Profile ManagerFrom MozillaZine Knowledge Base(Redirected from Profile manager)
Mozilla applications store your personal settings, added extensions and themes, and user data such as bookmarks, passwords, cookies and mail in a "profile". The Profile Manager allows you to create and manage profiles. With a new profile the application will run without any extensions, themes, or customized settings that may be causing problems, but you can still import your data from another profile or switch back to a previous profile.
[edit] Firefox and Thunderbird usersCare must be taken when creating and deleting profiles to avoid loss of valuable data. See the warnings given below, here and here [edit] Accessing the Profile Manager
[edit] WindowsClose the application and make sure that it is not running in the background. Thunderbird, Mozilla Suite or SeaMonkey: Use the "Profile Manager" shortcut located in the Start -> Programs Menu (if available) or use the below instructions, substituting thunderbird.exe mozilla.exe or seamonkey.exe in place of firefox.exe. Firefox: See Creating a new Firefox profile on Windows for a step by step guide with screenshots, or follow these instructions: Open the Windows "Start" menu, select "Run" (on Windows Vista, use "Start Search" or enable the Run box, as described here) then type and enter one of the following:
For a zip install or if the above instructions do not work, include the full path to the executable surrounded by quotation marks in the "Run" (or Vista "Start Search") box, as in this Firefox example:
[edit] LinuxClose the application completely and make sure that it is not running in the background. Open the terminal and execute cd (program directory) then execute:
Alternately, in a terminal type path/to/application -profilemanager [edit] Mac OS XClose the application completely and make sure that it is not running in the background. Assuming the program is installed in the "Applications" folder, launch Terminal ("Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal") and enter the command starting with / after the prompt in Terminal:
If the above command doesn't work, try again, but include -bin as shown in this example for Thunderbird:
[edit] Creating a new profile A new profile folder will be created in the default folder location. If you created the new profile because your old one was corrupt, you can import bookmarks and selectively migrate your other data and settings to the new profile. [edit] Custom profile locationAdvanced Users Only Mozilla Suite and SeaMonkey 1.x: If you wish to choose your own profile location, choose the parent folder where you want the new profile folder created. For example, if you want a new "profilename" folder created under D:\Mozilla\Profiles with the path D:\Mozilla\Profiles\"profilename"\<random>.slt, choose the Profiles folder. Firefox and Thunderbird: Unlike Mozilla Suite and SeaMonkey 1.x, Firefox and Thunderbird do not automatically create a new profile folder if you specify your own location. You must create a new, empty folder (preferably with the same name as the new profile) and then choose that folder in the Create Profile Wizard. Note: If your operating system does not provide a "New Folder" button within the Create Profile Wizard, you will need to manually create the new folder. Note: Starting in SeaMonkey 2.0 (not yet released) custom profiles are created in the same manner as Firefox and Thunderbird, i.e., you must create a new, empty folder for the new profile. The same warnings for creating and deleting Firefox or Thunderbird profiles also apply to SeaMonkey 2.0. [edit] Selecting a Firefox or Thunderbird profile locationWarning: If you choose to create a Firefox or Thunderbird profile in a custom location, do not choose a folder that contains existing data (such as the "My Documents" folder on Windows) because it could result in the loss of the other data in that folder if you later delete the profile (Bug 304290, Bug 302087). [edit] Deleting a profileYou can use the Profile Manager "Delete Profile" feature to remove a profile from the list of available profiles. You can also delete the associated profile folder and its contents if you select the "Delete Files" option but it is recommended that you choose the "Don't Delete Files" option unless you are sure that the profile folder contains no valuable data. [edit] Deleting a Firefox or Thunderbird profileWarning: It is possible that a Firefox or Thunderbird profile folder may contain non-Mozilla files if you selected a "custom" profile location when the profile was created (see above). If you later use the "Delete Files" option to remove that profile, the entire folder and it's contents will be deleted, including any non-Mozilla files. This cannot be undone. For this reason, it is recommended that you avoid using the "Delete Files" option when deleting a Firefox or Thunderbird profile. If you want to delete the profile folder also, you can do that manually. [edit] Profile Manager shortcutIn some Windows installs, a "Profile Manager" shortcut is placed on the Start menu programs list. For easier access to the Profile Manager, you can also create your own shortcut and place it on your desktop or in another convenient location. For instance, to create a shortcut to the Firefox Profile Manager on Windows XP:
Note: Using -P instead of profilemanager may also work, like so, using the same Firefox example:
Double-clicking the new shortcut should now start the Profile Manager, assuming Firefox is completely closed and not running in the background, as mentioned above. [edit] Shortcut to a specific profileFollow the above instructions but use -P (not -profilemanager). After the -P add another SPACE and the name of the profile in quotes, where "Profile Name" is the name of the profile you wish to open, as shown in this Firefox example:
Note: Profile names are case sensitive. See the article Shortcut to a specific profile if you need more help. [edit] Profile Manager claims profile is already in useThis means the profile is locked. See Profile in use for details. [edit] See also
[edit] External links
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