New Profile

[TDV]

My profile is over 10 years old and probably clogged up with tons of stuff. So I want start a new one.

But there are a few things I would prefer to keep, like Bookmarks, Saved Passwords, Extensions (probably better to new install?)...
Is it possible, to save the old profile and then ONLY transfer the entries I want to keep?

Which ones should I keep,and what are their names in the old profile? (f.e. there is a bookmark backups folder, but no bookmarks folder...)

Thank you

[kerft]

An article is here: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_ ... _-_Firefox
Bookmarks (and history) can be copied with places.sqlite However, if you feel that file may be corrupt or want the history gone, you can instead run the new profile and "restore" from a JSON or JSONLZ4 file in bookmarkbackups of the old profile.
Passwords you have to copy cert9.db key4.db and logins.json
Extensions it is best to re-download if they still exist.
A few extensions may have a way to import and export their own settings. Ublock Origin may have this.

[dfoulkes]

Added to what kerft posted you might want to (for now) set that new profile up so that you can run it at the same time as your old profile....though as the doc. mentions, when moving files around between profile...they should be closed.

The reason that I mention running simultaneous profiles (at times) makes it real handy to compare your new one to the old one...helps in finding areas where you might have missed something.... and frankly, I use (below) all the time for my second profile.
Opening a new instance of your Mozilla application with another profile - MozillaZine Knowledge Base

[TDV]

Amazing.... thank you both, great answers, good advice

[WaltS48]

Amazing.... thank you both, great answers, good advice

I still subscribe to the Refresh Firefox method. Saves all bookmarks, passwords and open tabs.

Puts an Old Firefox Data folder on the desktop that you can use to restore the old profile, or parts of it if you don't like the results. You will have to reinstall all your extensions.

Read he link thoroughly.

[kerft]

There is a rumor that sometimes the old firefox data folder is not created, instead both new and old data are just vanished into nothing. This may happen if you shut the computer down or kill the process during the refresh.

[TDV]

Amazing.... thank you both, great answers, good advice

I still subscribe to the Refresh Firefox method. Saves all bookmarks, passwords and open tabs.

Puts an Old Firefox Data folder on the desktop that you can use to restore the old profile, or parts of it if you don't like the results. You will have to reinstall all your extensions.

Read he link thoroughly.

Thank you I did read it carefully, and will think about using it.
It also reminded me of the reason why I kept the old profile so long: the about:config settings. Is there a way to safe those too?


and kerft: thanks for the warning. It must have been in 85 when I shut down down a computer without letting it finish and deleted half the new issue of the magazine I was working for....
Doing something like that once is a great reminder not to do something like that for the rest of your life...

[kerft]

Attempting to reuse the about:config settings, which are stored in prefs.js and user.js, would bring in much of the bad stuff and potential incompatibility from the old profile and I would not recommend. Using the side by side profiles simultaneously, as above, to view which settings were non default and researching each to see if it is appropriate for current Firefox would be one way forward.
Unless you are a real privacy nut, I would recommend using the new profile the way it comes, and if you notice behavior you don't like, then change an option in the options if available or search for an about:config change.
As you can imagine, many about:config settings from years ago have been changed or deprecated.

[TDV]

Attempting to reuse the about:config settings, which are stored in prefs.js and user.js, would bring in much of the bad stuff and potential incompatibility from the old profile and I would not recommend. Using the side by side profiles simultaneously, as above, to view which settings were non default and researching each to see if it is appropriate for current Firefox would be one way forward.
Unless you are a real privacy nut, I would recommend using the new profile the way it comes, and if you notice behavior you don't like, then change an option in the options if available or search for an about:config change.
As you can imagine, many about:config settings from years ago have been changed or deprecated.

Thanks again...

about:config is one the main reasons that has kept me from getting a new profile.

The point is that many of the changed settings are exactly the ones that avoid functions, so you never notice. Anything telemetry, anything interfering, "improving" my firefox, updates automatic, and so on. When I look at my present about:config, there is not one way to identify all the changes I have made, right?

[jscher2000]

When I look at my present about:config, there is not one way to identify all the changes I have made, right?

No, both your changes and the changes made by Firefox during normal operations are bolded and marked as modified. Also, both are listed in the prefs.js file.

In theory, you could make a copy of the prefs.js file, strip it down to only the preferences you most care about overriding, and use that to seed your new profile by saving it as a user.js file. See: http://kb.mozillazine.org/User.js_file

Haven't tried it myself in recent years.

[TDV]

When I look at my present about:config, there is not one way to identify all the changes I have made, right?

No, both your changes and the changes made by Firefox during normal operations are bolded and marked as modified. Also, both are listed in the prefs.js file.

In theory, you could make a copy of the prefs.js file, strip it down to only the preferences you most care about overriding, and use that to seed your new profile by saving it as a user.js file. See: http://kb.mozillazine.org/User.js_file

Haven't tried it myself in recent years.

Thank you for that precise information.... I can check them one by one... cannot be more than twenty or os.

[kerft]

It may be obvious, but in about:config you can click the status column to group or sort all "modified" prefs together.
At about:support there is a section called "Important Modified Preferences" that does not include all, but will include most prefs that you have changed.

[TDV]

It may be obvious, but in about:config you can click the status column to group or sort all "modified" prefs together.
At about:support there is a section called "Important Modified Preferences" that does not include all, but will include most prefs that you have changed.

If there are some that I now consider unimportant, I will see them in the complete list... thanks