Corrupt localstore.rdf

This article deals with Firefox issues caused by a corrupt localstore.rdf file, which may include:

• Changes to the toolbar reset themselves after you close Firefox and start it up again
• Window size or position not remembered at startup
• Bookmarks appear in the Bookmarks Manager but not in the main menu and can't be edited [1]
• "Add Bookmark" dialog not working [2]
• Firefox 1.5: Search engines missing from the Search Bar and unable to add new engines (Firefox 2 users, see this article)

These problems can be fixed by using either of the following methods (both methods will remove the corrupt localstore.rdf file so that Firefox can generate a new copy). Any toolbar customizations will be gone when you next restart Firefox but future changes will be retained. Before deleting localstore.rdf, saving a screen capture (print screen) could prove useful in implementing customizations to restore desired appearance after this file is recreated.

Safe Mode method: Exit Firefox completely and then restart Firefox in Safe Mode. A window called Firefox Safe Mode with some troubleshooting options will appear. Select the option "Reset toolbars and controls" and choose "Make Changes and Restart".

Alternate method: Exit Firefox completely, open the Firefox profile folder (Windows users, read this for help finding it) and delete the file "localstore.rdf". Caution: Do not delete the localstore.rdf file in the Firefox program installation folder by mistake [3].

Related

• Files created on startup - first time use of a profile or individually recreated if missing
• Standard diagnostic - Mozilla Suite
• Top 10 support topics

Related bug reports

• Bug 99236 – localstore.rdf should be deleted when it is corrupt (fixed in Firefox 2.0.0.4)
• Bug 319196 – customized toolbar always reset to default on restart, bookmarks and search engines lost, unable to add search engines (localstore.rdf corruption on upgrade or crash)