I had to create a new profile in Firefox and now, I can't access important data such as bookmarks which I desperately need.

Question

After two days of not being able to open Firefox, I found an article on this website which suggested that I create a new profile. I followed the instructions (which never stated that I should first backup Firefox or my old profile) After creating the new profile, Firefox is once again working fine but, I am unable to access important data such as bookmarks and history.
I have followed several suggestion on this website but, I am still unable to find my old profile content.

Answer 1

As long as you did not uninstall Firefox and remove personal data, your old profile still should be in the same location. Depending on how messed up it was, here are two options:
'''(1) Use the profile manager to start Firefox up in your old profile and create a fresh bookmarks backup.''' If it didn't run, this won't be useful.
To start in a different profile, Exit out of Firefox and start it up from the Start menu, search box, using
firefox.exe -P
Your old profile may have a name like default.
Then you can create a fresh backup or export of your bookmarks (or both) to a neutral location (e.g., the Documents folder). These articles have the steps for creating these files:
* [[Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer]]
* [[Export Firefox bookmarks to an HTML file to back up or transfer bookmarks]] (note: does not preserve tags you have assigned to bookmarks, if any)
Exit Firefox, use the profile manager to return to your new profile, then you can either restore the bookmark backup or import the HTML file. The difference is that a restore completely replaces whatever exists now, while an import adds to what you have now.
* [[Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer]]
* [[Import Bookmarks from an HTML file]]
Success?
'''(2) Restore an old bookmark backup.''' Firefox creates these files regularly, but it might not be perfectly complete.
To access the old files, I suggest starting from your current (new) profile folder. You can open that from within Firefox using either:
* "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
* (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
* type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter
In the first table on the page, click the "Show Folder" button. This should launch a new window showing your ''current'' settings files. Using the address bar of that window, click up to the Profiles folder level and then double-click into your old profile folder, then into its bookmarkbackups folder. Copy the latest backup file to a neutral location (such as your Documents folder).
Back in Firefox, try to restore the older backup. Note: this will completely replace your bookmarks in this profile, so if you have saved new bookmarks you want to save, please perform the optional steps in the following list:
* Optional (preserve new bookmarks): [[Export Firefox bookmarks to an HTML file to back up or transfer bookmarks]]
* [[Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer]] - use Choose File to go to your Documents folder to get the old backup
* Optional (add new bookmarks to the restored set): [[Import Bookmarks from an HTML file]]
Success?