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Backing up your information
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http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Backing+up+your+information#Restoring...
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Mozilla Firefox stores all your personal settings, such as bookmarks, passwords and extensions, in a profile folder, which is stored on your computer. To back up your profile, restore it, or move it to
JavaScript Profiles Importing from Opera Importing from Internet Explorer Bookmarks
a new location or computer, all you have to do is move or copy the profile folder.
Tags in This Article
Contents:
backup settings restore profiles bookmarks addons
Locate your profile folder Backing up your profile Restoring a profile backup Restoring to a different location Restoring to a different location - advanced users
Need More Help?
Locate your profile folder In order to back up or restore your data, you need to know where Firefox stores the profile folder. The following examples refer to the default profile. The corresponding profile folder is named xxxxxxxx.default, where xxxxxxxx represents a random string of 8 characters. Operating System
MozillaZine Knowledge Base Forums Other Mozilla Products:
Thunderbird Help
Profile Folder Path
Windows Vista/XP/2000 %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\ Windows 98/Me
C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\
Mac OS X
~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/xxxxxxxx.default/
Linux
~/.mozilla/firefox/xxxxxxxx.default/
(Windows Vista, XP, and 2000) %APPDATA% is shorthand for the C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\ folder (Windows Vista) or the C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\ folder (Windows XP/2000), which depends on your Windows user account name. 1. Click the Windows Start button, and select Run....
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Backing up your information
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http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Backing+up+your+information#Restoring...
(Windows Vista) Use the Start Search box. 2. Type in %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\, then click OK .
3. Windows Explorer opens a folder, containing your profiles.
Backing up your profile Backing up your profile folder in Firefox is easy. Just follow these steps: 1. If Firefox is running, exit it. (Windows) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select File and the Exit menu item. (Mac OS X) From the menu bar, select Firefox and the Quit Firefox menu item. (Linux) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select File and the Quit menu item. 2. Locate your profile folder, as explained above. 3. Right-click on your profile folder, and select Copy. 4. Right-click the backup location (e.g. a USB-stick or a blank CD-RW disc), and select Paste.
Restoring a profile backup If Firefox is running, exit it. (Windows) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select File and then select the Exit menu item. (Mac OS X) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select Firefox and then select the Quit Firefox menu item. (Linux) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select File and then select the Quit menu item. If your existing profile folder and profile backup folder have the same name, simply replace the existing profile folder with the profile backup, then start Firefox. Important: The profile folder names must match exactly for this to work, including the random string of 8 characters. If the names do not match or if you are restoring a backup to a different location, follow the steps below.
Restoring to a different location If the profile folder names do not match or if you want to move or restore a profile to a different
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location, do the following: 1. Completely close Firefox, as explained above. 2. Use the Firefox Profile Manager to create a new profile in your desired location, then exit the Profile Manager. Note: If you just installed Firefox on a new computer, you can use the default profile that is automatically created when you first run Firefox, instead of creating a new profile. 3. Locate the backed up profile folder on your hard drive or backup medium (e.g., your USB-stick). 4. Copy the entire contents of the old profile folder, such as the "bookmarks.html" file, "cookies.txt" file, bookmarkbackups folder, etc., and place the contents into the new profile folder, overwriting existing files of the same name. 5. Start Firefox.
Restoring to a different location - advanced users Instead of the above, advanced users may prefer to do the following: 1. Locate the backed up profile folder on your hard drive or backup medium (e.g. your USB-stick) and copy it to the hard drive. Any target location on your hard drive will do, but it is advised that you put it in the default profile location, as explained in the first paragraph. 2. Open up profiles.ini in a text editor by double clicking on it. The file is located in the application data folder for Firefox: On Windows Vista, the path is C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles.ini On Windows XP/2000, the path is C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles.ini On Linux, the path is ~/.mozilla/firefox/profiles.ini On Mac OS X, the path is ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles.ini 3. In profiles.ini, locate the entry for the profile you've just moved. Change the Path= line to the new location. 4. Change the line with the text IsRelative=1 to IsRelative=0. 5. Review the changes made and save profiles.ini. profiles.ini example: If your backed up profile folder is called 646a7374.default and was placed in C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\, the profiles.ini file would look like this:
[General] StartWithLastProfile=1 [Profile0] Name=Default IsRelative=0 Path=C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\646a7374.de
6. Start Firefox.
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Contributors to this page: Chris_Ilias , AliceWyman , skulvis and djst . Page last modified on Sunday 02 of December, 2007 22:29:17 PST.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
12/10/2007 4:12 AM
Profiles
1 of 5
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Profiles#The_Profile_Manager
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Profiles
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Firefox saves your personal information such as
English
bookmarks, passwords, and user preferences in a set of files called your profile, which is stored in
Tabbed browsing Smart keywords Live Bookmarks Backing up your information Using the spell checker
a separate location from the Firefox program files. You can create multiple profiles, each containing a separate set of user information. Only one profile is active at any time. Note: Using multiple profiles and profile management are advanced features intended primarily for developers. Unless you are an extension developer or an advanced user, you should avoid using multiple profiles. Contents:
Tags in This Article options settings profiles bookmarks cache tutorial
The Profile Manager Starting the Profile Manager Windows Vista Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP Mac OS X Linux (Ubuntu)
Need More Help? MozillaZine Knowledge Base Forums Other Mozilla Products:
Thunderbird Help
Creating a profile Removing a profile Renaming a profile Options Work Offline Don't ask at startup Profile folder locations On Windows Vista On Windows 2000 and XP On Linux (Ubuntu) Moving your profile to another location
The Profile Manager Through the Firefox Profile Manager, you can create, remove, and rename profiles.
12/10/2007 4:15 AM
Profiles
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http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Profiles#The_Profile_Manager
Starting the Profile Manager Windows Vista 1. Exit Firefox. To close Firefox, at the top of the Firefox window, select the File menu, and then select Exit. 2. Open the Windows Start menu. In the Start Search box in the bottom left, type firefox.exe -ProfileManager and press Enter . Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP 1. Exit Firefox. To close Firefox, at the top of the Firefox window, select the File menu, and then select Exit. 2. Select the START menu in the Windows Taskbar. Then, select Run. 3. In the Run dialog, enter the following:
firefox.exe -ProfileManager 4. Click OK . Mac OS X 1. Exit Firefox. To close Firefox, in the menu bar, select the Firefox menu, and then select Quit Firefox. 2. Navigate to /Applications/Utilities. Open the Terminal application. 3. Open a Finder window, and navigate to the Firefox application icon. 4. Drag the Firefox icon from Finder into the Terminal window. 5. Click the Terminal window, and press Delete . 6. Enter the following:
/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox -ProfileManager
Linux (Ubuntu) 1. Exit Firefox. To close Firefox, at the top of the Firefox window, select the File menu, and then select Quit. 2. Open the Applications menu, choose Accessories, then select Terminal. A Terminal window will come up. 3. In the Terminal window, type
firefox -ProfileManager and press Enter .
Creating a profile
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Profiles
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http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Profiles#The_Profile_Manager
1. To start the Create Profile Wizard, click Create Profile... in the Profile Manager. 2. Click Next and enter the name of the profile. Use a profile name that is descriptive, such as your personal name. This name is not exposed on the Internet. 3. You can also choose where to store the profile, which is useful if you plan on exporting your data and settings to another computer or setup in the future. To choose its storage location on your system, click Choose Folder... . Note: If you choose a custom location for the profile, store it in a new or clean folder. When you choose to remove the profile, all contents stored in the same folder are removed. 4. To create the new profile, click Finish . 5. The new profile is displayed in the Profile Manager.
Removing a profile 1. In the Profile Manager, select the profile to remove, and click Delete Profile... . 2. Confirm that you wish to delete the profile:
Don't Delete Files removes the profile from the Profile Manager yet retains the profile data files on your computer in the storage folder, so your information is not lost. When you create a new profile, you can copy all of the files inside the old profile's folder to the new profile folder, and your profile information is restored in the new profile. Delete Files removes the profile and its files, including the profile bookmarks, settings, passwords, etc. Caution: If you use the "Delete Files" option, the profile folder and files will be deleted. This action cannot be undone. Cancel interrupts the profile deletion. 3. If you choose to delete the profile, it is removed from the Profile Manager.
Renaming a profile 1. In the Profile Manager, select the profile to rename, and then click Rename Profile... . 2. Enter the new name for the profile. Type in the new profile name, and click on OK . Note: The folder containing the files for the profile is not renamed.
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3. The profile is renamed in the Profile Manager.
Options
Work Offline Choosing this option loads the selected profile and starts Firefox without connecting to the Internet. You can view previously viewed web pages and experiment with your profile. Don't ask at startup If you have multiple profiles, Firefox prompts you for the profile to use each time you start Firefox. Select this option to allow Firefox to load the selected profile without prompting at startup. To access other profiles after selecting this option, you must start the Profile Manager first.
Profile folder locations Each profile is stored on your hard drive in a profile folder. The following table identifies the default locations of Firefox profiles on various operating systems. The following examples refer to the default profile. The corresponding profile folder is named xxxxxxxx.default, where xxxxxxxx represents a random string of 8 characters. Operating System
Profile Folder Path
Windows Vista/XP/2000 %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\ Windows 98/Me
C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\
Mac OS X
~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/xxxxxxxx.default/
Linux
~/.mozilla/firefox/xxxxxxxx.default/
(Windows Vista, XP, and 2000) %APPDATA% is shorthand for the C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\ folder (Windows Vista) or the C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\ folder (Windows XP/2000), which depends on your Windows user account name.
On Windows Vista 1. Click the Windows Start button, and type %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ in the Start Search box near the bottom of the Start menu, without pressing Enter. A list of profiles will appear in the top left of the Start menu. 2. Click on any of the profiles (e.g. xxxxxxxx.default) to open it with Windows Explorer.
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On Windows 2000 and XP 1. Click the Windows Start button, and select Run....
2. Type in %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ then click OK .
3. Windows Explorer opens a folder containing your profiles. 4. Double-click the profile folder you wish to open (e.g. the xxxxxxxx.default folder).
On Linux (Ubuntu) 1. Click the Places menu on the top right of the screen and select Home Folder. A File Browser window will appear. 2. Click the View menu and select Show Hidden Files if it isn't already checked. 3. Double click the folder marked .mozilla. 4. Double click the folder marked firefox. Your profile folders are within this folder.
Moving your profile to another location Backing up your information explains how to back up your profile, how to restore a profile backup, and how to move your profile to a different location on your hard drive or to another computer.
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Contributors to this page: Chris_Ilias , np , Vectorspace , skulvis , AliceWyman , admin , mozbrowser and RayKiddy . Page last modified on Sunday 02 of December, 2007 22:03:45 PST.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
12/10/2007 4:15 AM
Safe Mode
1 of 3
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode
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Safe Mode
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Safe Mode is a special Firefox execution mode that
English
can be used to troubleshoot issues in Firefox. In Safe Mode, you can reset some settings or disable
Customizing your Firefox with add-ons Search bar Using the spell checker Video or audio does not play Master Password
extensions and themes that might be the source of the issue. By comparing Firefox behavior in normal mode to its behavior in Safe Mode with various items disabled, you may be able to diagnose issues. Note: Windows users may be familiar with a Safe Mode for Windows. Firefox Safe Mode has no connection to Windows Safe Mode. Contents:
Tags in This Article safe mode addons toolbar tutorial
How to start Firefox in Safe Mode
Need More Help?
Safe Mode window
MozillaZine Knowledge Base Forums
Exiting Safe Mode
Other Mozilla Products:
How to start Firefox in Safe Mode
Thunderbird Help
Windows 1. Close down Firefox completely: At the top of the Firefox window, click the File menu, and select the Exit menu item. 2. In Windows, click Start , open the All Programs list, and navigate to the Mozilla Firefox folder. In the Mozilla Firefox folder, select Mozilla Firefox (Safe Mode). 3. Firefox should start up with a Firefox Safe Mode dialog. Note: You can also start Firefox in Safe Mode by clicking Start , selecting Run (or use the Start Search box in Windows Vista) and then entering the following in the text field: firefox -safe-mode
Mac OS X 1. Close down Firefox completely: On the menu bar, click the Firefox menu, and select the Quit Firefox menu item. 2. Go to the Utilities directory (in the Applications folder) and open Terminal, then run: /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox -safe-mode 3. Firefox should start up with a Firefox Safe Mode dialog. Linux 1. Close down Firefox completely: At the top of the Firefox window, click the File menu, and select the Quit menu item. 2. Go to your Terminal and run:
12/10/2007 4:32 AM
Safe Mode
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http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode
/path/to/firefox/firefox -safe-mode 3. Firefox should start up with a Firefox Safe Mode dialog.
Safe Mode window
You now have three options: Clicking the Exit cancels your attempt to get into Firefox's Safe Mode. Clicking the Continue In Safe Mode starts Firefox in its Safe Mode. While you are in Safe Mode, your extensions and themes will be disabled, and any toolbar customizations will be reverted back to their defaults. These changes are not permanent - when you leave Safe Mode and start Firefox up normally, your extensions, themes, and settings will return to the state they were in before you entered Safe Mode. The Make Changes and Restart is only enabled if you select one of the boxes above it: Disable All add-ons: If you select this box and then click Make Changes and Restart then Firefox will start back up in its normal mode, except all your extensions and themes will be disabled. (Not uninstalled.) Reset toolbars and controls: If you select this box and then click Make Changes and Restart then Firefox will start back up in its normal mode, except any toolbar customizations you have made will be lost, such as position of buttons and toolbars, Reset bookmarks to Firefox defaults: If you select this box and then click Make Changes and Restart then firefox will delete your current bookmarks and replace them with its default set. Reset all user preferences to Firefox defaults: If you select this box and then click Make Changes and Restart then any changes you have made to Firefox's options will be set back to their default settings. Restore default search engines: If you select this box and then click Make Changes and Restart then any of the default search engines you deleted will be restored.
Exiting Safe Mode 1. Exit Firefox: (Windows) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select File and then select the Exit menu item. (Mac OS X) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select Firefox and then select the Quit Firefox menu item. (Linux) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select File and then select the Quit menu item. 2. Start Firefox as you normally would.
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Safe Mode
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http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode Page last modified on Sunday 02 of December, 2007 22:27:09 PST.
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12/10/2007 4:32 AM
1 of 3
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Backing+up+your+information#Restoring...
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Backing up your information
Actions print English
Mozilla Firefox stores all your personal settings, such as bookmarks, passwords and extensions, in a profile folder, which is stored on your computer. To back up your profile, restore it, or move it to
JavaScript Profiles Importing from Opera Importing from Internet Explorer Bookmarks
a new location or computer, all you have to do is move or copy the profile folder.
Tags in This Article
Contents:
backup settings restore profiles bookmarks addons
Locate your profile folder Backing up your profile Restoring a profile backup Restoring to a different location Restoring to a different location - advanced users
Need More Help?
Locate your profile folder In order to back up or restore your data, you need to know where Firefox stores the profile folder. The following examples refer to the default profile. The corresponding profile folder is named xxxxxxxx.default, where xxxxxxxx represents a random string of 8 characters. Operating System
MozillaZine Knowledge Base Forums Other Mozilla Products:
Thunderbird Help
Profile Folder Path
Windows Vista/XP/2000 %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\ Windows 98/Me
C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\
Mac OS X
~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/xxxxxxxx.default/
Linux
~/.mozilla/firefox/xxxxxxxx.default/
(Windows Vista, XP, and 2000) %APPDATA% is shorthand for the C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\ folder (Windows Vista) or the C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\ folder (Windows XP/2000), which depends on your Windows user account name. 1. Click the Windows Start button, and select Run....
12/10/2007 4:12 AM
Backing up your information
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http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Backing+up+your+information#Restoring...
(Windows Vista) Use the Start Search box. 2. Type in %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\, then click OK .
3. Windows Explorer opens a folder, containing your profiles.
Backing up your profile Backing up your profile folder in Firefox is easy. Just follow these steps: 1. If Firefox is running, exit it. (Windows) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select File and the Exit menu item. (Mac OS X) From the menu bar, select Firefox and the Quit Firefox menu item. (Linux) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select File and the Quit menu item. 2. Locate your profile folder, as explained above. 3. Right-click on your profile folder, and select Copy. 4. Right-click the backup location (e.g. a USB-stick or a blank CD-RW disc), and select Paste.
Restoring a profile backup If Firefox is running, exit it. (Windows) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select File and then select the Exit menu item. (Mac OS X) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select Firefox and then select the Quit Firefox menu item. (Linux) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select File and then select the Quit menu item. If your existing profile folder and profile backup folder have the same name, simply replace the existing profile folder with the profile backup, then start Firefox. Important: The profile folder names must match exactly for this to work, including the random string of 8 characters. If the names do not match or if you are restoring a backup to a different location, follow the steps below.
Restoring to a different location If the profile folder names do not match or if you want to move or restore a profile to a different
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Backing up your information
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http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Backing+up+your+information#Restoring...
location, do the following: 1. Completely close Firefox, as explained above. 2. Use the Firefox Profile Manager to create a new profile in your desired location, then exit the Profile Manager. Note: If you just installed Firefox on a new computer, you can use the default profile that is automatically created when you first run Firefox, instead of creating a new profile. 3. Locate the backed up profile folder on your hard drive or backup medium (e.g., your USB-stick). 4. Copy the entire contents of the old profile folder, such as the "bookmarks.html" file, "cookies.txt" file, bookmarkbackups folder, etc., and place the contents into the new profile folder, overwriting existing files of the same name. 5. Start Firefox.
Restoring to a different location - advanced users Instead of the above, advanced users may prefer to do the following: 1. Locate the backed up profile folder on your hard drive or backup medium (e.g. your USB-stick) and copy it to the hard drive. Any target location on your hard drive will do, but it is advised that you put it in the default profile location, as explained in the first paragraph. 2. Open up profiles.ini in a text editor by double clicking on it. The file is located in the application data folder for Firefox: On Windows Vista, the path is C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles.ini On Windows XP/2000, the path is C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles.ini On Linux, the path is ~/.mozilla/firefox/profiles.ini On Mac OS X, the path is ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles.ini 3. In profiles.ini, locate the entry for the profile you've just moved. Change the Path= line to the new location. 4. Change the line with the text IsRelative=1 to IsRelative=0. 5. Review the changes made and save profiles.ini. profiles.ini example: If your backed up profile folder is called 646a7374.default and was placed in C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\, the profiles.ini file would look like this:
[General] StartWithLastProfile=1 [Profile0] Name=Default IsRelative=0 Path=C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\646a7374.de
6. Start Firefox.
Was this article helpful? Yes No
Contributors to this page: Chris_Ilias , AliceWyman , skulvis and djst . Page last modified on Sunday 02 of December, 2007 22:29:17 PST.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
12/10/2007 4:12 AM
Profiles
1 of 5
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Profiles#The_Profile_Manager
Products
Add-ons
Support
Home » Firefox Support » Knowledge Base » Profiles
Developers
Blog
About
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Search:
Related Articles
Profiles
Actions print
Firefox saves your personal information such as
English
bookmarks, passwords, and user preferences in a set of files called your profile, which is stored in
Tabbed browsing Smart keywords Live Bookmarks Backing up your information Using the spell checker
a separate location from the Firefox program files. You can create multiple profiles, each containing a separate set of user information. Only one profile is active at any time. Note: Using multiple profiles and profile management are advanced features intended primarily for developers. Unless you are an extension developer or an advanced user, you should avoid using multiple profiles. Contents:
Tags in This Article options settings profiles bookmarks cache tutorial
The Profile Manager Starting the Profile Manager Windows Vista Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP Mac OS X Linux (Ubuntu)
Need More Help? MozillaZine Knowledge Base Forums Other Mozilla Products:
Thunderbird Help
Creating a profile Removing a profile Renaming a profile Options Work Offline Don't ask at startup Profile folder locations On Windows Vista On Windows 2000 and XP On Linux (Ubuntu) Moving your profile to another location
The Profile Manager Through the Firefox Profile Manager, you can create, remove, and rename profiles.
12/10/2007 4:15 AM
Profiles
2 of 5
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Profiles#The_Profile_Manager
Starting the Profile Manager Windows Vista 1. Exit Firefox. To close Firefox, at the top of the Firefox window, select the File menu, and then select Exit. 2. Open the Windows Start menu. In the Start Search box in the bottom left, type firefox.exe -ProfileManager and press Enter . Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP 1. Exit Firefox. To close Firefox, at the top of the Firefox window, select the File menu, and then select Exit. 2. Select the START menu in the Windows Taskbar. Then, select Run. 3. In the Run dialog, enter the following:
firefox.exe -ProfileManager 4. Click OK . Mac OS X 1. Exit Firefox. To close Firefox, in the menu bar, select the Firefox menu, and then select Quit Firefox. 2. Navigate to /Applications/Utilities. Open the Terminal application. 3. Open a Finder window, and navigate to the Firefox application icon. 4. Drag the Firefox icon from Finder into the Terminal window. 5. Click the Terminal window, and press Delete . 6. Enter the following:
/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox -ProfileManager
Linux (Ubuntu) 1. Exit Firefox. To close Firefox, at the top of the Firefox window, select the File menu, and then select Quit. 2. Open the Applications menu, choose Accessories, then select Terminal. A Terminal window will come up. 3. In the Terminal window, type
firefox -ProfileManager and press Enter .
Creating a profile
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Profiles
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http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Profiles#The_Profile_Manager
1. To start the Create Profile Wizard, click Create Profile... in the Profile Manager. 2. Click Next and enter the name of the profile. Use a profile name that is descriptive, such as your personal name. This name is not exposed on the Internet. 3. You can also choose where to store the profile, which is useful if you plan on exporting your data and settings to another computer or setup in the future. To choose its storage location on your system, click Choose Folder... . Note: If you choose a custom location for the profile, store it in a new or clean folder. When you choose to remove the profile, all contents stored in the same folder are removed. 4. To create the new profile, click Finish . 5. The new profile is displayed in the Profile Manager.
Removing a profile 1. In the Profile Manager, select the profile to remove, and click Delete Profile... . 2. Confirm that you wish to delete the profile:
Don't Delete Files removes the profile from the Profile Manager yet retains the profile data files on your computer in the storage folder, so your information is not lost. When you create a new profile, you can copy all of the files inside the old profile's folder to the new profile folder, and your profile information is restored in the new profile. Delete Files removes the profile and its files, including the profile bookmarks, settings, passwords, etc. Caution: If you use the "Delete Files" option, the profile folder and files will be deleted. This action cannot be undone. Cancel interrupts the profile deletion. 3. If you choose to delete the profile, it is removed from the Profile Manager.
Renaming a profile 1. In the Profile Manager, select the profile to rename, and then click Rename Profile... . 2. Enter the new name for the profile. Type in the new profile name, and click on OK . Note: The folder containing the files for the profile is not renamed.
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3. The profile is renamed in the Profile Manager.
Options
Work Offline Choosing this option loads the selected profile and starts Firefox without connecting to the Internet. You can view previously viewed web pages and experiment with your profile. Don't ask at startup If you have multiple profiles, Firefox prompts you for the profile to use each time you start Firefox. Select this option to allow Firefox to load the selected profile without prompting at startup. To access other profiles after selecting this option, you must start the Profile Manager first.
Profile folder locations Each profile is stored on your hard drive in a profile folder. The following table identifies the default locations of Firefox profiles on various operating systems. The following examples refer to the default profile. The corresponding profile folder is named xxxxxxxx.default, where xxxxxxxx represents a random string of 8 characters. Operating System
Profile Folder Path
Windows Vista/XP/2000 %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\ Windows 98/Me
C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\
Mac OS X
~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/xxxxxxxx.default/
Linux
~/.mozilla/firefox/xxxxxxxx.default/
(Windows Vista, XP, and 2000) %APPDATA% is shorthand for the C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\ folder (Windows Vista) or the C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\ folder (Windows XP/2000), which depends on your Windows user account name.
On Windows Vista 1. Click the Windows Start button, and type %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ in the Start Search box near the bottom of the Start menu, without pressing Enter. A list of profiles will appear in the top left of the Start menu. 2. Click on any of the profiles (e.g. xxxxxxxx.default) to open it with Windows Explorer.
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Profiles
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http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Profiles#The_Profile_Manager
On Windows 2000 and XP 1. Click the Windows Start button, and select Run....
2. Type in %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ then click OK .
3. Windows Explorer opens a folder containing your profiles. 4. Double-click the profile folder you wish to open (e.g. the xxxxxxxx.default folder).
On Linux (Ubuntu) 1. Click the Places menu on the top right of the screen and select Home Folder. A File Browser window will appear. 2. Click the View menu and select Show Hidden Files if it isn't already checked. 3. Double click the folder marked .mozilla. 4. Double click the folder marked firefox. Your profile folders are within this folder.
Moving your profile to another location Backing up your information explains how to back up your profile, how to restore a profile backup, and how to move your profile to a different location on your hard drive or to another computer.
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Contributors to this page: Chris_Ilias , np , Vectorspace , skulvis , AliceWyman , admin , mozbrowser and RayKiddy . Page last modified on Sunday 02 of December, 2007 22:03:45 PST.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
12/10/2007 4:15 AM
Safe Mode
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http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode
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Safe Mode
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Safe Mode is a special Firefox execution mode that
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can be used to troubleshoot issues in Firefox. In Safe Mode, you can reset some settings or disable
Customizing your Firefox with add-ons Search bar Using the spell checker Video or audio does not play Master Password
extensions and themes that might be the source of the issue. By comparing Firefox behavior in normal mode to its behavior in Safe Mode with various items disabled, you may be able to diagnose issues. Note: Windows users may be familiar with a Safe Mode for Windows. Firefox Safe Mode has no connection to Windows Safe Mode. Contents:
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How to start Firefox in Safe Mode
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Windows 1. Close down Firefox completely: At the top of the Firefox window, click the File menu, and select the Exit menu item. 2. In Windows, click Start , open the All Programs list, and navigate to the Mozilla Firefox folder. In the Mozilla Firefox folder, select Mozilla Firefox (Safe Mode). 3. Firefox should start up with a Firefox Safe Mode dialog. Note: You can also start Firefox in Safe Mode by clicking Start , selecting Run (or use the Start Search box in Windows Vista) and then entering the following in the text field: firefox -safe-mode
Mac OS X 1. Close down Firefox completely: On the menu bar, click the Firefox menu, and select the Quit Firefox menu item. 2. Go to the Utilities directory (in the Applications folder) and open Terminal, then run: /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox -safe-mode 3. Firefox should start up with a Firefox Safe Mode dialog. Linux 1. Close down Firefox completely: At the top of the Firefox window, click the File menu, and select the Quit menu item. 2. Go to your Terminal and run:
12/10/2007 4:32 AM
Safe Mode
2 of 3
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode
/path/to/firefox/firefox -safe-mode 3. Firefox should start up with a Firefox Safe Mode dialog.
Safe Mode window
You now have three options: Clicking the Exit cancels your attempt to get into Firefox's Safe Mode. Clicking the Continue In Safe Mode starts Firefox in its Safe Mode. While you are in Safe Mode, your extensions and themes will be disabled, and any toolbar customizations will be reverted back to their defaults. These changes are not permanent - when you leave Safe Mode and start Firefox up normally, your extensions, themes, and settings will return to the state they were in before you entered Safe Mode. The Make Changes and Restart is only enabled if you select one of the boxes above it: Disable All add-ons: If you select this box and then click Make Changes and Restart then Firefox will start back up in its normal mode, except all your extensions and themes will be disabled. (Not uninstalled.) Reset toolbars and controls: If you select this box and then click Make Changes and Restart then Firefox will start back up in its normal mode, except any toolbar customizations you have made will be lost, such as position of buttons and toolbars, Reset bookmarks to Firefox defaults: If you select this box and then click Make Changes and Restart then firefox will delete your current bookmarks and replace them with its default set. Reset all user preferences to Firefox defaults: If you select this box and then click Make Changes and Restart then any changes you have made to Firefox's options will be set back to their default settings. Restore default search engines: If you select this box and then click Make Changes and Restart then any of the default search engines you deleted will be restored.
Exiting Safe Mode 1. Exit Firefox: (Windows) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select File and then select the Exit menu item. (Mac OS X) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select Firefox and then select the Quit Firefox menu item. (Linux) From the menu at the top of the Firefox window, select File and then select the Quit menu item. 2. Start Firefox as you normally would.
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Contributors to this page: Chris_Ilias , np , djstsys , skulvis , AliceWyman , admin and stevee .
12/10/2007 4:32 AM
Safe Mode
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http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode Page last modified on Sunday 02 of December, 2007 22:27:09 PST.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
12/10/2007 4:32 AM
