restore previous sesion
Although I have selected "Open Previous Windows and Tabs" in Start-Up, my windows and tabs were not restored when I inadvertently quit Firefox. I then went to the three horizontal bar Application menu to look for "restore previous session", but it is no longer there. Is it possible to restore the possible to restore the "restore previous session" option in that menu? How can I restore previous session when I have inadvertently closed Firefox? I'll be grateful for advice. Thank you
All Replies (3)
make sure Session Restore is enabled and working properly.
Make sure you do not run Firefox in permanent Private Browsing mode (Always use Private Browsing mode; Never Remember History).
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-use-firefox-without-history
- https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/common-myths-about-private-browsing
- Settings -> Privacy & Security
Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history" - remove checkmark: [ ] "Always use Private Browsing mode"
In case you use "Clear history when Firefox closes".
- do not clear the "Browsing history"
- Settings -> Privacy & Security
Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history":
[X] "Clear history when Firefox closes" -> Settings - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/delete-browsing-search-download-history-firefox
- using "Clear history when Firefox closes" in Firefox 102+ honors exceptions and keeps cookies with an allow exception, previous versions removed all cookies
- clearing "Site settings" clears exceptions for cookies, images, pop-up windows, and software installation and exceptions for passwords and other website specific data
Dear Cor-El, I had mistakenly marked your previous reply a solution. I did not find there answers to my questions. I have checked all my settings, and they were already as your reply indicated they should be. So why didn't my re-opening Firefox restore my windows? And why couldn't I find the "restore previous session" button in the Applications Menu, under History? Thanks for your patience, Jay
Are there files present and updated in the sessionstore-backups folder in the profile folder? Does Firefox create a sessionstore.jsonlz4 file in the main/root level in the profile folder?
You can use the button on the "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page (Root directory).
- Help -> More Troubleshooting Information -> Profile Folder/Directory:
Windows: Open Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data
You will normally find these files in the sessionstore-backups folder:
- previous.jsonlz4 (cleanBackup: copy of sessionstore.jsonlz4 from previous session that was loaded successfully)
- recovery.jsonlz4 (latest version of sessionstore.jsonlz4 written during runtime)
- recovery.baklz4 (previous version of sessionstore.jsonlz4 written during runtime)
- upgrade.jsonlz4-<build_id> (backup created during an upgrade of Firefox)
You can copy a file from the sessionstore-backups folder to the main profile and rename the file to sessionstore.jsonlz4 to replace the current file with Firefox closed.
- make sure to backup the current sessionstore.jsonlz4