Profile Folder: Difference between revisions

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[[Category:Profiles]]
#REDIRECT [[Profile folder]]
 
: ''This article applies to the Mozilla Suite, Firefox, Thunderbird and some other Mozilla-based applications.''
 
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]]. Each profile is stored in its own folder on your computer.
 
==Where is my profile folder?==
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. Note that, by default, profiles are stored in a completely different location than the application [[installation directory]].
 
===For Windows 2000 and XP users===
'''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.
 
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.
 
===Mozilla Suite===
{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fcfcfc; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
! Operating&nbsp;system !! Folder(s)
|-
| Windows 9x/Me || <tt>C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\</tt>
|-
| Windows 9x/Me, alternate || <tt>C:\Windows\Profiles\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\</tt>
|-
| Windows NT 4.x || <tt>C:\Winnt\Profiles\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\</tt>
|-
| Windows 2000/XP || <tt>C:\Documents and Settings\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\<br />
%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\</tt>
|-
| Unix || <tt>~/.mozilla/<Profile name>/********.slt</tt>
|-
| Mac OS X || <tt>~/Library/Mozilla/Profiles/<Profile name>/********.slt<br />
~/Library/Application Support/Mozilla/Profiles/<Profile name>/********.slt</tt>
|}
 
'''Notice''': Firefox and Thunderbird have default profile folder names of "<tt>********.default</tt>" where "<tt>********</tt>" is eight random letters and numbers.
 
===Firefox===
{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fcfcfc; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
! Operating&nbsp;system !! Folder(s)
|-
| Windows 9x/Me || <tt>C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<Profile name>\</tt>
|-
| Windows 9x/Me, alternate || <tt>C:\Windows\Profiles\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<Profile name>\</tt>
|-
| Windows NT 4.x || <tt>C:\Winnt\Profiles\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<Profile name>\</tt>
|-
| Windows 2000/XP || <tt>C:\Documents and Settings\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<Profile name>\<br />
%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\i60cas4r.default\bookmarks.html/tt>
|-
| Unix || <tt>~/.mozilla/firefox/<Profile name>/</tt>
|-
| Mac OS X || <tt>~/Library/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/<Profile name>/<br />
~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/<Profile name>/</tt>
|}
 
===Sunbird===
Like Firefox above, but replace the directory name "Firefox" with "Sunbird" in the paths.
 
===Thunderbird===
{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fcfcfc; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
! Operating&nbsp;system !! Folder(s)
|-
| Windows 9x/Me || <tt>C:\Windows\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name>\</tt>
|-
| Windows 9x/Me, alternate || <tt>C:\Windows\Profiles\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name>\</tt>
|-
| Windows NT 4.x || <tt>C:\Winnt\Profiles\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name>\</tt>
|-
| Windows 2000/XP || <tt>C:\Documents and Settings\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name>\<br />
%APPDATA%\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name>\</tt>
|-
| Unix || <tt>~/.thunderbird/<Profile name>/</tt> or possibly <tt>~/.mozilla-thunderbird<Profile name></tt>
|-
| Mac OS X || <tt>~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/<Profile name>/<br />
~/Library/Application Support/Thunderbird/Profiles/<Profile name>/</tt><br />
Users/<user name>/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/<Profile name>/
|}
 
==Managing profiles==
* 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.
* See [[Profile backup]] for instructions on backing up your profile.
* If you get a "profile is already in use" message it means that the profile is locked. See [[Profile in use]] for details.
 
===What do I do if my profile's corrupted?===
If your profile is corrupted, [[Profile_Manager#How_do_I_create_a_new_profile.3F|create a new profile]] then [[Migrating settings to a new profile | migrate your settings to the new profile]].
 
==Files and folders in the profile==
 
Note: it's not recommended to edit these files directly. Instead, use their respective interfaces.
 
===Folders===
{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fcfcfc; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
!Name
!Application
!Description
|-
| <tt>bookmarkbackups</tt>
| Firefox (starting in 1.5)
| Daily rotating backups of your bookmarks.
|-
| <tt>Cache</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite
| Cached Internet files. You can't open these files directly, use [[About protocol links | about:cache]]
|-
| <tt>chrome</tt>
| Firefox, Thunderbird, Mozilla Suite
|
|-
| <tt>extensions</tt>
| Firefox, Thunderbird, Mozilla Suite
| Installed extensions
|-
| <tt>ImapMail</tt>
| Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| Mail from IMAP sources
|-
| <tt>Mail</tt>
| Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| Mail from POP sources and Local Folders
|-
| <tt>News</tt>
| Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| News from newsgroups
|-
| <tt>searchplugins</tt>
| Firefox (starting in 1.5)
| Contains search engine plugins and their icons for the [[Search Bar]]
|}
 
===Files===
{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fcfcfc; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
! Name
! Application
! Description
|-
| <tt>.parentlock</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird (MacOS X)
| See <tt>parent.lock</tt>
|-
| <tt>abook.mab</tt>
| Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| Personal Address Book
|-
| <tt>bookmarks.bak</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite
| Backup of bookmarks.html
|-
| <tt>bookmarks.html</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite
| Bookmarks
|-
| <tt>bookmarks-''(date)''.html</tt> in <tt>bookmarkbackups</tt>
| Firefox (starting in 1.5)
| Daily rotating backups of your bookmarks.
|-
| <tt>cert8.db</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| Security certificates
|-
| <tt>compatibility.ini</tt>
| Firefox, Thunderbird
|
|-
| <tt>components.ini</tt>
| Firefox, Thunderbird
|
|-
| <tt>compreg.dat</tt>
| Firefox, Thunderbird
|
|-
| <tt>cookies.txt</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite
| [[Cookies]]
|-
| <tt>defaults.ini</tt>
| Firefox, Thunderbird
|
|-
| <tt>downloads.rdf</tt>
| Firefox, Thunderbird, Mozilla Suite
| Download history
|-
| <tt>extensions.cache</tt>
| Firefox
|
|-
| <tt>extensions.ini</tt>
| Firefox
|
|-
| <tt>extensions.rdf</tt>
| Firefox
| Installed extension information
|-
| <tt>extensions-startup.manifest</tt>
| Firefox
|
|-
| <tt>formhistory.dat</tt>
| Firefox
| Saved form data
|-
| <tt>key3.db</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
|
|-
| <tt>history.dat</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite
| Browsing history
|-
| <tt>history.mab</tt>
| Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| Collected Addresses
|-
| <tt>hostperm.1</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite
| Per-site preferences for allowing [[cookies]] and popups.
|-
| <tt>localstore.rdf</tt>
| Firefox, Thunderbird, Mozilla Suite
| Toolbar and window positioning/sizing settings
|-
| <tt>lock</tt> (Linux)
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| See <tt>parent.lock</tt>
|-
| <tt>mimeTypes.rdf</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| Action to perform when downloading certain types of files
|-
| <tt>msgFilterRules.dat</tt> in <tt>ImapMail</tt>, <tt>Mail</tt>, <tt>News</tt>
| Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| Message filters
|-
| <tt>panacea.dat</tt>
| Thunderbird, Mozilla Suite
|
|-
| <tt>parent.lock</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird (Windows)
| Marker showing that the current [[profile in use | profile is in use]]
|-
| <tt>popstate.dat</tt> in Mail
| Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| Keeps track of which messages have been downloaded from the server
|-
| <tt>prefs.js</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| All preferences. See: [[about:config]]
|-
| <tt>search.rdf</tt>
| Firefox
|
|-
| <tt>secmod.db</tt>
| Firefox, Thunderbird, Mozilla Suite
|
|-
| <tt>signons.txt</tt>
| Firefox
| Encrypted saved passwords, requires <tt>key3.db</tt> to work
|-
| <tt>training.dat</tt>
| Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| Custom training for [[Junk Mail Controls]]
|-
| <tt>[[user.js]] (does not exist by default)</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| User-set overriding preferences
|-
| <tt>[[userChrome.css]]</tt> in <tt>chrome</tt> (does not exist by default)
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| User-set CSS to change the way the application looks
|-
| <tt>[[userContent.css]]</tt> in <tt>chrome</tt> (does not exist by default)
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| User-set CSS to change the way webpages look
|-
| <tt>virtualfolders.dat</tt>
| Thunderbird
| Virtual folder settings
|-
| <tt>xpti.dat</tt>
| Firefox, Thunderbird
|
|-
| <tt>xul.mfasl</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird (Linux)
| See <tt>XUL.mfl</tt>
|-
| <tt>XUL.mfl</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird (Windows)
| Cached user interface data
|-
| <tt>XUL FastLoad File</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird (MacOS X)
| See <tt>XUL.mfl</tt>
|}
 
===Files without specific names===
{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fcfcfc; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
! Name
! Application
! Description
|-
| <tt>''(number)''.s</tt>
| Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| Password data.  The "(number).s" value is referenced in the [[about:config]] preference "signon.SignonFileName" preference
|-
| <tt>''(number)''.w</tt>
| Mozilla Suite
| Saved form data
|-
| <tt>*.</tt> in <tt>ImapMail</tt>, <tt>Mail</tt>, and <tt>News</tt>
| Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| Mail messages
|-
| <tt>*.mab</tt> other than <tt>abook.mab</tt> and <tt>history.mab</tt>
| Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| User-created address books
|-
| <tt>*.msf</tt> in <tt>ImapMail</tt>, <tt>Mail</tt>, and <tt>News</tt>
| Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| Index files for mail messages
|-
| <tt>*.src</tt> in <tt>searchplugins</tt>
| Firefox
| [[Uninstall search plugins|Search engine plugins]] for the [[Search Bar]]
|}
 
===Files outside of the profile folder===
{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #fcfcfc; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
! Name
! Application
! Description
|-
| <tt>pluginreg.dat</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| Registration of plugin mimetypes
|-
| <tt>profiles.ini</tt>
| Firefox, Thunderbird
| Keeps track of where your profiles are located
|-
| <tt>registry.dat</tt>
| Firefox, Mozilla Suite, Thunderbird
| Keeps track of where your profiles are located in Mozilla Suite and older versions of Firefox and Thunderbird
|}
 
==See also==
* [[Migrating settings to a new profile]]
* [[Profile backup]]
* [[Profile Manager]]
* [[Roaming profile]]
* [[Profile in use]]
 
==External links==
* [http://www.mozilla.org/start/1.5/faq/profile.html Mozilla Suite Profile FAQ]
* [http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/profile Firefox Help: How To Manage Profiles]
* [http://www.mozilla.org/support/thunderbird/profile Thunderbird Help: How To Manage Profiles]

Latest revision as of 11:55, 26 December 2005

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