Profile folder - SeaMonkey

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Revision as of 19:26, 13 April 2008 by Alice Wyman (talk | contribs) (→‎Files outside the profile folder: Renamed section "Files and folders...". Crash Reports: linked to Breakpad; contents listed in the same entry instead of individually. Hid comment.)
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This article is about the profile folder in SeaMonkey and also applies to Mozilla Suite. See also Profile folder - Thunderbird and Profile folder - Firefox.

SeaMonkey stores your user data such bookmarks, mail, address books and preference settings in a special profile folder on your computer, in a location that is separate from the program installation directory. The SeaMonkey installation directory also includes a "profile" folder, e.g., C:\Program Files\mozilla.org\SeaMonkey\defaults\profile on Windows, but this folder contains program defaults, not your user profile data. Use the information given below to find the profile folder.

For Windows users

On Windows systems, the default location of the profile folder containing your user data is under the "Application Data" folder in Windows XP and earlier or under the "AppData\Roaming" folder in Windows Vista. In Windows 2000 and later, these folders are hidden.

To quickly find your profile folder you can use the %APPDATA% variable [1] as follows:

  • Windows 2000 and XP: Click Start → Run → Type in %APPDATA% → click OK
  • Windows Vista: Press "Windows key +R" to open the Run dialog (more on that here). Type in %APPDATA% → click OK

This will open a Windows Explorer window showing the contents of the "Application Data" folder in Windows 2000 and XP or the "AppData\Roaming" folder in Windows Vista. You can then open successive folders until you get to the profile folder. You can also specify which folder to open, such as %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Profiles\

You can also navigate to to the profile folder location in Windows Explorer or My Computer but on Windows 2000/XP/Vista you first need to enable viewing hidden files and folders in your Windows Folder Options. You can also use Windows Search to find specific files in your profile folder but on Windows XP and Vista you must enable searching hidden files and folders in the Search tool itself. See this article for more information.

For Linux users

The .mozilla folder is a hidden folder. To show hidden folders in Nautilus (Gnome desktop's default file browser), choose View -> Show Hidden Files> (read this for more information about hidden files and folders on Linux).

Default profile location

Profile folders are placed in the same location by default but are named randomly for additional security. If you chose a custom location, see Other profile locations below.

The original profile is named default. Additional profiles can be created using the Profile Manager and can have any name. Note that asterisks ( * ) in the folder names shown below represent a random string of numbers or letters.

Mozilla Suite and SeaMonkey 1.x

Netscape 7.x, Mozilla Suite and SeaMonkey 1.x all use the same profile folder location and profile registry file ("registry.dat"). The first time one of these applications is started, a profile named "default" is created. The same profile will also be used if another of these applications is later installed (but sharing a single profile back and forth among applications is not recommended, as it may corrupt the profile). The named profile folder contains the "********.slt" ("salted") folder where the actual profile data is stored.

Operating system Mozilla Suite and SeaMonkey 1.x profile folder location
Windows 95 (without Desktop Update) C:\Windows\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\
Windows 95 (with Desktop Update)/98/Me C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\
Windows 95 (with Desktop Update)/98/Me, alternate C:\Windows\Profiles\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\
Windows NT 4.x C:\Winnt\Profiles\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\
Windows 2000 and XP C:\Documents and Settings\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\

or:
%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\> (see above)

Windows Vista C:\Users\<Windows login/user name>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\

or:
%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Profiles\<Profile name>\********.slt\ (see above)

Linux ~/.mozilla/<Profile name>/********.slt
Mac OS X ~/Library/Mozilla/Profiles/<Profile name>/********.slt

~/Library/Application Support/Mozilla/Profiles/<Profile name>/********.slt

SeaMonkey 2

Starting in SeaMonkey 2.0, which has not been released at time of writing, the default profile folder location will change (details here). The new profile folder location is shown below:

Operating system SeaMonkey 2 profile folder location
Windows %APPDATA%\Mozilla\SeaMonkey\Profiles\********.<Profile name> (see above)
Linux ~/.mozilla/seamonkey/********.<Profile name>
Mac OS X ~/Library/Application Support/SeaMonkey/Profiles/********.<Profile name>

Other profile locations

When creating a profile with the Profile Manager, you can choose to place it in a location other than the default profile location. This section describes how you can find one of these other profiles.

You can use the following technique to find the location of the profile that you are currently using. This is useful, for example, if you are using a profile that is not in the default location given in the above tables.

From the SeaMonkey menu bar, choose "Tools -> Web Development -> JavaScript Console" (in some versions, it may be called "... -> Error Console"). Copy the following code. It is one very long line ending in path—make sure that you get all of it:

Components.classes["@mozilla.org/file/directory_service;1"].getService( Components.interfaces.nsIProperties).get("ProfD", Components.interfaces.nsIFile).path

In the JavaScript Console window, paste the code in the field near the top. Click the Evaluate button. The console should display the location of the profile that is currently in use. If you don't see it, make sure you have the "All" button pushed.

Managing profiles

You can select a profile to use, delete or rename an existing profile or create a new profile using the Profile Manager. You can transfer your data to a new profile, back up your profile and set up a roaming profile.

Caution: If you manually delete, rename or move the profile folder, instead of going through the Profile Manager, SeaMonkey may report that the "Profile is already in use" when you next start the application.

Files and folders in the profile

Important: None of these files should be write-protected ("read-only" or "locked"), which might be a side effect of backing up the profile to removable media and then restoring your profile from that media. Having read-only or locked files in the profile can result in serious profile issues, as described in this article.

It's not recommended to edit these files directly. Instead, use their respective interfaces. The files whose names begin with "user" are exceptions to this—they are designed to be edited directly. For more information on these files, follow their links in the tables below.

Folders

Name Version Description
Cache Cached Internet files. Located outside the profile folder starting in SeaMonkey 1.0. To find the location, use about:cache or look in "Edit → Preferences → Advanced → Cache" under "Cache Folder Location" (see also browser.cache.disk.parent directory).
chrome Contains the optional userChrome.css and userContent.css user customization files. Stores installed extensions and themes in SeaMonkey 1.x and Mozilla Suite.
extensions SeaMonkey 2.0 and above Installed extensions and themes.
ImapMail Mail from IMAP sources
Mail Mail from POP sources and Local Folders
News News from newsgroups
searchplugins Contains search engine plugins and their icons

Files

Name Version Description
(number).s Password data. The "(number).s" value is referenced in the about:config preference signon.SignonFileName
(number).w Saved form data
(mbox name) - in the ImapMail, Mail, and News folders Mbox files. These are text files that contain all of the messages for that folder, for example, Inbox.
(mbox name).msf - in the ImapMail, Mail, and News folders Index files for mail messages, for example, Inbox.msf
*.mab (other than abook.mab and history.mab) User-created address books
*.rc - in the News folder Contains subscribe newsgroups for the current server.
.autoreg Temporary empty file that signals a change in the installed extensions.
.parentlock (Mac OS X) See parent.lock
abook.mab Personal Address Book
bookmarks.html Bookmarks
bookmarks.html.moztmp Temporary bookmarks file. If found, remove the 'read-only' attribute (or unlock the file on MacOS), as it results in creation of multiple numbered bookmarks-n.html files [2]
cert8.db Security certificates
chrome.rdf - in the "chrome" folder. SeaMonkey 1.x and
Mozilla Suite
Stores extension and theme information. Deleting the chrome.rdf file effectively "uninstalls" all extensions and themes although the files themselves will remain. [3]
cookies.sqlite SeaMonkey 2.0 and above Cookies [4]
cookies.txt SeaMonkey 1.x and
Mozilla Suite
Cookies
cookies.txt.moztmp SeaMonkey 1.x and
Mozilla Suite
Temporary cookies file. If found, either delete the file or remove the 'read-only' attribute (or unlock the file on MacOS), as it results in creation of multiple numbered cookies-n.txt files [5]
downloads.rdf Download history. Can be deleted to resolve slow downloads or hangs [6]
extensions.cache SeaMonkey 2.0 and above Lists installed extensions, their IDs, and the folders where they are installed, along with their last-modify time. This file is automatically regenerated and can be deleted to resolve various issues.
extensions.ini SeaMonkey 2.0 and above Lists folders of installed extensions and themes. The file is automatically generated by nsExtensionManager and is used by low-level code to detect chrome packages and XPCOM components provided by installed addons. It can be deleted to resolve various issues.
extensions.rdf SeaMonkey 2.0 and above Installed extension information. It can be deleted to remove "ghost" entries from the extension list [7] and to resolve various other issues.
formhistory.sqlite SeaMonkey 2.0 and above Saved form data [8]
history.dat Browsing history. Can be deleted to resolve various issues.
history.mab Collected Addresses
hostinfo.dat - in the News folder Contains all the newsgroups available for the current server.
hostperm.1 Per-site preferences for allowing cookies and popups.
key3.db Key database for passwords
localstore.rdf Toolbar and window size/position settings. Can be deleted to resolve various issues.
lock (Linux) See parent.lock
mailviews.dat Defines your current message view (you can customize it)
mimeTypes.rdf Action to perform when downloading certain types of files. Can be deleted to reset download actions.
msgFilterRules.dat - in the ImapMail, Mail, and News folders Message filters
nsmail.eml, nsmail.tmp, nsmail.html Temporary files created when sending a message.
panacea.dat Mail folder cache
panels.rdf Information about which panels that will be displayed in the sidebar
parent.lock (Windows) Marker showing that the current profile is in use. Can be deleted to unlock the profile.
persdict.dat Personal spelling dictionary
pluginreg.dat SeaMonkey 2.0 and above Registration of plugin mimetypes. Note: In SeaMonkey 1.x and Mozilla Suite, pluginreg.dat is located outside the profile folder.
popstate.dat - in the Mail folder Keeps track of which messages have been downloaded and left on the POP3 server
prefs.js Preferences and mail account settings. See: about:config
search.rdf Information about your search plugins
secmod.db Security module database
training.dat Custom training for Junk Mail Controls
URL.tbl Excluded Fill Form data sites
urlbarhistory.sqlite SeaMonkey 2.0 and above Location bar history. [9]
user.js Does not exist by default. User-set overriding preferences
userChrome.css User-set CSS to change the way the application looks. Located in the chrome folder. Does not exist by default.
userContent.css User-set CSS to change the way webpages look. Located in the chrome folder. Does not exist by default.
userChrome.js User-set JavaScript to change the way the application works. Located in the chrome folder. Does not exist by default.
virtualfolders.dat Saved Search folder settings
xpti.dat Lists registered XPCOM interfaces. Automatically regenerated whenever XPCOM registration process is triggered.
xul.mfasl (Linux) See XUL.mfl
XUL.mfl (Windows) Cached user interface data. Can be deleted to resolve various issues
XUL FastLoad File (Mac OS X) See XUL.mfl

Files and folders outside the profile folder

Name Version Description
Crash Reports SeaMonkey 2.0 and above Directory containing Breakpad data from past crashes.
Located in the "SeaMonkey" folder that contains the "Profiles" folder (Windows and Mac OS X) or in the "seamonkey" folder that contains the ********.<profile name> folder (Linux).
Its contents include these files and folders:
  • InstallTimeYYYYMMDDHH (where YYYYMMDDHH is a 10-digit number) Each of these files contains a number, probably a timestamp.
  • pending - Directory containing files for not yet submitted reports
  • submitted - Directory containing files for reports already submitted
pluginreg.dat SeaMonkey 1.x and Mozilla Suite Registration of plugin mimetypes.
Located in the "Mozilla" folder that contains the "Profiles" folder (Windows and Mac OS X) or in the ".mozilla" folder that contains the <profile name> folder (Linux).
Note: pluginreg.dat is located in the profile folder in SeaMonkey 2.0 and above.
profiles.ini SeaMonkey 2.0 and above Keeps track of profiles.
Located in the "SeaMonkey" folder that contains the "Profiles" folder (Windows and Mac OS X) or in the "seamonkey" folder that contains the ********.<profile name> folder (Linux).
registry.dat SeaMonkey 1.x and Mozilla Suite Keeps track of profiles.
Located in the "Mozilla" folder that contains the "Profiles" folder (Windows and Mac OS X) or in the ".mozilla" folder that contains the <profile name> folder (Linux).