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Browser instability

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  • Last reply by cor-el

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My browser has become unreliable and flaky. Bookmarks are changed each time I open it. New bookmarks are added and duplicate bookmarks appear. I also have two Firefox icons on my taskbar. What's going on here? Can you help? Thanks, Tom C

My browser has become unreliable and flaky. Bookmarks are changed each time I open it. New bookmarks are added and duplicate bookmarks appear. I also have two Firefox icons on my taskbar. What's going on here? Can you help? Thanks, Tom C

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If you use Sync, best is to disconnect Sync temporarily during troubleshooting.

You can check for problems with the places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder.

  • use the "Places Database" -> "Verify Integrity" button in "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support)

If errors are reported with "Verify Integrity", close and restart Firefox or reboot the computer and retry.

If "Verify Integrity" cannot repair places.sqlite, rename/remove all places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder with Firefox closed. Firefox will rebuild places.sqlite and restore the bookmarks from the most recent JSON backup in the bookmarkbackups folder.

  • keep a backup copy of places.sqlite in case a new places.sqlite database has to be created
  • you lose the history when a new places.sqlite is created

You may have to restore an older backup in the bookmarkbackups folder via the Bookmarks Manager (Library).

See also:

You can use the button in "Help -> More Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page (Root directory).

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