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I got a new computer and installed Firefox, but don't know how to transfer the bookmarks from Firefox on the old computer.
This has to be one of the the most common problems that people encounter. We all get new computers every so often, and we all need to keep the old bookmarks when we get a new computer and install the new browser.
I feel like I must be among the small minority of people who do not know how to do this. My older computer is not dead, it just got old (it uses XP). I have been keeping it around until I get all of the data from it. Any help in doing that would be greatly appreciated.
I am now using Windows 7.
Chosen solution
There's more than one way you can do this:
You can set up Firefox Sync to Sync between computers. Edit->Preferences->Sync... OR Preferences->Preferences->Sync... https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-set-up-firefox-sync Advantages: Easier to use once set up, can be used to keep multiple devices in sync Disadvantages: Harder to set up, requires Internet access, need to keep track of 'Firefox Sync Key'
You can Export/Import Bookmarks Bookmarks->Show all Bookmarks->Import and Backup->... https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/export-firefox-bookmarks-to-backup-or-transfer Advantages: Easier to do for a one time transfer, can be done 'off-line' Disadvantages: Keeping multiple devices in sync this way can be time consuming and possibly confusing/annoying
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Chosen Solution
There's more than one way you can do this:
You can set up Firefox Sync to Sync between computers. Edit->Preferences->Sync... OR Preferences->Preferences->Sync... https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-set-up-firefox-sync Advantages: Easier to use once set up, can be used to keep multiple devices in sync Disadvantages: Harder to set up, requires Internet access, need to keep track of 'Firefox Sync Key'
You can Export/Import Bookmarks Bookmarks->Show all Bookmarks->Import and Backup->... https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/export-firefox-bookmarks-to-backup-or-transfer Advantages: Easier to do for a one time transfer, can be done 'off-line' Disadvantages: Keeping multiple devices in sync this way can be time consuming and possibly confusing/annoying
Firefox also makes regular backups of your bookmarks in a folder named bookmarkbackups in your personal settings folder. You can restore the backup to your new Firefox, but unlike importing the HTML-format file, it is a complete drop-in replacement, so if you have saved new bookmarks you do not want to lose, the export/import method may work better for you.
By default, Windows hides your personal settings folder so the easiest way to access it is from inside Firefox. You can use either:
- "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
- (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
- type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter
In the first table on the page, click the "Show Folder" button. This will launch a window showing your Firefox settings files.
You might want to back up this whole folder if you have other data you want to preserve from your XP computer.
Either way, you should find the bookmarkbackups folder here and when you click into it, find maybe 10 files with dates in their names.
The procedure to restore the file once you have it on removable media or some other convenient place is described in this article: Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer.
Regarding the other files and what you might find of use: Recovering important data from an old profile.