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| : ''This article applies to the Mozilla Suite, Firefox, Thunderbird and some other Mozilla-based applications.''
| | #REDIRECT [[Profile folder]] |
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| The Mozilla Suite, Firefox, and Thunderbird each store a user's personal information such as bookmarks, e-mail, address books, extensions, and user preferences in a unique '''profile'''. The first time you start the Mozilla Suite (or Firefox or Thunderbird), it will automatically create a default profile; additional profiles can be created using the [[Profile Manager]].
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| Each profile is stored in its own folder. See the [[#What is in my profile? | What is in my profile?]] section below for tips on making changes to files in your profile folder.
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| ==Where is my profile folder?==
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| By default, profiles are created in the folders listed below. When creating a profile with the [[Profile Manager]], you can choose to place it elsewhere. In this case, you can read <tt>...\Application Data\Thunderbird\profiles.ini</tt> to find out where it is stored. Note that by default, profiles are stored in a completely different location than the application [[installation directory]].
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| ===For Windows 2000 and XP users===
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| '''If you cannot find your profile folder''': Windows 2000 and XP sometimes hide the profile folders because "Application Data" is a hidden folder. In Explorer (i.e. double-click My Computer) click: Tools → Folder Options → View (tab) → Show Hidden files and folders.
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| For those curious, the "<tt>%APPDATA%</tt>" phrase for Windows 2000/XP is an environment variable that automatically updates for login username changes and will quickly locate your Application Data folder.
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| ===Mozilla Suite===
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| {| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fcfcfc; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
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| ! Operating system !! Folder(s)
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| |-
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| | Windows 9x/Me || <tt>C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\</tt>
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| |-
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| | Windows 9x/Me, alternate || <tt>C:\Windows\Profiles\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\</tt>
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| |-
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| | Windows NT 4.x || <tt>C:\Winnt\Profiles\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\</tt>
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| |-
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| | Windows 2000/XP || <tt>C:\Documents and Settings\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\<br />
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| %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\</tt>
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| |-
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| | Unix || <tt>~/.mozilla/<Profile name>/********.slt</tt>
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| |-
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| | Mac OS X || <tt>~/Library/Mozilla/Profiles/<Profile name>/********.slt<br />
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| ~/Library/Application Support/Mozilla/Profiles/<Profile name>/********.slt</tt>
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| |}
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| '''Notice''': Firefox and Thunderbird have default profile folder names of "<tt>********.default</tt>" where "<tt>********</tt>" is eight random letters and numbers.
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| ===Firefox===
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| {| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fcfcfc; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
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| ! Operating system !! Folder(s)
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| |-
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| | Windows 9x/Me || <tt>C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<Profile name>\</tt>
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| |-
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| | Windows 9x/Me, alternate || <tt>C:\Windows\Profiles\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<Profile name>\</tt>
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| |-
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| | Windows NT 4.x || <tt>C:\Winnt\Profiles\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<Profile name>\</tt>
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| |-
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| | Windows 2000/XP || <tt>C:\Documents and Settings\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<Profile name>\<br />
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| %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<Profile name>\</tt>
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| |-
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| | Unix || <tt>~/.mozilla/firefox/<Profile name>/</tt>
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| |-
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| | Mac OS X || <tt>~/Library/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/<Profile name>/<br />
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| ~/Library/Application Support/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/<Profile name>/</tt>
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| |}
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| ===Sunbird===
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| Like Firefox above, but replace the directory name "Firefox" with "Sunbird" in the paths.
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| ===Thunderbird===
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| {| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fcfcfc; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
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| ! Operating system !! Folder(s)
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| |-
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| | Windows 9x/Me || <tt>C:\Windows\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name>\</tt>
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| |-
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| | Windows 9x/Me, alternate || <tt>C:\Windows\Profiles\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name>\</tt>
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| |-
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| | Windows NT 4.x || <tt>C:\Winnt\Profiles\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name>\</tt>
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| |-
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| | Windows 2000/XP || <tt>C:\Documents and Settings\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name>\<br />
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| %APPDATA%\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name>\</tt>
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| |-
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| | Unix || <tt>~/.thunderbird/<Profile name>/</tt> or possibly <tt>~/.mozilla-thunderbird<Profile name></tt>
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| |-
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| | Mac OS X || <tt>~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/<Profile name>/<br />
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| ~/Library/Application Support/Thunderbird/Profiles/<Profile name>/</tt>
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| |}
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| ==Managing profiles==
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| * You can select a profile to use, create a new profile, and delete or rename an existing profile using [[Profile Manager]]. See the linked article for detailed instructions.
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| * See [[Profile backup]] for instructions on backing up your profile.
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| * If you get a "profile is already in use" message it means that the profile is locked. See [[Profile in use]] for details.
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| ===What do I do if my profile's corrupted?===
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| If your profile is corrupted, try [[Profile_Manager#How_do_I_create_a_new_profile.3F|creating a new profile]]. (If you still have problems with a new profile, then try uninstalling and reinstalling the application.) Assuming the new profile is working, you can copy selected files from the old profile into the new one. Below are some suggested files (note that some of these files may not exist).
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| * <tt>bookmarks.html</tt>
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| * <tt>cookies.txt</tt>
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| * <tt>hostperm.1</tt>
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| * <tt>user.js</tt>
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| * <tt>cert8.db</tt>
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| * <tt>key3.db</tt>
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| * <tt>signons.txt</tt>
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| * <tt>mimeTypes.rdf</tt>
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| * <tt>chrome/userContent.css</tt>
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| * <tt>chrome/userChrome.css</tt>
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| You can rescue your mail, [[Moving address books between profiles|address books]], and other important files in a similar manner. You can also copy "pref.js", but it contains absolute paths, so you'll need to [[Thunderbird : FAQs : Changing Profile Folder Location|manually edit it]] to reflect the new profile location.
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| More Thunderbird/Mozilla Mail specific tips can be found at [[Thunderbird : FAQs#Profiles: File Locations, Migration, and Backup/Restore|Thunderbird FAQs]] page.
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| If you don't want to go though all that, though, there are a some [[Browser will not start up|other things you can try]] first that might save the old profile.
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| ==Files and folders in the profile==
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| Note: it's not recommended to edit these files directly. Instead, use their respective interfaces.
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| ===Folders===
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| {| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fcfcfc; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
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| !Name
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| !Application
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| !Description
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| |-
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| | <tt>Cache</tt>
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite
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| | Cached Internet files. You can't open these files directly, use [[About protocol links | about:cache]]
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| |-
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| | <tt>chrome</tt>
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| | Firefox, Thunderbird, Mozilla Suite
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| |-
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| | <tt>extensions</tt>
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| | Firefox, Thunderbird, Mozilla Suite
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| | Installed extensions
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| |-
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| | <tt>ImapMail</tt>
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| | Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | Mail from IMAP sources
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| |-
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| | <tt>Mail</tt>
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| | Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | Mail from POP sources and Local Folders
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| |-
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| | <tt>News</tt>
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| | Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | News from newsgroups
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| |-
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| | <tt>searchplugins</tt>
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| | Firefox
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| | Contains [[Uninstall search plugins|search engine plugins]] and their icons for the [[Search Bar]]
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| |}
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| ===Files===
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| {| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fcfcfc; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
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| ! Name
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| ! Application
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| ! Description
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| |-
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| | <tt>.parentlock</tt> (MacOS X)
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | See <tt>parent.lock</tt>
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| |-
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| | <tt>abook.mab</tt>
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| | Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | Personal Address Book
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| |-
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| | <tt>bookmarks.bak</tt>
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite
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| | Backup of bookmarks.html
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| |-
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| | <tt>bookmarks.html</tt>
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite
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| | Bookmarks
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| |-
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| | <tt>cert8.db</tt>
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | Security certificates
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| |-
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| | <tt>compatibility.ini</tt>
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| | Firefox, Thunderbird
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| |-
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| | <tt>components.ini</tt>
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| | Firefox, Thunderbird
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| |-
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| | <tt>compreg.dat</tt>
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| | Firefox, Thunderbird
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| |-
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| | <tt>cookies.txt</tt>
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite
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| | [[Cookies]]
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| |-
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| | <tt>defaults.ini</tt>
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| | Firefox, Thunderbird
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| |-
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| | <tt>downloads.rdf</tt>
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| | Firefox, Thunderbird
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| | Download history
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| |-
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| | <tt>extensions.cache</tt>
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| | Firefox
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| |-
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| | <tt>extensions.ini</tt>
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| | Firefox
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| |-
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| | <tt>extensions.rdf</tt>
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| | Firefox
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| | Installed extension information
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| |-
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| | <tt>extensions-startup.manifest</tt>
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| | Firefox
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| |-
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| | <tt>formhistory.dat</tt>
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| | Firefox
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| | Saved form data
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| |-
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| | <tt>key3.db</tt>
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| |-
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| | <tt>history.dat</tt>
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| | Firefox
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| | Browsing history
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| |-
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| | <tt>history.mab</tt>
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite
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| | Collected Addresses
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| |-
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| | <tt>hostperm.1</tt>
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite
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| | Per-site preferences for allowing [[cookies]] and popups.
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| |-
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| | <tt>localstore.rdf</tt>
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| | Firefox, Thunderbird
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| | Toolbar and window positioning/sizing settings
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| |-
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| | <tt>lock</tt> (Linux)
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | See <tt>parent.lock</tt>
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| |-
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| | <tt>mimeTypes.rdf</tt>
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | Action to perform when downloading certain types of files
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| |-
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| | <tt>msgFilterRules.dat</tt> in <tt>ImapMail</tt>, <tt>Mail</tt>, <tt>News</tt>
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| | Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | Message filters
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| |-
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| | <tt>panacea.dat</tt>
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| | Thunderbird
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| |-
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| | <tt>parent.lock</tt> (Windows)
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | Marker showing that the current [[profile in use | profile is in use]]
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| |-
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| | <tt>popstate.dat</tt> in Mail
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| | Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | Keeps track of which messages have been downloaded from the server
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| |-
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| | <tt>prefs.js</tt>
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | All preferences. See: [[about:config]]
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| |-
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| | <tt>search.rdf</tt>
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| | Firefox
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| |-
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| | <tt>secmod.db</tt>
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| | Firefox, Thunderbird
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| |-
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| | <tt>signons.txt</tt>
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| | Firefox
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| | Encrypted saved passwords, requires <tt>key3.db</tt> to work
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| |-
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| | <tt>training.dat</tt>
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| | Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | Custom training for [[Junk Mail Controls]]
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| |-
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| | <tt>[[user.js]] (does not exist by default)</tt>
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | User-set overriding preferences
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| |-
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| | <tt>[[userChrome.css]]</tt> in <tt>chrome</tt> (does not exist by default)
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | User-set CSS to change the way the application looks
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| |-
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| | <tt>[[userContent.css]]</tt> in <tt>chrome</tt> (does not exist by default)
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | User-set CSS to change the way webpages look
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| |-
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| | <tt>virtualfolders.dat</tt>
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| | Thunderbird
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| | Virtual folder settings
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| |-
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| | <tt>xpti.dat</tt>
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| | Firefox, Thunderbird
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| |-
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| | <tt>xul.mfasl</tt> (Linux)
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | See <tt>XUL.mfl</tt>
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| |-
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| | <tt>XUL.mfl</tt> (Windows)
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | Cached user interface data
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| |-
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| | <tt>XUL FastLoad File</tt> (MacOS X)
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| | Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | See <tt>XUL.mfl</tt>
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| |}
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| ===Files without specific names===
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| {| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fcfcfc; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
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| ! Name
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| ! Application
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| ! Description
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| |-
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| | <tt>''(number)''.s</tt>
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| | Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | Password data
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| |-
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| | <tt>''(number)''.w</tt>
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| | Mozilla Suite
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| | Saved form data
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| |-
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| | <tt>*.</tt> in <tt>ImapMail</tt>, <tt>Mail</tt>, and <tt>News</tt>
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| | Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | Mail messages
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| |-
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| | <tt>*.mab</tt> other than <tt>abook.mab</tt> and <tt>history.mab</tt>
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| | Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | User-created address books
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| |-
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| | <tt>*.msf</tt> in <tt>ImapMail</tt>, <tt>Mail</tt>, and <tt>News</tt>
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| | Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
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| | Index files for mail messages
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| |-
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| | <tt>*.src</tt> in <tt>searchplugins</tt>
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| | Firefox
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| | [[Uninstall search plugins|Search engine plugins]] for the [[Search Bar]]
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| |}
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| ===Other files outside of the profile===
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| {| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fcfcfc; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
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| ! Name
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| ! Application
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| ! Description
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| |-
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| | <tt>pluginreg.dat</tt>
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| | Firefox, Thunderbird
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| |-
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| | <tt>profiles.ini</tt> in the <tt>Application Data</tt> folder
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| | Firefox, Thunderbird
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| | Keeps track of where your profiles are located
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| |-
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| | <tt>registry.dat</tt>
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| | Firefox, Thunderbird
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| |
| |
| |}
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| ==See also==
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| * [[Importing and exporting your mail]]
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| * [[Profile backup]]
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| * [[Profile Manager]]
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| * [[Roaming profile]]
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| * [[Profile in use]]
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| ==External links==
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| * [http://www.mozilla.org/start/1.5/faq/profile.html Mozilla Suite Profile FAQ]
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| * [http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/profile Firefox Help: How To Manage Profiles]
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| * [http://www.mozilla.org/support/thunderbird/profile Thunderbird Help: How To Manage Profiles]
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| [[Category:About the Profile | *]]
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