Preferences not saved: Difference between revisions

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(added link to Resetting preferences article for alternate solution)
(Included other article links in the intro paragraph and added "read-only preference file" heading)
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You may not be able to save any preference settings and you may receive an error similar to "Failed to save the preferences file. Any preference changes will be lost at the end of the session" [http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=455989].  You may also find multiple files named "prefs-n.js" (where n is a number) appearing in the [[profile folder]].  
This article deals with changes made to preference settings not being saved after restarting your Mozilla application.  If you  have problems changing certain preference settings but not others and your [[profile folder]] includes a [[user.js]] file,  see the article, [[Resetting preferences]].  If Firefox toolbar customizations are not saved, see the article, [[Toolbar customizations reset on startup]].  


This problem can be caused by having the [[prefs.js]] or "prefs.js.moztmp" file in the profile folder set to read-only or hiddenRemove the "read-only" attribute to resolve the issue.   
==Read-only preference file==
The inability to save preference changes can be caused by having the [[prefs.js]] or "prefs.js.moztmp" file in the [[profile folder]] set to read-only.  You may receive an error similar to "Failed to save the preferences file.  Any preference changes will be lost at the end of the session"  [http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=455989].  You may also find multiple files named "prefs-n.js" (where n is a number) appearing in the profile folder.   
 
Check the file properties of the  [[prefs.js]] file and any "prefs.js.moztmp" file found and remove the "read-only" attributes to resolve the issue.   


Note that other read-only files in the profile folder can cause similar problems, for example, a read-only [[cookies.txt]] or "cookies.txt.moztmp" file can cause loss of cookie data and creation of multiple cookies files and a read-only [[bookmarks.html]] or [[bookmarks.html.moztmp]] file can cause bookmarks not to be saved and creation of multiple bookmarks files.   
Note that other read-only files in the profile folder can cause similar problems, for example, a read-only [[cookies.txt]] or "cookies.txt.moztmp" file can cause loss of cookie data and creation of multiple cookies files and a read-only [[bookmarks.html]] or [[bookmarks.html.moztmp]] file can cause bookmarks not to be saved and creation of multiple bookmarks files.   
If you are able to change some preference settings but not others or if you do not find multiple "prefs-n.js" or read-only files in the profile folder,  see [[Resetting preferences |this article]].


==Related bugs==
==Related bugs==

Revision as of 12:08, 25 August 2006

This article deals with changes made to preference settings not being saved after restarting your Mozilla application. If you have problems changing certain preference settings but not others and your profile folder includes a user.js file, see the article, Resetting preferences. If Firefox toolbar customizations are not saved, see the article, Toolbar customizations reset on startup.

Read-only preference file

The inability to save preference changes can be caused by having the prefs.js or "prefs.js.moztmp" file in the profile folder set to read-only. You may receive an error similar to "Failed to save the preferences file. Any preference changes will be lost at the end of the session" [1]. You may also find multiple files named "prefs-n.js" (where n is a number) appearing in the profile folder.

Check the file properties of the prefs.js file and any "prefs.js.moztmp" file found and remove the "read-only" attributes to resolve the issue.

Note that other read-only files in the profile folder can cause similar problems, for example, a read-only cookies.txt or "cookies.txt.moztmp" file can cause loss of cookie data and creation of multiple cookies files and a read-only bookmarks.html or bookmarks.html.moztmp file can cause bookmarks not to be saved and creation of multiple bookmarks files.

Related bugs

See also