Will huge web history slow down browsing experience?

[booga]

I like to keep my web history, but I wonder if having a huge history would be a cause of computer slowdown? If I delete my web history on this laptop, I'm guessing that Syncing will clear history off all my other devices (e.g. Android tablet, Android phone, desktop computer)? I wish there was a way to store my web history somewhere on the cloud, so that I can delete the web history (if web history slows down my Firefox)

I have the History Sidebar open and the "View" dropdown list is on "By Date and Site". I see that the last row in the history is "Older than 6 months".

In about:preferences#privacy, I have it set to "Remember History"

In about:preferences#advanced > Network tab, "Cached Web Content", says "Your web content cache is currently using 350 MB of disk space"
Below that, "Offline Web Content and User Data" says application cache is using 35.7 MB of cache.

Sync is enabled for everything (e.g. history, bookmarks, passwords, etc.)


I see that we can export and import bookmarks, but I don't see a way to export or import history.


Using Fx on Linux Mint.

[L.A.R. Grizzly]

I believe history is stored in the places.sqlite file. You could back up that file periodically (be aware that this file also includes your bookmarks).

I use Expire History by Days to control my history storage.

[booga]

I believe history is stored in the places.sqlite file. You could back up that file periodically (be aware that this file also includes your bookmarks).

I use Expire History by Days to control my history storage.

Thanks for your reply.
1. Why do you control your history storage? Slow browsing too?
2. After we back up places.sqlite, what can you do with it? Can it be exported into spreadsheet, where one column is Time/Date visited; another column is Name of webpage; another column is URL?

[JayhawksRock]

I use the same extension as L.A.R. Grizzly and History is dumped daily as it passes 5 days in age.... past that its old news /junk ...

[L.A.R. Grizzly]

1. Why do you control your history storage? Slow browsing too?
2. After we back up places.sqlite, what can you do with it? Can it be exported into spreadsheet, where one column is Time/Date visited; another column is Name of webpage; another column is URL?

1. On my system, it seems to free up lag in FX and also HDD space.
2. You can copy it to another profile or save it as a backup. You'll need an Sqlite reading program to view its contents.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/S ... eSpy.shtml

https://sqliteonline.com/

[TheVisitor]

I have history dating back to 12/19/2014, Places is 40,960 kb. I don't see any slow-down here that I can detect anyhow. Will admit its been awhile since I've browsed any length of time with a fresh profile other than quick testing, but if there is a difference in speed, its not perceptible to me.

[pirst]

I have huge browsing history ~2.3 million records. places.sqlite is almost 1 GB in size. It doesn't affect browsing speed at all. The only "issue" that I notice is awesome bar being sluggish at times when responding to typed letters in url bar, but it's not exactly an "issue". My laptop is not new - 4 years old, but i have combined history from previous computers and operating systems.
You don't need to export history - just back up your places.sqlite file. To import history you can use norwell history tools. the link is in my signature.

[booga]

My places.sqlite file is only 35 MB. How are you able to tell how many records are in your history? Do you have to open it in some sqlite viewer/editor? Prist, fellow Linux user (you on Mint too? Or Ubuntu?), what do you use? Prist, that's a huge places.sqlite file! Do you sometimes review your history of years gone by when you feel nostalgic?

My laptop computer's specs: Intel Pentium P6200 (2.13GHz), 4GB DDR3 Memory, 320GB HDD, Intel GMA HD, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (removed and formatted with Linux Mint). I bought it in 2011. So that makes it 6 years old. But it was the cheapest laptop when I bought it, so it was never a powerhouse to begin with.

[Fanolian]

Just fyi:
History by default will be expired, i.e. deleted, after it reaches a certain number of entries determined automatically (though you can edit it) by Firefox. So it is natural losing history as you use Firefox more and more unless you install Expire History by Days as mentioned by others.

[booga]

Just fyi:
History by default will be expired, i.e. deleted, after it reaches a certain number of entries determined automatically (though you can edit it) by Firefox. So it is natural losing history as you use Firefox more and more unless you install Expire History by Days as mentioned by others.

Thank you, I've just instaled Expire History by Days after reading your FYI. L.A.R's reply suggested that it was to quicken the deleting of history, when in fact I wanted to prolong the life of my history files.

[Brummelchen]

please stop telling nonsense. firefox is putting all history and downloads into places - that file is loaded exactly ONCE on startup, the differences are put into a temporary file and on shutdown merged.

#edit
to clarify, was an answer to this
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... &t=3030511

[booga]

Brummelchen,
I'm the OP. What statements do you say are nonsense? Because you did not quote anything, I'm having a hard time figuring out what you think are false statements.

[dfoulkes]

Brummelchen was responding to the post prior to his... and is correct in that a large history may slow down 'startup' ... because it's all loaded at that time... but it should not affect browsing.
EDIT ... after reading additional posts I don't really know where any of this stands now... thus my strick-out

[James]

Brummelchen,
I'm the OP. What statements do you say are nonsense? Because you did not quote anything, I'm having a hard time figuring out what you think are false statements.

Brummelchen was responding to this post http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... &t=3030511

Quoting is more needed if one is responding to a earlier post that is not previous.

[dickvl]

Synced history expires in 60 days and synced tabs expire in 7 days.
For synced tabs there is a maximum of about 20 KB data.