Transferring data to a new profile
From MozillaZine Knowledge Base
This article describes how to copy data and settings from one profile to another and lists a suggested set of files. This process will not migrate extensions and themes (except as noted) or toolbar/window customizations. It is not intended for moving or restoring a complete profile.
Completely close Firefox/Thunderbird/Mozilla Suite, and copy the files or folders shown below from the source profile folder to the destination profile folder. This process will overwrite existing files of the same name so you may wish to back up the profile data beforehand.
If you are migrating data to a new profile because you had problems with the old profile, it is recommended that you copy a few files at a time and test between steps.
Browser
These files are used by Firefox and Mozilla Suite / SeaMonkey.
- bookmarks.html - Bookmarks
- cert8.db - Security certificates
- chrome/userChrome.css and chrome/userContent.css (if they exist) - User-defined styles. It is not recommended to migrate these files if you had problems with the previous profile.
- cookies.txt - Cookies
- formhistory.dat (Firefox) - Form history
- key3.db stores the key (Master Password) to encrypt and decrypt the user names and passwords saved in "signons.txt" (Firefox) or "(number).s" (Mozilla Suite).
- signons.txt (Firefox) - Saved passwords. Important: You also need to copy key3.db
- (number).s (Mozilla Suite) - Saved passwords. If you do not migrate the "prefs.js" file, you must first save a password in the new profile so that a "(number).s" file is created, then use about:config to modify the signon.SignonFileName preference value to match the copied file name [1]. Important: You also need to copy key3.db.
- (number).w (Mozilla Suite) - Form history. If you do not migrate the "prefs.js" file, then use about:config to modify the wallet.SchemaValueFileName preference value to match the copied "(number).w" file name.
- history.dat - Browsing history
- hostperm.1 - Cookie, image, and extension install permissions
- mimeTypes.rdf - Actions to perform on downloaded files
- user.js (if it exists) and prefs.js - User Preferences. In most cases, migrating the "prefs.js" file from one profile to another is not recommended, especially if you had problems with the previous profile. If you choose to migrate "prefs.js", you may need to manually edit the paths to reflect the new profile location. You may also need to edit the file to remove preferences that refer to extensions that are not installed in the new profile.
- searchplugins folder - Search plugins. Copy the .src and .gif/.png pair of files (or, in Firefox 2, the .xml file) for each search plugin, from the "searchplugins" folder in the source directory to the destination "searchplugins" folder. In Firefox 1.5 or later and in SeaMonkey, newly-installed search plugins are added to the "searchplugins" folder in the profile folder instead of to the installation directory. Starting in Firefox 2, a single .xml file is used (instead of .src and .gif/.png files) for each search plugin.
- extensions folder - Themes and Extensions. Important: 1) Only copy this folder in Firefox 1.5 or later. 2) It is also necessary to delete these three files at the same time: extensions.ini, extensions.cache and extensions.rdf (these files will be regenerated on restart). 3) Migrating this folder is not recommended if you had problems with the previous profile.
Mail and newsgroups
These files are used by Thunderbird and Mozilla Suite Mail.
- abook.mab and history.mab - Personal Address Book and Collected Addresses. For migrating other address books, see this article.
- cert8.db - Security certificates
- chrome/userChrome.css and chrome/userContent.css (if they exist) - User-defined styles
- key3.db and (number).s - Saved passwords. If you do not migrate the "prefs.js" file, use about:config to modify the signon.SignonFileName preference value to match the copied "(number).s" file name.
- mimeTypes.rdf - Actions to perform on downloaded files
- msgFilterRules.dat (in each account subfolder) - Message filters
- popstate.dat (inside each POP mail account subfolder) - Keeps track of which messages have been downloaded from the POP server. If you don't copy it, previously downloaded messages still on the server might all get downloaded again.
- training.dat - Custom training for Junk Mail Controls
- user.js (if it exists) and prefs.js - User Preferences. In most cases, migrating the "prefs.js" file from one profile to another is not recommended. If you choose to do so, you may need to manually edit the paths in "prefs.js" to reflect the new profile location. You may also need to remove preferences that refer to extensions that are not installed in the new profile.
- virtualfolders.dat (Thunderbird) - Saved Search folder settings
- Mail and ImapMail folders - E-mail messages and settings. See this article.
- News folder - Newsgroups messages and settings. If necessary, create a new "newsgroup" account for each news server in the new profile ("File -> New -> Account"), then close Mozilla Suite or Thunderbird and copy over the "News" folder contents.
- extensions folder - Themes and Extensions. Important: 1) Only copy this folder in Thunderbird 1.5 or later. 2) It is also necessary to delete these three files at the same time: extensions.ini, extensions.cache and extensions.rdf (these files will be regenerated on restart). 3) Migrating this folder is not recommended if you had problems with the previous profile.
Caution: Do not copy the whole profile directory. Some of the other files contain absolute path information (like for security certificates), and your profile might not work correctly with old entries from the original profile.
