Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

My wife's Mac wasn't syncing, so I signed in to turn on syncing. When I did, it synced her old stuff to my computer, and now I've lost all the newer pword hints

  • 4 majibu
  • 1 ana tatizo hili
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by FredMcD

I often put a string of characters in the bookmark name to remind me which passwords to use. When I signed my wife's Mac in to sync so that she would have my bookmarks, sync changed all my bookmarks to match hers, instead of syncing the most current ones (which were on my Mac) to hers. I have another Mac that is set to sync -- but which I have not turned on, and which has the newer bookmark names. How do I sync the bookmarks on that Mac to these two that now are showing hints that are more than a year old and have changed? I'm afraid to turn on that Mac now, because if I do, it may get synced to the old bookmark names, and I'll lose all my easy references to passwords, and I'll have to go into Keychain and manually change everything back.

I often put a string of characters in the bookmark name to remind me which passwords to use. When I signed my wife's Mac in to sync so that she would have my bookmarks, sync changed all my bookmarks to match hers, instead of syncing the most current ones (which were on my Mac) to hers. I have another Mac that is set to sync -- but which I have not turned on, and which has the newer bookmark names. How do I sync the bookmarks on that Mac to these two that now are showing hints that are more than a year old and have changed? I'm afraid to turn on that Mac now, because if I do, it may get synced to the old bookmark names, and I'll lose all my easy references to passwords, and I'll have to go into Keychain and manually change everything back.

Chosen solution

Did you check the backups in the bookmarkbackups folder?

  • Bookmarks -> Show All Bookmarks -> Import & Backup -> Restore

(Import & Backup is the third button on the toolbar in the Library; hover each button for a tooltip)


If you use the Time Machine or other backup then try to restore file(s) from this backup.

For the passwords you need these two files:

  • logins.json and key4.db

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

See also:

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (4)

If you have sync, and there is a problem anywhere, Shut Down Sync Immediately On All Devices to prevent the problem from spreading. Once the problem is fixed, perform the same repair on all computers/profiles before using sync again.


You should be able to disconnect sync from either of the 'active'systems before turning on the unaffected unit.

Once the unaffected unit is separated, start it up. Then Copy its bookmarks file to a thumb drive.

places.sqlite : History and Bookmarks

Now Copy the thumbs files to the affected profiles and overwrite the old files. Note: If there is data in the old profile you want to keep, save the current bookmarks first.


Open the Bookmarks Manager; Press the Alt or F10 key to bring up the toolbar, and select Bookmarks. Hot key is <Control> (Mac=<Command>) <Shift> B.

Once the window is open, at the top of the page, press the button labeled Import and Backup. Select Export Bookmarks To HTML, and follow the prompts and save it to a HTML file. Copy the file to another computer. Repeat the instructions above, BUT select Import Bookmarks From HTML.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/restore-bookmarks-from-backup-or-move-them

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recover-lost-or-missing-bookmarks

Suluhisho teule

Did you check the backups in the bookmarkbackups folder?

  • Bookmarks -> Show All Bookmarks -> Import & Backup -> Restore

(Import & Backup is the third button on the toolbar in the Library; hover each button for a tooltip)


If you use the Time Machine or other backup then try to restore file(s) from this backup.

For the passwords you need these two files:

  • logins.json and key4.db

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

See also:

Thanks Cor-el and FredMcD. Because I'm running OS 10.6.8 on my own Mac (I hate having to waste hours and hundreds of dollars downloading, and then re-learning new work-processes on updated apps that I already know how to do), I did have to adapt CorEl's instructions, and actually open "Show All Bookmarks", then discover that the icon that looks like a star is actually "backup and restore", but that did it. Thank you both. Now, I only sync bookmarks on my two Macs, and have figured out how to add selected bookmarks from my Mac to my wife's.

Create this file as instructed. Then open the file in you wife's browser.

Open the Bookmarks Manager; Press the Alt or F10 key to bring up the toolbar, and select Bookmarks. Hot key is <Control> (Mac=<Command>) <Shift> B.

Once the window is open, at the top of the page, press the button labeled Import and Backup. Select Export Bookmarks To HTML, and follow the prompts and save it to a HTML file. Copy the file to another computer/profile. Repeat the instructions above, BUT select Import Bookmarks From HTML.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/restore-bookmarks-from-backup-or-move-them

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recover-lost-or-missing-bookmarks