Firefox losing bookmarks file.

Twice now my bookmarks have up and disappeared from Firefox. By doing a search I have found a recent backed up copy of the file but it is quite disconcerting to open the browser and POOF! no bookmarks.


What is doing this?

 

It could be a corrupt localstore.rdf file. Try this:

1. At the top of the Firefox window, select the Bookmarks menu.
2. Verify that it contains no bookmarks. -If it contains the default set of bookmarks, which include links to the Mozilla.com web site, then skip to the next set of troubleshooting steps.
3. From the Bookmarks menu, select Organize Bookmarks. The Bookmarks Manager appears.
4. If your bookmarks appear in the Bookmarks Manager and not in the Bookmarks menu, then your localstore.rdf is corrupted.

If this is the case, here's your fix:

1. Exit Firefox. From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select File and then select the Exit menu item.
2. In the Firefox Safe Mode dialog, select Reset toolbars and controls.
3. Click Make Changes and Restart
4. Firefox restarts with your bookmarks available in the Bookmarks menu.
   ​

 

I opened Firefox this morning and I have no bookmarks again. But there are none in the Bookmark Manager either. What could cause this?

 

Please confirm you worked through the instructions I gave in Post #2

 

Firefox replaced my bookmark file with a much older one, don't ask me why, it does this from time to time.

Instead of importing a more recent backup via the bookmark organizer I would like to go via windows explorer directly to wherever Firefox keeps the current file and replace it.

Does anyone know where that is?

 

You'll need Hide extensions for known filetypes unchecked to see the full file names. In any Explorer window select Tools>Folder Options>View tab and scroll down to uncheck the box.

On XP:
Close FF
Start>Run>type in %appdata% then hit OK button
Mozilla folder>Firefox>Profiles>####.default
You should see a bookmarks.html and a bookmarks.bak
Rename bookmarks.html to something like bookmarksold.html and then rename bookmarks.bak to bookmarks.html (or use a different bookmarks file if you have one).

**5 days worth of older bookmark.html files should be in bookmarksbackup folder if you need one.

While you are in your profile folder go ahead and delete localstore.rdf, it will be recreated when you start FF and can be the cause of many problems if corrupt. It may not be involved with bookmarks but it can't hurt.

 

Thank you Sach2. It worked perfectly. Is this a common problem with FF? Is it known about?

Just wonderin, when does FF update the backup bookmark files? Every time you make a change? Whenever you close FF?

 

Mozilla/Firefox has a great forum http://kb.mozillazine.org/Knowledge_Base the answer to almost any problem can be found in the forums. And if you can't find it, post and an answer is usually an hour ot two away.

Not sure about the bookmarks problem being common. I know where the folder is because, once in a while, I copy the whole bookmarksbackup folder to another safe location just in case anything drastic happens to FF or my computer.

I found out about the localstore.rdf file when my FF kept opening halfsize and no changes to settings would correct the problem.

Other than those two things, I haven't had to learn much about FF.

 

Thanks Mark for your warm reply and the phony smiley. Just what I needed after a rough day at work.

I have better things to do than read reams of mostly undecipherable and rarely applicable text. That's why I come here and increase the click-through rate.

Anyway, my problem (and many previous ones) has been 100% solved thanks to this great resource. Sach2 chose to reply kindly to my questions. You should have followed his example.