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why won't my bookmarks library open?

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  • Last reply by John99

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I've installed Firefox on my new Dell Windows 10 computer and I'd like to "restore" my bookmarks from my old Windows XP computer. I made a "backup" bookmark file, but on the new computer NO bookmarks library displays when I press Ctrl/Shift/B, or when I click on the "show your bookmarks" icon. Nothing happens!

I've installed Firefox on my new Dell Windows 10 computer and I'd like to "restore" my bookmarks from my old Windows XP computer. I made a "backup" bookmark file, but on the new computer NO bookmarks library displays when I press Ctrl/Shift/B, or when I click on the "show your bookmarks" icon. Nothing happens!

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Well the bookmarks file will need restoring, and it is most likely to succeed if it was from a current or recent Firefox an not one dating back to when you bought the XP.

However if you get no bookmarks library showing Firefox is broken. You do not seem to have any extensions but it is worth trying Firefox in its safemode, and the Firefox refresh option, they may help. If not then first of all try a new profile then a clean install again <-- That involves deleting the Firefox program files before reinstalling

  1. Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode
  2. Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings

Please post back to say how you get on, or if you have problems or further questions.

Clean Install

Certain Firefox problems can be solved by performing a Clean reinstall. This means you remove your Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox. This process does not remove your Firefox profile data (such as bookmarks and passwords), since that information is stored in a different location.

To do a clean reinstall of Firefox, please follow these steps: Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.

  1. Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from mozilla.org (or choose the download for your operating system and language from this page) and save the setup file to your computer.
  2. After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (or open the Firefox menu New Fx Menu and click the close button Close 29).
  3. Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default:
    • Windows:
      • C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
      • C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox
    • Mac: Delete Firefox from the Applications folder.
    • Linux: If you installed Firefox with the distro-based package manager, you should use the same way to uninstall it - see Install Firefox on Linux. If you downloaded and installed the binary package from the Firefox download page, simply remove the folder firefox in your home directory.
  4. Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:
    1. Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
    2. Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.

More information about reinstalling Firefox can be found here.

WARNING: Do not use a third party uninstaller as part of this process. Doing so could permanently delete your Firefox profile data, including but not limited to, extensions, cache, cookies, bookmarks, personal settings and saved passwords. These cannot be easily recovered unless they have been backed up to an external device! See Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.