So you’ve got a brand new Windows machine. Congratulations! But now comes the nasty moment: the Firefox profile migration.
Now you need to transfer your browser profile to your new computer. Where to start, right? Well, nothing to worry about. It’s not as difficult as you might think.
In this post, you will learn how to copy Firefox settings from one computer to another. You can create a Firefox account and use it to sync data across devices, but this article is for those who prefer to store their personal data locally.
Why copy my Firefox profile to a new computer?
This is not technically necessary. You can go about your business and use Mozilla Firefox without any problems right out of the box.
But for some users, it just doesn’t work. Some users spend time and effort tweaking their web browsers to suit their workflow.
They load add-ons and save the settings that suit them best. They need to open Firefox with all of its settings intact so they can get to work.
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Transferring settings from your old computer means immediate access to your bookmarks, history, passwords (if any) and add-ons.
It also helps to recover important data. No need to re-download or reconfigure anything.
How to transfer a Firefox
What you’ll need: Access to your old and new computer, and a USB stick.
Note. For this tutorial, we will be using Windows 10. However, the migration process should be the same for older versions of Windows.
Back up old Firefox settings
First, log into your old computer and make sure you close Firefox.
Right-click the Start button. Click Search and type % appdata% before hitting Enter.
This will open the AppData folder where Firefox data is saved along with data for other applications.
Right-click the Mozilla folder and choose Copy.
Plug in your USB drive if you haven’t already. You can also use other forms of read / write enabled storage devices.
Paste Mozilla settings to memory stick. Pull the USB stick out carefully and disconnect the device.
File Transfer
Open a new computer and connect your external storage device. Make sure Firefox is closed again.
Copy the files to an external hard drive.
As before, open the AppData folder. This time, instead of copying, paste the Mozilla folder here.
Note. If the Mozilla folder has already appeared before you pasted the old one, first delete the existing one.
If successful, your new computer should be ready to use your old Firefox settings.
Firefox configuration
The final step is basically a request from Mozilla to recognize the new settings you added to the AppData folder.
Open the search again and type firefox.exe -p , then press Enter.
The Firefox “Select User Profile” window opens.
You have three main options to choose from: Create Profile, Rename Profile, and Delete Profile. Since we are creating a new default profile, select Create Profile.
A new window will appear, New Profile Wizard. Click Next to get started.
On the next screen, you will be prompted to create a new profile name (ignore the existing profile). Enter a name or leave the default as is.
Click Select Folder. Double check the folder location is correct. Firefox should be pointed to the default location:
C: Users YOUR PC USER AppData Roaming Mozilla Firefox Profiles
If everything is ok, click Finish to exit the wizard. All that’s left is to select the newly created profile, exit “Select User Profile” and launch Firefox.
You can now enjoy using Firefox with the imported settings applied.
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