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Firefox update wiped out my home page setting which was a custom configuration for a site that I can't get back. Why did this happen?

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  • Last reply by klaatubob

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An update to Firefox yesterday, Nov 22, 2016, wiped out my home page setting. The home page was a complex URL with custom settings for a site. Why did this get wiped out in the update and where can I find that setting to restore it? This is unacceptable behavior for an update!

An update to Firefox yesterday, Nov 22, 2016, wiped out my home page setting. The home page was a complex URL with custom settings for a site. Why did this get wiped out in the update and where can I find that setting to restore it? This is unacceptable behavior for an update!

Chosen solution

Did your Firefox perform a Refresh during the update? If it did, you should find your old profile (settings) folder on your desktop inside a folder named Old Firefox Data.

If you find that the prefs.js file will have your old home page setting.

Don't double-click a .js file because Windows will execute it as a system script. Instead, right-click > Edit the file to open it in Notepad or right-click > Open With to choose a different text editor. Then look for the line starting with:

user_pref("browser.startup.homepage"

and that should have the setting you need (don't include the starting and ending " when you copy/paste to Firefox's Options page).

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Chosen Solution

Did your Firefox perform a Refresh during the update? If it did, you should find your old profile (settings) folder on your desktop inside a folder named Old Firefox Data.

If you find that the prefs.js file will have your old home page setting.

Don't double-click a .js file because Windows will execute it as a system script. Instead, right-click > Edit the file to open it in Notepad or right-click > Open With to choose a different text editor. Then look for the line starting with:

user_pref("browser.startup.homepage"

and that should have the setting you need (don't include the starting and ending " when you copy/paste to Firefox's Options page).

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Thanks! That had what I needed!