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Lost bookmarks

From MozillaZine Knowledge Base

This article deals with lost or missing bookmarks, recovery methods and prevention. If changes you make to your bookmarks are not being saved or if you can't add new bookmarks, see the article Bookmarks not saved. If you got a message that your profile was already in use, created a new profile and now your bookmarks and other data are missing, read the article Profile in use.

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Step-by-step bookmark recovery

If you don't see your bookmarks when you open Firefox, Mozilla Suite or SeaMonkey, and you've tried closing and reopening the browser or restarting the computer, the bookmarks file may have been damaged or the contents deleted.

Firefox automatically makes a bookmark backup every day you use it (up to 5 backups total), with newer backups replacing the older copies. If you use the profile, you must act quickly, before they are all overwritten. However, there are other reasons why your bookmarks may be missing, so it is important that you follow all of these steps:

  1. Mozilla browsers store user data in a separate place for each user account on your computer. Make sure you are logged on to your computer with your usual logon name.
  2. Mozilla browsers allow you to store different sets of bookmarks and other user data in separate profiles. You may have created a new profile in the past for troubleshooting or other reasons. Make sure you are using the correct profile (see Multiple profiles and profile in use, below).
  3. If bookmarks appear in the Bookmarks Manager but not in the main menu, and they can't be edited, try the fix for a corrupt localstore.rdf file, given below.
  4. If your problem is still not solved after doing the above, see Finding your bookmarks and Restoring bookmarks from backup (below).
  5. Other methods of recovery
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Preventing future problems

  • You can minimize the likelihood of future problems by following these suggestions (below).
  • If your Web browser is not properly shut down, your bookmarks may be lost after restarting..
  • Do not switch back and forth between Firefox 2 and Firefox 3 using the same profile as this will cause what appears to be bookmark data loss, since the bookmarks.html file used in Firefox 2 will not be automatically imported into Firefox 3 a second time. [1].

Note that actual bookmark loss or corruption should occur much less frequently in Firefox 3, which uses a more robust system for bookmarks storage.

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Multiple profiles and profile in use

Mozilla browsers allow different users to have different settings and bookmarks. You may have inadvertently switched to another profile. Start the Profile Manager (If Mozilla Suite or SeaMonkey is running, click "Tools -> Switch Profile") and, if multiple profiles are listed, select the other profile. If you receive a message that the profile is "in use" or if you are unable to start the original profile, read this article.

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Corrupt localstore.rdf

(Firefox) If your bookmarks appear in the Bookmarks Manager but not in the main menu and can't be edited, this can be caused by a corrupt localstore.rdf file [2]. You can fix this by either deleting the localstore.rdf file from the profile folder or, in Firefox 1.5 and later, by starting in Firefox Safe Mode and selecting the option to reset toolbars and controls, then clicking the "Make changes and restart" button, as explained in this article.

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Finding your bookmarks

Important: Windows users should make sure they can view and search hidden files and folders as the profile folder containing your stored bookmarks is hidden by default. To locate bookmarks files anywhere on your computer, you can use your operating system’s file and folder search feature to find bookmarks* (be sure to include the asterisk, with no space). You can open any bookmarks file in HTML format from within your Mozilla browser, by using "File -> Open File" from the menu to check its contents; links in a bookmarks file opened in this way will be clickable (see this article for details).

  • In Firefox 1.5 and above, five daily bookmark backup files are saved in the bookmarkbackups folder, located in the Firefox profile folder. You must recover one of these five backups before they are overwritten by newer versions.
  • In Firefox 2 and below, and in other Mozilla browsers, bookmarks are stored in the file "bookmarks.html", located in the profile folder. There is also a "bookmarks.html" file in the program folder, but this one is only a template and does not hold your bookmarks. To make sure you have the right file, you can open the bookmarks.html file or any bookmark backup file using "File -> Open File" from the menu (see above).
  • Starting in Firefox 3, bookmarks are stored in the places.sqlite file and bookmarks*.html files are only used for importing and exporting or, in Firefox 3 Beta 4 and earlier, for bookmarkbackups. (As of Firefox 3 Beta 5 bookmarkbackup files are stored in JSON format. [3])
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Restoring bookmarks from backup

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Importing a bookmark backup file

The import bookmarks from file feature of the Bookmarks Manager will add the contents of any bookmarks file in HTML format to your current bookmarks. You can import a bookmark backup file to restore missing bookmarks from within your Mozilla browser as follows:

  • Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey: "Bookmarks -> Manage Bookmarks... -> Tools -> Import..."
  • Firefox 2.x and earlier: "Bookmarks -> Organize (or Manage) Bookmarks... -> File -> Import... -> from File"
  • Firefox 3: "Bookmarks -> Organize Bookmarks -> Import and Backup -> Import... -> from File"

When the file picker appears, navigate to the folder that contains the bookmarks file you wish to use and select that file. Windows 2000/XP/Vista users can navigate to the Firefox profile folder by typing "%APPDATA%" in the file field and pressing Enter, going into Mozilla, then Firefox, then Profiles, then xxxxxxxx.default (where xxxxxxx is any sequence of numbers and characters) then go into the bookmarkbackups folder and select the dated bookmarks*html file you wish to import [4].

Note: Starting in Firefox 3, you can use the "Import and Backup ->Restore" feature in the Bookmarks menu (see below) to replace your current bookmarks with a dated bookmarkbackups file.

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Replacing bookmarks with a backup file

This applies to Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey and Firefox 2 or earlier.

If your current bookmarks file is corrupt, it is better to completely close the browser, find a bookmark backup file, rename it "bookmarks.html" and then replace the bookmarks.html file in the Firefox or Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey profile folder with the renamed backup. Firefox users may prefer to use the Firefox Safe Mode option, "Reset bookmarks to Firefox defaults" and then select the option, "Make Changes and Restart", which will replace the corrupt bookmarks.html file with a new default copy. The Bookmarks Manager can then be used to import the bookmark backup file, as explained above. [5]

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Restoring bookmarks in Firefox 3

Starting in Firefox 3, you will be able to restore a bookmarks file from the Bookmarks menu [6] ("Bookmarks -> Organize Bookmarks -> Import and Backup -> Restore"). This will allow you to replace your current bookmarks with a dated bookmark backup file from within Firefox. Note that, staring in Firefox 3 Beta 5, bookmarkbackups are stored in JSON format. Any bookmark backup files stored in HTML format will need to be imported (see above) rather than restored. [7]

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Restoring bookmarks from external media

If you are restoring bookmarks (or an entire profile) from CD-Rom or other storage media that creates write-protected files, make sure that you remove the read-only attributes from any copied files. Otherwise, read-only bookmarks or other profile files can result in multiple numbered copies of the read-only files. See Multiple profile files created for details.

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Other methods of recovery

  • Check the Recycle Bin/Trash for a file called "bookmarks.html".
  • (Windows) Run the error-checking tool Chkdsk (Windows 2000, XP) or ScanDisk (Windows 95, 98, ME) to see if you can recover any file fragments that contain your lost bookmarks. Look for files with names like FILE0001.chk or FILE0002.chk on the root directory (the files may be inside folders named FOUND.000 or similar). Open each file in Wordpad or Notepad and, if it contains bookmark data, rename it with an .html extension (for example, rename FILE0001.chk to bookmarks1.html). Finally, import the file using the Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey or Firefox Bookmarks Manager [8].
  • Use a file undelete utility to see if you can recover the file [9] [10]
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Bookmarks missing after restarting

This may occur on Windows systems if your Web browser is not properly shut down before you power down or restart the computer. Make sure you always close the browser before shutting down or restarting the computer.

The problem can also be caused by a faulty or misconfigured plugin or extension, or even malware, causing Firefox to remain in memory. To see if this is your problem, perform the following steps:

  1. Use Firefox to browse the web for a while, then open the Windows Task Manager, select the Processes tab and find firefox.exe in the list.
  2. Use "File -> Exit" from the Firefox menu to close Firefox, then wait for firefox.exe to disappear from the Task Manager Processes list (this may take a few seconds if many tabs were open, or Firefox was using a lot of memory). If the firefox.exe process disappears and doesn't come back, this is normal, so if your bookmarks are always missing whenever you restart the computer, it could be related to bug 333907 which may cause .rdf file corruption. To avoid it, exit Firefox before shutting down your PC.
  3. If firefox.exe remains in the Processes list, end the firefox.exe process by selecting it in the Windows Task Manager and clicking "End Process".
    • If the process disappears and doesn't come back, you may have an extension or plugin issue causing Firefox to persist in memory (for example, firefox.exe may remain active after running a Java applet). You should make sure all plugins and extensions are up to date and seek support if the problem persists.
    • If the process disappears but comes back, you probably have a virus, or some other malware. Anti-virus software may not be able to detect it. If yours doesn't, seek support. See also Firefox.exe always open.
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Prevention

  • Do not power down your computer with Firefox/Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey running.[11]
  • Be careful when using Firefox Safe Mode. If you use the option to reset bookmarks to Firefox defaults, this will delete your bookmarks.
  • Be careful when organizing your bookmarks. You can lose your bookmarks by accidentally deleting them in the Bookmarks Manager.
  • Periodically save your bookmarks to the backup location of your choice (especially important in Mozilla Suite and SeaMonkey, which don't include automatic bookmarkbackups):
    • Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey: "Bookmarks -> Manage Bookmarks... -> Tools -> Export..."
    • Firefox 2 and earlier: "Bookmarks -> Organize (or Manage) Bookmarks... -> File -> Export..."
    • Firefox 3: "Bookmarks -> Organize Bookmarks -> Import and Backup -> Export... (or Backup...)". Note: Use "Export..." to save a bookmarks file in HTML format that can be imported by any browser. Use "Backup" to save an additional bookmark backup file in JSON format that can be restored in Firefox 3.
  • You can increase the number of Firefox automatic bookmarkbackups by modifying the value of the browser.bookmarks.max_backups preference to the desired number.
  • Instead of backing up just your bookmarks, you can also back up your entire profile.
  • Some "computer clean-up" programs like System Wiper may delete your bookmarks. Make sure you do profile backups before using such programs.
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Related bug reports

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