  • You copy over a few files at a time, and then check that the problem you are trying to get rid of hasn't returned.

Your important data and their files

See What information is stored in my profile?.




Based on information from Transferring data to a new profile - Firefox (mozillaZine KB)