Today I decided to write a material regarding a topic that has become painful for many users - reserve copy  user profile firefox browser  from the company Mozilla.

As you know, a person in the process of using the browser changes it in its image and likeness - it installs various extensions, changes the appearance of the program with the help of skins (skins), keeps an extensive history of visiting resources (just in case), and of course, gets hundreds bookmarks to frequently visited or just interesting sites.

But then the trouble happened - the C: drive was covered with all the contents (and it’s on default that Firefox user profiles are stored by default and rarely does any user place them elsewhere). What to do in this situation? If someone used Acronis True Image (or similar software in functionality) and has a backup copy of the C: drive, then honor and praise to such a person - he will lose not so much if the image of the drive is fresh. And what if it is not fresh (say, six months ago) and the bookmarks are hopelessly outdated? This is where it will help most useful program  MozBackup, which allows you to create copies of Firefox and Thunderbird user profiles (Mozilla products), and, if necessary, restore them.

MozBackup does not require installation, the program is portable and comes in the archive. After extracting files to any directory, you must turn off Firefox (otherwise it will be impossible to create a profile copy) and run the file MozBackup.exeand then the utility welcome window will appear:

This is the so-called setup wizard, we click Next.

Here we are invited to choose the type of operation - create a backup copy of the profile ( Backup a profile) or restore the profile from the previously created copy ( Restore a profile). First, which is logical, I will talk about how to create a copy of the profile. To do this, select the browser in the lower part of the window (in my case it’s Mozilla firefox  15, however, the utility will work with older and newer versions of this browser, as well as others built on the same core).

We are asked whether it is worth setting a password to the file in which the saved profile will be stored:

I usually answer that the password is not needed (press "No").

After we are given the choice of which parts of the profile you need to copy to the archive:

I usually mark everything except the cache (it is useless to archive it, it takes a lot of space and significantly increases the time it takes to create a MozBackup archive with a profile).

Unknown files Unknown files  I also pay attention to:

After clicking Next  begins the process of calculating the necessary to create backup copy  storage location profile:

After this begins the process of creating a copy of the profile.

MozBackup shutdown window, profile successfully created:

Since we need to learn and restore a profile, we tick off New backup or restore  and click Next.

In the window we already need to choose Restore profile  (Restore Profile):

Of course, we re-mark the desired browser from the list and click Next.

Next, we offer to choose a profile that you want to restore. My profile is called SM-5, it is selected by default, because no other profiles were created. Someone may have several profiles, in which case you need to be careful and choose the one you need, otherwise the profile of another will be erased (for example, when several people use one PC with one browser and all have their own profiles).

In the same window you need to click BrowseThe "Open" dialog box will appear:

In it, we select the previously created file, which is a copy of the Firefox user profile. A PCV file is actually a RAR archive, so you can open it with the archiver if you want to look at what is inside the copy file.

This is a very important feature of MozBackup, dear readers. It allows you to selectively restore either the settings or bookmarks, or something else. What is it for? Well, for example, to make a copy of your browser to someone, but in such a way that he does not have access to saved logins / passwords or bookmarks / stories, but simply uses the already configured browser with the necessary extensions. I often used these features of MozBackup and am very glad that they are there, because they have great benefits.

Click "Yes", after which the unzipping of the saved profile to the folder with the current profile begins:

According to numerous OK, we can conclude that the recovery profile was successful.

Next, I would like to talk about important function  in Firefox (and other browsers based on this engine, for example, Comodo IceDragon or ByFox, Waterfox, etc.) - creating several profiles. We need this function in order to transfer our profile from the system disk (in the case of Windows 7 x64, the path to the profile looks like this: C: \\ Users \\ User \\ AppData \\ Roaming \\ Mozilla \\ Firefox \\ Profiles where "User" is the name account  Windows user) wherever we need.

To display the list of profiles, you need to run Firefox.exe with the option command line -p :

The above is an example to make it clearer. Here is the same text version: "K: \\ Program Files (x86) \\ Mozilla Firefox 5 \\ firefox.exe" -p

After the browser is launched in this mode, the following window will appear, which is the profile manager:

As you can see, in my case, the profile is one - SM-5however, I will create another profile to show how everything works.

To do this, I click "Create" and the Profile Creation Wizard appears:

We read that they want to convey to us and click on "Next."

We are offered to enter the name of the profile (any, but I advise that it is simpler, without special characters - only letters  and numbers).

C: \\ profile  - this is the path by which the new profile will be stored (the folder must be created in advance). Of course, you are free to indicate any path, so long as it is not on the system disk.

Clicking on the window above "Done", we again throws in the profile selection menu. As you can see, a new one has appeared - www.site:

After that, we press "Start Firefox" and get a naked browser without any additions and the like. Why do we need this? With only one goal - to make this new profile the main one and unpack it into its folder (using MozBackup in the manner described above) our old profile. Now we have a new folder with our old Firefox profile, which will not go anywhere with the collapse of the system disk (which means that no data will be lost), you can even carry it with you (better as an archive) and extremely quickly "roll out" your Profile where it pleases, according to the scheme described above.

Congratulations, now your "Ognelis" is protected from all kinds of troubles - forget about the missing bookmarks, crooked embossed extensions and other nastiness, all this is in the past!

Using Mozilla Firefox, each user customizes the operation of this browser to fit your requirements and needs. Often, some users make a fairly fine-tuning, which, in which case, will have to be redone. Today we will talk about how you can save settings in Mozilla Firefox.

A very rare user works with one browser without reinstalling it for many years in a row. When it comes to Windows, the process may cause problems with both the browser and the computer itself, as a result of which it may be necessary to reinstall the web browser or the operating system. As a result, you will get an absolutely clean browser that will need to be re-configured ... or not?

Method 1: Data Synchronization

Mozilla Firefox has a synchronization feature that allows you to use a special account to store information about installed extensions, history of visitors, settings made, etc. on Mozilla servers

All you need is to log into your Firefox account, after which the data and browser settings will be available on other devices that use Mazil's browser, as well as logged in to your account.

Method 2: Backup Settings Using a Third-Party Program

It's about the program. Mozbackup , which allows you to create a backup of your Firefox profile, which you can later use at any time to restore data.

To begin, you will need to download the MozBackup program from the link at the end of the article and install it on your computer. Before you start working with the program, close Firefox.

Run the program. Click the button "Next" after which you need to make sure that the following box is checked "Backup a profile"   (profile backup). Click the button again. "Next" .

If your browser uses multiple profiles, check the one to be backed up. Click the button "Browse"   and select the folder on your computer where the Firefox browser backup will be saved.

Please note that if you use several profiles in Mozilla Firefox browser, and you need them all, then you will need to create a separate backup copy for each profile.

Enter the password for safe backup. Specify the password that you just can not forget.

Check the items to be backed up. Since in our case we need to save the Firefox settings, the presence of a tick near the item "General settings"   required Remaining items are at your discretion.

The program will start the backup process, which will take some time.

Subsequently, recovery from a backup will be performed also with the help of the MozBackup program, only at the start of the program you will need to mark not “Backup a profile”, but "Restore a profile" , after which you only need to specify the location of the backup file on the computer.

Using any of the proposed methods, you are guaranteed to be able to save the settings. mozilla browser  Firefox, and no matter what happens to your computer, you can always restore them.

MozBackup. How to save and restore settings Firefox

The free Mozbackup program (Mozilla Backup) allows you to save and restore the Mozilla Firefox browser profile. Using Mozbackup, you can create and restore profiles of such programs: Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, Netscape, MozSuite / SeaMonkey, Flock, Sunbird, Spicebird, PostBox and Wyzo.

In Mozbackup, you can create a backup of your Firefox browser profile, and then, when necessary, restore your Firefox profile from a backup.

What is a browser profile, and why should you back up your browser profile from time to time?

Mozilla Firefox browser profile stores all your browser settings: passwords, bookmarks, contacts, installed extensions, browsing history, cookies, browser cache, etc.

As you know, nothing lasts forever in our world, and therefore, just in case, you should be safe in order to avoid unpleasant surprises. For various reasons, sudden failures of hardware and software can occur. For example, failed hDD, there were serious problems with the operating system, and it must be urgently and suddenly reinstalled.

After reinstalling the operating system, or new installation  usually one or several browsers are installed on the computer, unless, of course, you use only one browser - Internet Explorer, which is preinstalled with the Windows operating system.

The newly installed Mozilla Firefox browser will have default settings and will not contain any add-ons (extensions), there will not be your passwords, bookmarks and other settings you have made. Therefore, it is necessary from time to time to create backup copies of the browser profile, so that later it is easy to return your settings for the Mozilla Firefox browser.

How to reinstall the operating system or reinstall the browser, save the bookmarks and all other settings of your browser?

On the pages of my site, I have repeatedly described various ways to save the profile of the Mozilla Firefox browser. There’s probably no other browser with so many different ways  to save backup settings.

Now it's time to talk about one more way to save a backup copy of a profile: using free program  Mozilla Backup. This program has a Russian version, and therefore, with its use you will not have any difficulties.

You will learn how to save Firefox settings, as well as how to transfer Firefox settings to a newly installed browser, after installing or reinstalling an operating system, or how to transfer a Firefox profile to another computer.

From the official Russian-language website of the program you can download the installer of the program or an archive with a portable (portable) version of the program.

You will need to install the program or run the portable version of the Mozilla Backup program from the folder.

We now turn to the review of the program Mozbackup, and learn how to use this program.

How to save Firefox settings in Mozbackup

After installing Mozbackup on your computer, you should start it. The program welcome window opens in which you need to click on the “Next” button.

In the next window “Operation Type” you need to select the action you want to perform - “Save” or “Restore”. The program selects the Mozilla Firefox browser installed on the computer with the version number of the browser version.

To save the browser settings, you must activate the "Save" radio button, and then click on the "Next" button.

In the "Select Profile" window, select the profile that you want to save. Then you need to choose a place to save the backup profile.

To do this, click on the "Browse" button, and then in the Explorer window, select the location to save the backup profile of the Mozilla Firefox browser. You can pre-create a folder to store backup copies of your browser profile.

It will be better to create such a folder not on the system disk, but on another disk. Because in case of a sudden reinstallation of the operating system, the backup stored on the system disk will be lost along with all other data.

After selecting the backup location, click the “Next” button.

In the "Question" window is better to click on the "No" button. If you protect the “backup file” with a password, then if you forget the password, then you will not be able to restore your browser profile.

In the "Select Components" window, click the "Next" button.

In the next window, "Execution of work", a backup of the Firefox browser is created.

A “Report” window opens in which the program informs that a “backup file” has been created and the contents of the backup are shown. After creating a backup copy of the profile you need to click on the "Exit" button.

Now you can open the folder and make sure that the Mozilla Firefox browser profile has been created. On my computer, on the D: drive, I created the Firefox Backup folder, into which I saved a backup copy of my browser profile.

The name of the backup file indicates the browser version and the date the backup was made. The file has the extension ".pcv", and can be opened using an archiver program, for example, WinRAR or 7-Zip.

For greater reliability, you can copy this backup file to a USB flash drive, or to a portable hard disk, and also save a copy of the file to some cloud storage: Yandex.Disk, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, etc.

How to restore Firefox settings in Mozbackup

If you restore Firefox after reinstalling or reinstalling the operating system, you will need to reinstall the Mozilla Firefox browser on your computer. After installation, the browser will not contain your settings, and will have default settings.

Attention! Mozbackup will only restore the version of the browser with which the backup was made. If at the time of recovery there is a newer version of the browser, then you should install the version of the browser with which the backup copy of the profile was made.

After the profile is restored, the browser automatically updates itself to the new version.

Where to find old version  browser?

Find the right browser version on the official website mozilla-russia.org. From the main page you can download the most new version  browser.

In order to download to your computer the old mozilla version  Firefox on home page  This site you need to click on the "Products" button, then in the next window under the description latest version  browser, you need to click on the link "Other versions ...".

In the next window in the right column you need to find the item “Version history, and click on the link“ All versions and Russification of Firefox ”. In the new window, select the desired version of the browser and download it to your computer. You can see this process visually in the video under this article.

After installing the browser on your computer, you will need to install mozilla software  Backup, in the event that the operating system was reinstalled.

To restore your browser profile, run the Mozbackup program. In the Operation Type window, you need to select the action “Restore”, select the application, and click on the “Next” button.

In the "Select Profile" window, select the profile you want to restore. Then you need to select a file to restore your browser profile. To do this, click on the “Browse” button and find the saved “backup file”.

If you have not reinstalled operating system, then the program itself finds the path to the saved backup profile of the browser. After that, click on the "Next" button.

Mozilla Firefox browser profile is being restored. After restoring the profile, you can start the browser.

After opening the main window of your browser, you will see that the browser is already working with all your settings. All your add-ons (extensions), passwords, bookmarks and all other settings of your browser will be restored.

In this way, you can transfer the Firefox profile to new computer, if you have several of them, and you want to use Mozilla Firefox browser with your own settings on another computer.

In the video that is under this article, I create a backup of the Mozilla Firefox browser profile, then delete the browser from my computer, and then restore the browser profile from the backup with all my settings.

Conclusion

Using Mozbackup will allow you to save and restore the Mozilla Firefox browser profile on your computer.

Sincerely, Vasily Prokhorov

View more topics

Basics of Web Surfing Installing and Updating Synchronize and Save Communicate and Share Do more with applications Protect your privacy Manage settings and add-ons Fix slow work, crashes, error messages and other problems

How to return settings that are not saved

Sometimes your Firefox settings are not saved after you change them. For example, you can change your Firefox settings in the Settings window, however they are reset to their previous state when you open the Settings panel again.

Possible causes and solutions depend on whether you can save several specific settings or not all settings are saved. This article may also be applicable if you find that after firefox updates  each time you launch Firefox, the tab opens. Firefox updated  with a message on the page You have been updated to the latest version of Firefox..

Cleaning Firefox to fix the problem

The most in a simple way  The solution to this problem is reset firefox settings  to the original while maintaining important information for you. In addition to resetting all settings to the default, clearing Firefox also fixes many other problems, including those related to extensions or data and settings that are stored in other Firefox profile files. If you would like to try a more subtle solution, skip this section and try the solutions below.

Note: When using the cleaning function, your bookmarks, browsing history, open tabs, windows, passwords, cookies and web form auto-fill data will be saved. However, your extensions and themes will be deleted and your settings will be reset.

Specific settings are not saved

If Firefox does not save specific settings or you cannot change one parameter, and other parameters are saved correctly, then you may have one of the following problems.

Third-party programs change Firefox settings

Some programs force Firefox to use certain settings. Below is a list of the programs that do this and the actions you can take to stop changing Firefox settings:

• Creative ZenCast modifies the Firefox user agent using Java.
  • Remove the program.
• McAfee Privacy Service disables pop-up blocking in Firefox.
  • Read the article Pop-up Blocker Options, Exclusions, and Problem Solving.
• Norton 360 includes the Firefox Privacy Privacy feature, which, if enabled, overrides Firefox privacy settings and prevents you from saving browsing history, cookies, or other personal data between sessions.

Some third-party toolbars and add-ons change homepage  Firefox and search options. You can quickly reset them with SearchReset.

• For more information, read the article Removing someone else's toolbar replacing your search or the Firefox home page.

User.js file changes Firefox settings

If you have not installed any of the above programs or ifIf you follow the tips and the individual settings are still not saved, then you will have to edit the Firefox configuration files yourself. Don't panic, it's pretty easy. Here's how to do it.

Now you should be able to save your Firefox settings.

Firefox program file blocks or prevents changing certain settings

Your install firefox  may have been configured in such a way that it added a program configuration file that blocks the modification of certain settings or prevents the saving of certain changes. Go to step Reinstall Firefox  in the article Diagnose and troubleshoot Firefox to remove firefox program  from your computer and then install a new copy of Firefox. (Reinstalling Firefox will not delete your user data and settings, as they are stored in a separate place from the program files.)

Unable to save any parameters and settings.

If none of your settings are saved, if you see the tab Firefox updated  each time you start Firefox, or if the steps above do not help you, the file that Firefox uses to save the settings may be blocked or damaged.

Settings File Locked

Elimination firefox issuescaused by by malware.