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Backing up FireFox Bookmarks

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Bernadine

PCHF Member
Jan 27, 2017
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I have Windows 8.1, newest version of FireFox.
I can save Bookmarks, move them around whatever else I want to do, however:

1. I cannot backup Bookmarks in FireFox.
2. I cannot delete most Bookmarks in FireFox. Some did delete but the vast majority would not. (I have no clue why some did)

I have written to Mozilla but they won't answer in anything but extremely confusing tech speak. I was so stressed I was in tears trying to understand what they were telling me. I was afraid I would do something to mess everything up really bad. I hope someone here can help a senior lady fix these problems. Though I didn't understand most of what they said, even another member admonished them for the way they were replying to my problem.

1. In the past I have been able to backup FF bookmarks with no problem. Now it will not do it. I went through all my bookmarks and copied and pasted the name of the site and the address into a document so I at least have them saved. It took hours and hours, into days to finish.

To backup FF I have tried Bookmarks > Show All Bookmarks > Library Window > Import and Backup > Back up - which brings up a Window Bookmarks Backup filename with bookmarks-2021-07-09.json in filename to be Saved. However when I save it, I can't find the file back. I have searched and it's just not there.
If I go to Bookmarks > Show All Bookmarks > Library Window > Import and Backup > Restore - a list comes up with dates from 2020, which I'm not going to click on since I spent days copying/pasting the updated Bookmarks into a document.
Back to the Library > Import and Backup > Export Bookmarks > Export Bookmarks File > File name: bookmarks 7 9 2021.html > Save to Desktop > once again it's not there.

2. I can't delete Bookmarks. While I was going through all the Bookmarks to save them in a document, I put any sites that were no longer good or that I no longer wanted into a file I named "To Delete." It used to be easy to delete Bookmarks, right click on the name and click delete, gone. Now once in a while it will delete bookmarks but most of the time it won't delete any old or no longer wanted bookmarks. I have also tried everything I can think of to delete the files I no longer want.

Right clicking the Bookmark > Delete - nothing happens (this used to work just fine)
Library > right click Bookmark, click Delete or Remove - nothing happens
Library > Organize > click Bookmark, click Delete or Remove - nothing happens
So "To Delete" is there with the rest of my bookmarks. Waiting. To be deleted. I tried to count them, and when I got to 300 with lots left to count, I gave up. I hope I won't have to delete them one by one.

I try really hard to understand but my tech knowledge is limited and I stress a lot trying to follow directions. Please answer in simple English in easy to follow steps.

Thanks,
Bernadine
 
I did it and nothing has changed for the good. But now the extra things I had on FF (I'm sorry I don't have the correct words) are gone. Fortunately, I read the warning and I wrote down what I had but I don't know how to get them back.
 
It says I took too long, but I can't say things as clearly as I want in so short a time, so I'll try again...

I did it and nothing has changed for the good. But as usual for me one problem multiplies into more. Now the extra things I had on FF (I'm sorry I don't have the correct words) are gone. I read the warning and I thought they would still be in the Tools but they aren't. Fortunately, I wrote down what I had but I don't know how to get them back. The most important is the password manager I use. It was on the menu bar next to the address. I went to their website and it's only 1 of 2 passwords that I know by memory so I could log in there and use it to log in here. It was just always there since I first got it many years ago, and I'm lost without it.

I'm pretty tired now and if you reply tonight I may not be able to get back on here to do more until late tomorrow.
I hope you can get me out of the messes I seem to create as I wobble through this.
Thanks,
Bernadine
 
Today so far: After waiting to get my courage and my energy back to work on this again, now I'm already nearly at my limit, I'm having difficulties even typing. I worked to update what was going on with this and when I tried to attach a file showing it, everything went wrong. It even came up with a blue screen and I had to just turn the computer off. After the computer crashed and I started it up again, I got your second reply. I didn't log out of your website last time because I didn't want take the chance of not being able to log back in. Please forgive if this doesn't make sense, I'm trying to go in order of what I did.

After I posted last time, I was closing down the computer and there on the desktop was a file folder that says "Old Firefox Data". I didn't create that folder or that file, it wasn't there when I checked the desktop before. When I clicked on the folder, it opened up File Explorer window and there was a folder xlm21r1y.default - bunch of numbers dated 7 9 2021 6:58 PM with 106 items of folders and files. I think everything is there. But, I was too tired to go back to your website and write more.

Today, so I would have some kind of success, I started with getting the extra pieces back on FF. All I could figure to do was start over. I still need help with my password manager, I don't want to lose everything there.

Tried to delete bookmarks every which way. Nothing happened. Still need help deleting old bookmarks.

That leaves backing up FF.

But you think, I did get a file with the backup on Friday, and it was still there today. This is true and seems like it would be an important improvement. But, I tried Backing it up again and nothing happened...again. I checked and the Restore still only has from November 2020 with over 1000 items. I'm keeping the backup from Friday, it's better than the one from 2020, but I will still need to backup again. Then as your last post said, I tried Export to html. Again nothing. I still need help to backup FF.

So, I'm right back where I started. Only not. because I've lost my password manager from FF.

Please, don't give up on me, I do try to follow instructions carefully,
Bernadine
 
I took a huge chance and re-installed my password manager and it seems to be working so far for the couple sites I logged into.
So, now I'm back to where I started when I first wrote, many hours of work ago.
 
But the "Old FF Data" has the latest backup, more than 9 months newer and after I did the major reorganization of the Bookmarks, I need to keep it.

For the ease of finding files I'm working on like this, I always save them to the Desktop, With only 5 items on the Desktop, a new one is easy to spot. And I did, and it didn't. No file - not the .html or the .json.

I did look through old FF files and found some json files from way back. I was brave and opened one and it looked a mess of words and symbols but I did see a couple things that I have bookmarked. I'm going to try to attach a screenshot, hope it works today, don't want to go through that again. Bookmarks old json file.PNG
 
I went to the link you sent and in several places the Moderator said, “You don't need the "Old Firefox Data" folder but you can move it to another location on your computer as a backup, if you wish. It's highly unlikely that you have set that folder as your current profile location.” I'd rather not have to use a backup ever, but if I did this would at least be better than what FF will save for me now - Nothing.

I started all over. Saved to html on the desktop, the only place I've saved it to. The file I just saved was not on the desktop.

I opened File Explorer to "This PC "and searched for the file I just created. The results have 2 shortcuts (saved it twice just to be sure) and the target file. But as you can see in the snapshot of my desktop, it is NOT there.

Realized "This PC" doesn't have the documents folder so, back to File Explorer to "Library", searched for the file I created. The result is the file in Old Firefox data.
Then I thought maybe Library isn't good enough, so I searched Documents. Same results.

So I save and save and save, and the Search says it's somewhere, but when I go to somewhere it isn't there. That's it, that's all I got.
 

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Like I said in my last post: "Realized "This PC" doesn't have the documents folder so, back to File Explorer to "Library", searched for the file I created. The result is the file in Old Firefox data. Then I thought maybe Library isn't good enough, so I searched Documents. Same results."

Or did you mean that I have to open each folder in Library > Documents individually? I thought by doing the Search of Library > Documents, I was doing just that. No matter how badly I want to find a backup file saved by FF, I can't find something that isn't there.
 
The Documents directory should be able to access through the Library list if it is referenced there.

When you are doing search are you select C drive? This way it select the drive and not the directory selected?

Open Windows Explorer.
Under This PC double-click the C: drive.
In the C: drive, double-click the Users folder.
Double-click the <name>, where <name> is the name of your user account.
Double-click the Documents folder.
 
So I would not get mixed up, I went through the process to Export to HTML. When I typed in the file name to save it “7 14 2021 Bookmarks”, the program did list suggestions of the previous file names I've used.

Then, I did exactly as you said, (just so you can see I attached snapshot “File path”), double clicking down the line and then used Search to find the file “7 14 2021 Bookmarks.” I couldn't attach a snapshot with the “7 14 2021 Bookmarks” name in the Search bar because it started the search automatically and changed the file path. The attached files are the new snapshots. Once again they are snapshots of the same files I've sent before. No matter how variations on the way you have me search, I can't find something that isn't there.
 

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Did not ask you to preform a search.

You were instructed to manually got to the Document folder.
Open Windows Explorer.
Under This PC double-click the C: drive.
In the C: drive, double-click the Users folder.
Double-click the <name>, where <name> is the name of your user account.
Double-click the Documents folder.
See if the files are listed there yes or no
 
I click FF Bookmarks tab > (drop down menu, right at the top is) Show All Bookmarks (click on it) > Library Window (opens) > Import Backup Tab (click) > (drop down menu with both) Backup and Export Bookmarks to HTML. Between FF and the Snipping Tool not cooperating, the only snapshot I can get is of the Library Window.
 

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Wondering if there is an hiccup with Windows that is causing this to happen and not Firefox since we refreshed it and that usually fixes most issues.

Here is one thing that we can attempt

Another is start the system in a clean boot and or safe mode and see if it works then
Clean Boot

Safe Mode
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...ndows-10-92c27cff-db89-8644-1ce4-b3e5e56fe234
 
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