Restore previous session
I had a previous session of 4 open windows each with their own selection of tabs. I had exited Firefox the correct way, so that when I opened it again next time, all I would have to do is click the "restore session" button at the bottom of the main page that opens.
My sister used my computer without my permission, opened Firefox, and proceeded to open a whole bunch of tabs of her own - and did not click restore session. How do I get that session back? Now when I click "restore session" it just gives me her session! I want the session before that... please tell me there is a way to get that second last session back???
Maybe you can find a copy of the sessionstore.js file with the tabs from that session in the Time Machine if you use that application.
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Recovering+important+data+from+an+old+profile
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox
Similar Messages
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Unable to get my tabs back after power outage and "restore previous session" doesn't show up.
Well, I've spent most of my day trying to figure out how to fix this. My power unexpectedly went out overnight and I left my computer on. When I woke up, i saw that the computer was off. So I started my computer, but when I went to get onto Firefox, none of my windows and tabs were there. (and I did have a ton of tabs open.) There wasn't even a "Restore Previous Session" icon to press on the Firefox homepage or a "Well, this is embarrassing" window. I tried opening "sessionstore.js" and "sessionstore.bak", but then a window came up titled "Windows Script Host" and said "Microsoft JScript Compilation Error." Then all there is to do is press "Ok". (By the way, at another time today when I tried opening a .js file, it said "Windows can't open this file" and it wanted me to choose the program I wanted to use to open the file, or use the internet to find a program. I chose Notepad, but then it was just a bunch of letters, words and symbols.)
I've also tried entering "about:sessionrestore" to get my windows and tabs back and then it says "Well, this is embarrassing." and "Firefox is having trouble recovering your windows and tabs." And there are no windows and tabs showing up below that sentence, with check marks, like it is when session restore has worked for me in the past. The only thing that worries me is that I did restart my computer between when I first started it this morning and now, when I'm writing this. I wanted to see if the "Restore Previous Session" icon would bring up my missing windows and tabs from before. But all it brought up automatically were the current windows and tabs that I have open right now. So now I'm wondering if I've permanently lost those tons of tabs that I had open before the power went out.
The other thing is that when I first got onto Firefox today, I could see all of my history from the days, weeks, and months past. Now I can only see today's history. I know I pressed something when I was trying to fix things but I don't remember what I pressed. Maybe that changed whether or not I could see the previous months' history. I did try "places.sqlite", "places.sqlite-shm" and "places.sqlite-wal" to restore my history, but again it said "Windows can't open this file" and it wanted me to choose a program to open the file. So again I chose Notepad, and it was just a bunch of letters, numbers, and symbols.
Hopefully someone may have an answer for me. Thanks!Yes I can understand you being confused there is an awful lot of information you need to take in and learn as you encounter such a situation. I will try to expand my explanation to cover the points you ask.
''right click the file and select "restore previous versions", right?''
That is correct when using Windows to try to recover for instance files where the working fie is corrupted, but a previous version worked
If you have no previous versions available from Windows you need to work on whatever you do have. With any file restore operation it is always a good idea to make copies of not only the originals but also the restored files.
If you restored the ''places.sqlite'' with Windows that could possibly have resulted in a copy overwriting your working file that is even worse than the original file.
When you restore a file using the Windows OS it restores the files in their ordinary working location and they should function as expected without needing to do anything else. Generally it is probably best to try such restores when the files are not in use and in this instance that means when Firefox is closed.
For the benefit of any other readers of this thread note : <br />The places.sqlite is in the Firefox profile and easiest to find before closing down Firefox as the ''troubleshooting information page'' (''about:support'') may be used to find it.
* [[Profiles - Where Firefox stores your bookmarks, passwords and other user data#w_how-do-i-find-my-profile]]_how-do-i-find-my-profile
The ''places.sqlite'' database is the only file Firefox itself has with the full ''History'' information in it. The database also contains bookmarks but Firefox should have some other backups of those. If the database is deleted Firefox will restore the database but all it can do is add back bookmarks information from its backups the History is lost.
There is almost no chance of getting the History back unless there is another copy of that database. Either one Windows is able to recreate, or one that was somehow created by another method, that normally being the user deliberately making a manual backup of your profile or places file in advance. Or maybe having in place other backup procedures.
'' am I supposed to double-click the file?''
That is not going to help in these circumstances. There are advanced methods of studying the files but right clicking does not help in this instance.
Open tabs information is stored in the series of files ''sessionstore.*'' It may take rather a lot of messing about to to get any useful information out of whatever files you have. It would normally probably be a lot quicker just going back to the sites concerned, but that is made more difficult if you have overwritten the History database so you may need to try if the tabs were important to you. I can give more details in another post if you need to try that
We could have a lot more luck with your bookmarks. Did you bookmark most of the sites concerned ? If so then at least you have a good chance of finding the sites again.
Have you already got a fairly complete listing of your bookmarks in the Firefox bookmarks library/menu ? If you need to try to get back lost bookmarks that existed in the last few days but not are not present right now make a backup copy
*Of the profile folder called '''''bookmarkbackups''''' ( With its contents ! )
* ''places.sqlite'' Remember whenever attempting restoring bookmarks always backup the database file ''places.sqlite'' first. -
I have a desktop at work, and a desktop and laptop at home and just recently the "restore previous session" button that comes up when I use the desktop icon to start a Firefox Web browser session does not work. It is there and I click it but nothing happens. I have Windows 7 on the two computers at home and thought that is what I had on this computer at work, but it may be Vista. It's not XP.
Had this trouble myself, just did some research and solved it!
Go to the '''Help''' menu, go to "'''Troubleshooting Information'''"
On the new window, click "'''Open Containing folder'''" next to ''Profile Directory'' (This opens the folder on your PC where Mozilla stores some settings, like a tab history)
In the new Windows Explorer window, Find the file "'''chromeappsstore.sqlite'''"
You'll want to close Firefox and then '''delete''' that file (don't worry, Firefox will create a new one, and you won't even lose the open tabs)
Start Firefox again and the button should work!
(For completeness's sake, the profile folder for windows7 is: C:\Users\Tiberion\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\c6xu23fh.default\
where you replace Tiberion with your own username, and the random characters in the final folder will be different.) -
I was working with two windows and 8-10 tabs in each window when my Firefox became unresponsive, and I received a string of JavaScript error prompts when I attempted any activity in the browser (such as scrolling). After about an hour of being unable to interact with Firefox at all, I Force Quit (on a Mac) the application.
When I opened Firefox again, it was taking a very long time to boot, and the process was locking up my computer, but eventually, I did receive a Restore Previous Session option. I tried restoring, but one tab in each window would stick and fail to load, causing the browser to freeze up yet again (one of the tabs was a Google search result page, which is completely benign). I had to Force Quit *again* and then a couple more times as I kept encountering the same issue.
Finally, I decided to restart my computer. I ran into the same problem. Then, I restarted again. Once more, the same problem. I actually tried restoring my session maybe 20 times before I ended up with the error: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/fix-bookmarks-and-history-will-not-be-functional?esab=a&as=aaq
I've followed step 1, which didn't work. I haven't proceeded to step 2, because I know I will definitely lose my previous session along with all recent history. I *need* to bookmark at least two of the tabs as they are of critical importance--one of which is a special URL that I cannot recover by any means.
Before I continue to step 2, is there any way that I can grab the URLs that were in my previous session and stash them somewhere to manually restore after fixing the error?
By the way, the crashing started when I tried to visit mail.google.com--typing that address in a new tab started the JavaScript errors when things had been running smoothly. I actually closed out several tabs when attempting to reopen my session, just trying to get things up and running again (and Save All Tabs) before I ran into the database error. I never got the opportunity to save my tabs.
I'm running Mac OS X Lion. Help?Follow-up: I'm worried about performing any actions without input, because I don't want to back myself into a corner.
Will resetting Firefox fix the problem (instead of creating a new places database)? https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/reset-firefox-easily-fix-most-problems
According to this article, a reset will keep browsing history, which should allow me to access my lost tabs IF it will also fix my database problem. -
Closed as duplicate. Please continue with the original question [/questions/992628] ~J99
Dear Sir/Madam,
I do hope you are able to assist me - I lodged a query earlier on today and got a response (I've put it below) really quickly and was much appreciated; however it didn't address my query (it seemed to just cover what I had already found on the website and not that I don't have the "Restore" buttons on either my Firefox homepage or on the pull down menu.
If you could let me know how to restore a previous session without either the "Restore" button on the homepage or the pull down Firefox menu, it would be appreciated (Also, I have not changed my settings)
My initial query & reply:
I hope you may be able to assist me - my computer turned off while I was in Firefox and in the past this has been no problem as I always got the page giving me the option to recover my previous open pages. Today however it opened on the Firefox home page. I have tried to recover pages as per help instructions on the Mozilla pages, but on the Firefox home page I don't have the recover previous session button, and when I go to history on the Firefox pull down menu the "Restore previous sessions, Recently Closed Tabs, Recently Closed Options" selections have been disabled.
Could you please let me know how I can recover my previous session?
Thanks and regards, Graeme
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cor-elTop 10 Contributor
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10649 solutions95825 answers
Posted
3/30/14 8:35 PM
You can check browser.sessionstore.* prefs including browser.sessionstore.resume_from_crash on the about:config page and reset browser.sessionstore prefs that are user set (bold) via the right-click context menu to the default value to make sure that Session Restore is enabled and working properly.
•http://kb.mozillazine.org/Session_Restore
•https://support.mozilla.org/kb/restore-previous-session
•http://kb.mozillazine.org/browser.sessionstore.resume_from_crash
Make sure that you do not run Firefox in permanent Private Browsing mode (Never remember history).
•https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Private+Browsing
•Tools > Options > Privacy > Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history"
•Deselect: [ ] "Always use private browsing mode"
In case you are using "Clear history when Firefox closes":
•do not clear the Browsing History
•Tools > Options > Privacy > Firefox will: "Use custom settings for history": [X] "Clear history when Firefox closes" > Settings
•https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Clear+Recent+History
Note that clearing "Site Preferences" clears all exceptions for cookies, images, pop-up windows, software installation, passwords, and other website specific data.Please continue with the original question [/questions/992628]
We are nearly all volunteers and fellow users. Please allow some time to elapse for a reply. -
I don't like anything opening automatically when I start Firefox, so before Firefox 4 I set Firefox to open a blank page when it starts. I still had set a page I visit frequently as my home page, so I could get to that page quickly by pressing the home button. If I needed to close Firefox it was nice and easy to have the option to save my session and close (I've already searched and read another post and answer on how to restore this feature in about:config). I understand that Firefox 4 always saves your session and you can restore it from the history menu, but then I would have to remember if I had anything open and click menu/History/Restore Previous Session.
Now in Firefox 4 I have left the home page set to about:home so if I had tabs open when I closed it I would see the Restore Previous Session "button" the next time I start it. However, when I close all windows and tabs before exiting Firefox, the Restore Previous Session "button" will be sometimes be there. If I click it, it will open a random tab or window that I visited the previous day, which was NOT the last tab/window that I had open.
If I do have tabs open when I close it, it does correctly re-open them when using the Restore Previous Session button, it only does this if I do a clean exit (close all tabs/windows before close).
I tried deleting the sessionstore.js and sessionstore.bak files from my Firefox appdata directory (there were no other sessionstore.* files). This is a clean install of Firefox 4, I didn't install on top of Firefox 3.6.xx. I uninstalled Firefox 3.6.xx before installing and made sure to delete any leftover files in my appdata, programdata and program files directories.I thought about that before and tried it, and it doesn't seem to make a difference. I did it just now, I opened a blank tab and closed everything else, waited a minute then closed Firefox. I waited another minute and launched Firefox. The Restore Previous Session box was there on about:home. I clicked it and it opened a new window with about:home in it.
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How do I make firefox restore previous session every time it crashes?
I really like the "restore previous session" window that shows up sometimes when firefox crashes, being able to pick and choose which tabs and windows to reopen. My question is are there any add-ons or ways of making it so this happens every time I have to reopen firefox? Right now it only does it occasionally, other times it automatically reopens every tab loading them as I go which makes the process of finding which windows I want and getting back up to speed much lengthier. This is quite an annoyance because you'd think after force quiting firefox would default to this every time, but usually it reopens every tab and I have to try and purposely crash the browser hoping I'll get the "restore previous session" window. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Yes, you can. Firefox will try to automatically restore once. If that fails, then it gives you the screen to choose. To prevent automatic restoration and always go straight to that windows/tabs list, change a setting here:
(1) In a new tab, type or paste '''about:config''' in the address bar and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.
(2) In the search box in that tab, type or paste '''sessions''' and pause while the list is filtered
(3) Double-click '''browser.sessionstore.max_resumed_crashes''' and change the 1 to a 0 (a zero) and OK that.
(4) You can close this tab now.
Hopefully you won't need to test it any time soon -- if you are crashing a lot, we should try to figure out how to stop that. -
# Question
v 3.6.13 - what has become of 'Restore previous session'? I've lost track of many topics in tags I had open when I had to shut down in advance of a power down by the electricity co. for day-long maintenence work in my area. Being able to quickly close all tags, knowing one can recover them later is invaluable.See:
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Session_Restore -
Had about 15 windows w/ tabs open. System was a little sluggish and had not been rebooted in weeks so I Quit FIREFOX. Restarted the Mac, then FIREFOX. Option to Restore Previous Session was grayed out. I haven't used that computer since, hoping not to overwrite record of previous session.
I've used the Restore Previous Session feature many times before without any problems.You used the data. Verizon can not see what it was sued for. However your phone can see whats apps used the data. go to settings-data usage- there will be a place that says data usage cycle. line the dates up with your cycle. then there will be a bar graph below that extend bother white bars one all the way to the left and one all the way to the right. after those are extended below that will be a list of apps, there should be one that used over 2 gb and that will show you what app used that data in her purse
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Choice between start new session and restore previous session
I have refused to update firefox since 2.0.0.14. That's mid 2008. The reason? Because EVERY update I have seen has a critical flaw and I am sick of it never having been addressed. Oh, I have tested it many times. I am impatient in general. I have allowed it to update just now for instance with the naive hope that MAYBE you'd put it back the way it should be, and NOPE, you STILL have the critical epic fail that you introduced some time after 2.0.0.14, and I then had to uninstall firefox and reinstall my copy of 2.0.0.14 and restore my passwords and bookmarks from the key3.db and bookmarks.htm files (which also aren't compatible with the later versions, and that's bad too since it was more efficiently done and more comprehensible and more compatible with common knowledge that way, what the hell is a .json file anyway????), and I am sick of it. It's getting harder and harder to use 2.0.0.14, things constantly say snide things like 'upgrade (downgrade) to a modern browser, your browser is not supported', 'you are using md5 for certificate validation, are you insane?', that sort of thing, and things often don't work right, but it is WORTH every bit of it to avoid the critical epic fail.
Ok, enough suspense. That critical epic fail is this: when I start firefox after the previous session crashed (or was killed by the task manager), it does NOT give the NICE CHOICE 2.0.0.14 does between "begin new session" and "restore previous session". It automatically restores the previous session. Do you have any idea how many times I have gone to a webpage only to observe it is infected with a virus which it tries to put on my computer, or just a horrible page with a horrible script that seems to involve an infinite loop or at least something incredibly excessive and inefficiently coded that totally eats up the CPU processing power and I BARELY managed to KILL firefox with the task manager? Do you think I want it to go right back to loading that page when I start firefox again? Do you have the BATSH*T INSANE notion that I should always WANT to restore my previous session? Well I DON'T! I killed it with good reason in the first place. 100% of the time mozilla gets killed by the task manager and 90% of the time it crashes, I don't WANT to restore my previous session. Is there some secret hidden feature representing providing this choice that 2.0.0.14 provided that is by default DISABLED that I can maybe enable, or do I have to continue using 2.0.0.14 and watch as more and more and more things refuse to work with it?
Also, you need to have the "stop" button within reach of the bookmarks and the left side of the address bar, not on the far right of the screen. And I'd also rather not have it be in the same place as the refresh button, though I understand the justification for having the stop button become the refresh button. Is there any way I can also have the "forward, back, stop, refresh" buttons all together and in the most convenient place as they were in 2.0.0.14 while I'm at it?Set the pref browser.sessionstore.max_resumed_crashes to 0 on the about:config page to get the about:sessionrestore page immediately with the first restart after a crash has occurred or the Task Manager was used to close Firefox.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/browser.sessionstore.max_resumed_crashes
That will allow you to deselect the tab(s) that you do not want to reopen, but will allow to reopen other tabs.
See:
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Session_Restore#Restoring_a_session_after_a_crash
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.sessionstore.max_resumed_crashes -
Home Page Search Is Non-Functional / Not Possible to Restore Previous Session
After the latest update (to version 29), Firefox's default home page search bar has been completely non-functional. Whether I type enter or press Search, nothing happens. Another (possibly related) problem is that the "Restore Previous Session" button is never present. I also cannot restore the previous session by clicking on the History option (it is always greyed out).
I had this and other problems with v29. But after a while everything was working
again, I hope. BTW;<BR><BR>
I found that after Firefox v29, a LOT of my settings and add-ons were changed /
reset. Try this;
'''''[https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode Start Firefox in Safe Mode]'''''
<BR>While you are in safe mode;<BR>
'''''Firefox Options > Advanced > General'''''.<BR>
Look for and turn off '''Use Hardware Acceleration'''.
Check ALL of your setting. Then restart. -
Restore previous session often not available when reopen program
About 1/2 the time when I reopen Firefox, the Restore Previous Session command is not available. I have to reconstruct my session from history, which is annoying and time consuming. Has anybody else had and solved this problem with a Mac?
None of your possible conditions apply. I always use Quit to close. I've used the recently closed tabs and that only covers a few. I've had to search through History to restore tabs. I wasn't in Private Browsing Mode and I didn't Clear History on closing. Nice try, though. Thanks.
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I want to disable "restore previous session" and enable "History record" at the same time.
I want to disable "restore previous session" and enable "History record" at the same time.
Because I don't want others to access my account such as "Gmail", "Facebook". But I want firefox to record my browsing history.
What should I do?I managed to remove the "Restore Previous Session" button from the home page by changing my default home page with this : www.google.com/firefox/ (the default home page from the previous versions of Firefox). It worked for me, I hope it works for you too.
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Question
How do you get firefox 4 to save tabs and windows and restore them? Don't say set preferences to open them on startup or use restore previous session under history; those do not work. Or is it no longer possible to save windows and tabs?'''IT'S A EASY AS IT SHOULD BE.'''
This is essentially paulbruster's answer, but I've added the steps some might assume, but which aren't so obvious to those of us who are new at this, like me.
This solution might ''appear'' to be long and complicated, but after you follow the directions once, you'll find it's quick, clean, and simple. Almost like they designed it this way.
# If you haven't already, open a bunch of tabs on a few different subjects.
# Click the List All Tabs button on the right side of the tab strip.
# Select Tab Groups.
# Create a few groups as described [http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/what-are-tab-groups#w_how-do-i-create-a-tab-group here] , i.e. just drag them out of the main thumbnail group into the new groups they create.
# Now click on any thumbnail in any new group, but not the original big default group you may have left some tabs in.
#A regular Firefox window will open, but'' only the tabs in that group will be visible.'' You also now have the Tab Groups button in the tab strip.
# Right click on any tab, and there it is: Bookmark All Tabs. Click on it in the list of options. Or you can hit Ctrl+Shift+D instead and go straight to the dialogue box from the tab without any clicks. But don't go looking for this familiar option anywhere else, 'cause it's not there.
# Now pick an existing folder or create a new one just like you would have before and '''shlpam!''' there they are. New folders are supposed to end up in the Unsorted category all the way at the very bottom, but for some reason mine show up at the bottom of my last sorted category.
# DO NOT CLICK THE UPPER-RIGHTMOST X to close this group of tabs. This will close ALL of your tabs in all groups, currently visible or not. At least it asks if you're sure first. Instead, click your new Tab Groups button to return to the Boxes 'O Thumbnails window, and click the X in the group box you just bookmarked.
# Click on another thumbnail to repeat the process with another group, or click on a thumbnail in the big default box to return to the original FF window. You can also click the Tab Groups button at the upper right, or Ctrl+Shift+E, which will also get you ''into'' the Boxes 'O Nails window ''from'' FF.
# So now when you reopen FF after shutdown, simply select your folder from your Bookmarks and Open All in Tabs. '''Just like paulbruster said. ''' -
When I click the "Restore Previous Session" button on my Firefox home page, nothing happens. It usually restores all of my tabs from the previous session, and now it does nothing.
Hi cor-el
After deleting the file, that bug is solved. HOORAY!
But it seems like it crashes my About:Home page. Now, there's a blank box below the search bar and it is not responding. Can't use it to search etc.
Does this happen to your FF?
Thanks. Much appreciated. -
I want to remove "Restore Previous Session" without disabling crash/tab restore and history
I have checked "Clear history when ff closes" & "Active logins" / "Saved passwords" but nothing.
The options of restoring a session after a crash and reopening an accidentally closed tab are great, but I just can't feel ok that everyone on my pc can restore a whole session with an email (facebook, forum,etc) account logged in with the "Restore Previous Session" "feature", if I forgot to log out before closing Firefox.
For me this is a big privacy issue. Please don't make me switch to Chrome!I managed to remove the "Restore Previous Session" button from the home page by changing my default home page with this : www.google.com/firefox/ (the default home page from the previous versions of Firefox). It worked for me, I hope it works for you too.
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