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Where are passwords saved

  • 11 replies
  • 17 have this problem
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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Where are passwords being saved in Firefox 4 - I know they are being saved and used, but the "Saved Passwords Manager" is empty ! Firefox Password Recovery Tool from Spyckesoft also cannot discover them.

Where are passwords being saved in Firefox 4 - I know they are being saved and used, but the "Saved Passwords Manager" is empty ! Firefox Password Recovery Tool from Spyckesoft also cannot discover them.

All Replies (11)

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Firefox stores the encrypted names and passwords in a SQLite database file signons.sqlite.

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I am sorry, but I am not sure how that information helps me as the level of information is more than I can readily understand.

FF4 is obviously storing the passwords, and new ones each day. The Password Manager does not show any of them and the 'show password' button is 'greyed out'.

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If you are looking for the Firefox Password Manager then you can look here:

  • Tools > Options > Security: Passwords: "Remember passwords for sites"
  • Tools > Options > Security: Passwords: "Saved Passwords" > "Show Passwords"

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I'm sorry, but I note - above - that the Password Manager does not show me my passwords. Your reply cor-el is correct, but unfortunately irrelevant.

If Password Manager does not show my passwords, and the 'show password' button is greyed, then how can I view the passwords that FF4 is saving/inserting automatically into web forms .....

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Did you ever store passwords with this Firefox profile?


Start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Tools > Add-ons > Appearance/Themes).

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Thanks for your response.

I've been using FF for years and this is the first time there has been a problem with saved passwords, and as each upgrade was released I've used it - so the full family of 3.xx were used.

I am not clear on how starting in Safe Mode is supposed to help.

The profile being used is the fully working one stored by Windows as part of a clean reinstall of Win7 (64bit). Only now have I needed to manage the logons so am unable to be sure that previous Password Managers have displayed the passwords. I used to use the Norton Internet Security 2011 toolbar (NIS2011 has 'lost' the passwords in its store - hence the need to find them in FF).

To reiterate the issue ...

FF4 is storing and using saved passwords. FF4 Password Manager does not 'show' any passwords - why not?

All I need is a simple method to access the passwords...

Thanks for your help.

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Is it possible you are using an add-on to save passwords and fill login forms?

Otherwise, you might just be seeing the results of cookies that sites use to log you in automatically. Usually, cookies do not actually contain your login credentials, but some kind of identifier set during a previous session.

Edit: If you store form history, there might be some passwords in there. I don't use that feature so I don't know how to view the saved form data.

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer

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Interesting thoughts, thank you.

There are no (obvious) addons that save passwords for me. As far as I know I am just using the FF feature - there is nothing by name in the extensions or plugins.

In general I would agree about the cookies, but FF4 asks me if I want to save the password - so where are they going to?

History is stored and if that is where the data is, then I would be reluctant to clear without an understanding of what is in the store already. Having lost what I had in NIS, this invisibility in FF is my only source.

Thanks for your help - I shall persevere or continue to grow old disgracefully....

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Color me more than confused. Help>about FF says that I'm running FF 12.0 but this forum says that I'm running 4.0 . In any case I no longer can find "TOOLS", so answers that refer to it are not helpful. Given the release level that I'm at where are the passwords?

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"tools" no longer exists. Now what?

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Press F10 or tap the Alt key to bring up the "Menu Bar" temporarily if the Menu Bar is hidden.

On other platforms instead of Tools > Options use:

  • Mac: Firefox > Preferences
  • Linux: Edit > Preferences
  • Windows: Firefox > Options (if the menu bar is hidden)