Firefox Bookmarks Disappeared – How to Get them Back

Internet browsing is one of our favorite past times. Whether we use Chrome, Internet Explorer, or Firefox on our phone or laptop, there is no shortage of exciting links and web pages that we may want to save to view later.

Unfortunately, bookmarks saved in Firefox can sometimes disappear for seemingly no reason. It can be distressing to lose all your bookmarks, especially if you have curated them over time.

Now you may be wondering, are my Firefox bookmarks lost forever? How can I get my bookmarks back on the Firefox browser if I lose them?

Luckily, there are several options to recover lost or missing bookmarks in Firefox Browser if they have disappeared. This article will show you how to import and back up your bookmarks on Firefox.

How Do I Save a Bookmark On Firefox?

Saving a new bookmark on Firefox is easy! The simple click of a button or a combination of keys is all you need to keep a new bookmark.

Here are the steps you need to take to save a new bookmark on Firefox:

1. First, navigate to the web address bar on the top side of the screen. Next to the address bar, you should see a star-shaped button on the right side.
2. Click on the star icon. This will open the new bookmark menu bar. You can set the name and tags of the bookmark here; by default, it will show you the name of the current web page you are on.
3. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut by pressing the button combination of Ctrl + D; this will also open the new bookmark menu option.
4. Click the done menu button once you’re finished. You should now see the new bookmark on the bookmark toolbar.

Why Did My Bookmarks Disappear?

The main question on your mind, and probably why you decided to click on this article: Why did my bookmarks disappear?

This can happen due to several reasons. For example, you can disable the bookmarks toolbar, update Firefox, or add an extension.

No matter the reason, we will show you how to view the bookmarks menu and access your bookmarks once more.

Here are the most common reasons why your Firefox bookmarks have disappeared from the menu bar, along with our chosen solution for each problem:

1. Firefox Is Not Showing All Bookmarks

The first and most common problem is when all of your bookmarks are not showing up on the bookmarks toolbar. In this case, your bookmarks have not disappeared; they are unavailable to view on your toolbar by default.

To fix this, all you have to do is ask Firefox to show you all your bookmarks. The following are the steps to show all bookmarks in Firefox:

1. Click on the Show Your Bookmarks menu button; this is the icon with a star contained in a tray.
2. Next, select Show All Bookmarks; this will show all bookmarks saved in Firefox.
3. You can view All Bookmarks from here and select which ones you want to display in the Bookmarks toolbar by default.

The keyboard shortcut for the Manage Bookmarks menu option is Ctrl + Shift + O. This will show all bookmarks saved in your default user profile but is also helpful in importing bookmarks, as we will see later on in the article.

2. You Have Disabled the Bookmarks Toolbar

The Firefox browser’s bookmarks toolbar is under the address bar for quick access to your favorite web pages and links.

However, if your bookmarks toolbar has disappeared, you may have turned off the display bookmarks toolbar option.

You can turn the toolbar back on and restore easy access to your bookmarks. Take the following steps:

1. Open Firefox and right-click any space on the navigation bar at the top of your screen.
2. Look for the Bookmarks Toolbar option. You should see it at or near the bottom of the menu options.
3. Hover your cursor over the Bookmarks Toolbar option. If it has been selected as Never Show, select a different option. You can either choose to always see your bookmarks toolbar or only view the bookmarks toolbar when you open a new tab.

You’re done! You should now be able to see the bookmarks toolbar, even if you had previously disabled it.

3. You Have Installed an Add-on

Sometimes, the default functionality of firefox is not enough. You may want to add more features and tools to enhance your browsing experience.

Most of the time, you should be able to install add-ons without experiencing any issues. However, installing an add-on can sometimes cause your bookmarks to disappear.

You need to do nothing special here – restart Firefox, and your bookmarks should be restored.

You can restart your Firefox browser in two ways. The first way is to directly click the Close button on the top-right corner of the screen, then click on Firefox again to start it.

The second way is to go to the Application menu > Exit. This is the icon with the three horizontal bars below the Close button. The keyboard shortcut version for this command is Ctrl + Shift + Q.

If neither of these ways works, your Add-on is problematic and has caused your bookmarks to disappear. In that case, you can type and enter about:profiles in the address bar. Now, select the Restart with Addons Disabled option and see if it restores your lost bookmarks.

Note that Firefox will save your current browsing session by default. However, you can later restore your session by clicking on the Restore previous session menu option from the Application Menu.

4. You Imported Your Bookmarks From Another Browser

Another possibility is that you migrated to Firefox from another browser. Sometimes, your saved bookmarks might not have been adequately imported into your profile. To ensure this isn’t the case, you must correctly import and back up your bookmarks from the other browser.

You can import bookmarks from another browser through a special backup file. For example, you must access this file to import your bookmarks to Firefox.

Depending on your browser, this backup file can be stored in a different folder with another file name. HTML files and JSON files are commonly supported bookmark backup file formats.

There are three ways to access the bookmarks backup folder from Firefox:

1. Go to Application Menu > Library > Bookmarks > Manage Bookmarks > Import and Backup. You can select Import Bookmarks from HTML or Import Data from Another Browser.
2. Click on the Show Your Bookmarks button and select Import and Backup.
3. Use the keyboard shortcut to access the bookmarks menu options. For example, the keyboard shortcut for the Manage Bookmarks menu option is Ctrl + Shift + O.

No matter what option you choose, you need to back up and import your bookmarks from your old browser to see them in the bookmarks menu.

5. Firefox Created a New User Profile

Even if you haven’t disabled the bookmarks toolbar, installed any add-ons, or imported bookmarks from another browser, you may still not see your bookmarks anywhere. In this case, Firefox may have created a new profile, and your old bookmarks have not been saved in this profile.

If you see only the default set of bookmarks, it is possible that you have downgraded to an old Firefox version or created a separate installation instance of Firefox. In this case, Firefox will create a new profile with only the default bookmarks saved in the backups folder.

If this is the case, you need to determine whether or not Firefox has created a new profile.

The following are the steps you need to take to see if another user profile exists:

1. First, open the Firefox browser and click on the address bar to select it.
2. In the address bar, type about:profiles and press the enter key.
3. The About Profiles page should pop up. This will show the profile Firefox is using now and any other profile available.

If you see another profile on the About Profiles page, click on the Set As Default Profile button. This will let you see if the other profile contains your lost bookmarks.

Most of the time, the other profile contains your missing bookmarks. In that case, you can quickly get your bookmarks back by switching from the new profile to the old one.

6. Firefox Has Encountered an Error

If you have tried everything but cannot restore bookmarks on Firefox, your bookmarks may be lost due to corrupt files or some other error.

In this case, there is no other option than to restore the Bookmarks backup from the backup folder. This is because Firefox automatically stores all your bookmarks in a backup file in the profile folder.

Each profile has a separate folder where it stores the backup file. The browser can store up to 15 backups in the bookmarkbackups folder of your profile this way. Each profile has a separate profile folder with the backups.

You can also access the bookmarkbackups folder manually; type %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ in your system search. This will open the profile folder with your Firefox profiles saved. Here, you can select the profile and view its bookmarkbackups folder.

To restore your bookmarks from a backup file, you need to follow the following steps:

1. First, click on Application Menu > Library.
2. From the library, click on Bookmarks > Manage Bookmarks. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl + Shift + O from the keyboard.
3. You will be presented with a list of 15 automatic bookmark backups with the timestamp. Select the backup you want to restore and click on it.
4. Alternatively, you can select Choose File to restore your bookmarks manually. Ensure you know the path to the folder where the backups are stored.

You’re done! If you followed the steps above, your bookmarks should now be restored and openable inside the Firefox browser.

If You Are Asked For Personal Information, Please Report Suspicious Activity

If you are looking for ways to restore your bookmarks online and are asked to text a phone number or share personal information, please navigate away from the web page.

Mozilla will not ask for personal information and states that such requests are scams. They assure users that these are scams; we will never ask you to call or text anyone. See also: avoid support scams from Mozilla’s support page.

The services and browsers provided by Mozilla are also free. However, each time you visit the webpage, you see not-for-profit content. No portions of this content are paid for.

You can also report suspicious activity using the Report Abuse option provided by Mozilla here.

Final Thoughts

There are many reasons why your bookmarks may have disappeared from your Firefox browser. For example, your browser may not be showing all the bookmarks, might have the bookmarks toolbar missing, or might have updated Firefox to a new user profile.

Whatever the case, rule out all possibilities listed in the article. For example, avoid scams when looking up support search bookmarks or a tool question about the bookmarks toolbar.

Follow all the steps in this article, and we assure you, you will get your lost bookmarks back on Firefox in no time!