The Mozilla Firefox browser profile includes all user settings for the browser. The Firefox profile includes browser settings, passwords, certificates, installed extensions, and other user data.

During the installation of the browser on a computer, a user profile is created with the name “Default User” or simply “default”. This folder contains all user browser settings.

There are often situations when several people use the same browser. In this case, you can, of course, switch to another browser, but then you will have to abandon the browser you customized. In addition, one user can have two different profiles, for example, one for personal use, and the other for use for work purposes.

The Mozilla Firefox browser has great amount extensions (they are also called add-ons or plugins), with which you can customize your browser for comfortable use.

Firefox browser users can use different settings and extensions. In order to ensure that when using one browser, each user has his own own settings, you will need to create new profile Mozilla Firefox.

You can create several different profiles in one Mozilla Firefox browser. Each browser profile will have its own settings that specific user will do as he pleases.

In order to create a new Mozilla Firefox browser profile, you will need to launch the Firefox Profile Manager.

Launching Firefox Profile Manager

To launch the profile manager on your computer, you will need to go to the “Start” menu, and in the search field you should enter the following expression - “firefox.exe -ProfileManager”, and then you will need to launch this application, or press the “Enter” button on your keyboard . There should be a space between the word "firefox.exe" and the dash sign.

Also, in order to launch the profile manager, you can enter another expression “firefox –f” in the search field, and then press the “Enter” button on your keyboard. There should also be a space after "firefox".

You can also launch the Mozilla Firefox browser profile manager by entering the full path to the file in the search field:

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -ProfileManager

After this, the profile manager window will open. In the "Firefox - select user profile" window, you can create a new profile in the Mozilla Firefox browser. Here you can create more than one Firefox profile, but several more profiles, as many as you need to have in your browser.

How to create a new Firefox profile

To create a new Mozilla Firefox browser profile, in the Firefox profile manager window, you must click on the “Create...” button.

Then the “Profile Creation Wizard” window will open, in which you need to click on the “Next” button.

In the “Completing the New Profile Wizard” window, you will need to enter a name for the new profile. By default, the new profile is given the name “Default User.” But, usually, the already created profile that was created when installing the browser on the computer will most likely have exactly the same name.

Therefore, the new Mozilla Firefox browser profile should be given a different name. In this image, you can see that I have given the new profile the name “new profile”. You can give the new Firefox profile a name that you want to use.

During the process of creating a profile, you can select a different folder to store the new profile, but I think that this is not necessary.

After creating a new Firefox browser profile, you need to click on the “Finish” button.

Now in the “Firefox - select user profile” window you will see two browser profiles - the old one (Default User) and the new one (new profile).

How to save and restore your profile in Firefox

Firefox browser profiles on Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 operating systems are located in the following path:

C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\profile_name

Before the profile name there is a set of 8 letters and numbers, different for each profile.

You won’t be able to just get to the profile location, since the Mozilla Firefox browser profile, by default, is located in hidden folder. Therefore, you will first need to enable the display of hidden folders on your computer.

If you open the folder where the browser profile is located, you will see that there are various folders and files.

If you need to save the browser profile to install it on another computer, or after reinstalling the operating system, then the Mozilla Firefox profile can be saved and then transferred to a new or different Mozilla browser Firefox.

Renaming a Firefox profile

You can rename the Mozilla Firefox browser profile. To do this, in the profile manager window, you need to select the profile that will need to be renamed, and then click on the “Rename..” button.

In the new “Rename Profile” window, give the profile a new name, and then click on the “OK” button.

After this, in the Mozilla Firefox profile manager window you will see the already changed profile name.

Deleting a Firefox profile

From the Mozilla Firefox browser profile manager window, you can delete a profile if for some reason you no longer need it. To delete a profile, in the “Firefox - select user profile” window, you will need to select the name of the desired profile, and then click on the “Delete...” button.

In the “Delete Profile” window, you will need to click on the “Delete Files” button.

After deleting a browser profile, all settings and user data that were in this profile will be deleted.

Selecting a profile when starting the Mozilla Firefox browser

After adding a new profile, when you launch the Mozilla Firefox browser, the profile manager window will open. In the "Firefox - select user profile" window, you will need to select a profile to launch by highlighting it, and then click on the "Launch Firefox" button.

After this, a browser window will open with the settings of the corresponding profile. If you do not launch another Mozilla Firefox browser profile very often, then you can use only the Firefox profile that you regularly use when starting the browser.

To do this, you will need to select the main browser profile, then activate the “Don’t ask when loading” option, and then click on the “Launch Firefox” button.

After this, the Mozilla Firefox browser will launch immediately in the selected profile, without launching the profile manager first.

If you need to launch a different profile, you will need to launch the Firefox Profile Manager to do so. To do this, you will need to go to the Start menu, then enter the expression “firefox.exe -ProfileManager” in the search field, and then launch the desired browser profile from the profile manager window.

Conclusions of the article

In the Mozilla Firefox browser, you can create a new Firefox browser profile so that your computer can use one browser from different profiles. Using the Firefox profile manager, you can launch the desired browser profile, with your settings and user data.

Mozilla Firefox profile - creating a new profile (video)

Firefox saves your personal information such as bookmarks, passwords, and user preferences in a set of files called yours, which is stored in a separate location from the Firefox program files. You can have multiple Firefox profiles, each containing a separate set of user information. The Profile Manager allows you to create, remove, rename, and switch profiles.

• If you have (or plan to have) multiple installations of Firefox in one computer, see Dedicated profiles per Firefox installation .
• If you are troubleshooting a problem with Firefox: The Refresh Firefox feature can fix many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information. Consider using it before going through a lengthy troubleshooting process.

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Starting the Profile Manager

Manage profiles when Firefox is open

Type about:profiles into the address bar and press the EnterReturn key. This will open the About Profiles page.

The following options are available:

To manage profiles, find the profile you want to change and choose from these buttons underneath that profile:

• Launch profile in new browser: This option is not used to manage profiles. It"s intended for advanced users who have launched Firefox with a special startup command.When you click this button, another Firefox window will open using that profile.

Start the Profile Manager when Firefox is closed

Note: Another way to start the Profile Manager is from the Search box in the Windows Start menu. Close Firefox (if open), press , type firefox.exe -P and press enter.

If the Profile Manager window does not appear, you may need to include the full path to the Firefox program, enclose that line in quotes, then add a space followed by -P. Examples:

Firefox (32-bit) on 64-bit Windows

• "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P

Removing a profile

After starting the Profile Manager as explained above, you can remove an existing profile as follows:

Renaming a profile

After starting the Profile Manager as explained above, you can rename a profile as follows:

1. In the Profile Manager, select the profile to rename, and then click Rename Profile... .
2. Enter the new name for the profile. Type in the new profile name, and click on OK .
   • Note: The folder containing the files for the profile is not renamed.

Options

Work Offline

Choosing this option loads the selected profile and starts Firefox without connecting to the Internet. You can view previously viewed web pages and experiment with your profile.

Use the selected profile without asking at startup

When you have multiple profiles, this option tells Firefox what to do at startup:

• If you check this option, Firefox will automatically load the selected profile at startup. To access other profiles, you must start the Profile Manager first.
• If you uncheck this option, Firefox will show you the Profile Manager each time you start Firefox, so that you can select a profile to use.

All of the changes you make in Firefox, like your home page, what toolbars you use, extensions you have installed, saved passwords and your bookmarks, are all stored in a special folder, called a profile. Your profile folder is stored in a separate place from the Firefox program so that, if something ever goes wrong with Firefox, your information will still be there. It also means you can uninstall Firefox without losing your settings and you don"t have to reinstall Firefox to clear your information or troubleshoot a problem.

Table of Contents

How do I find my profile?

Click the menu button, click Help and select Troubleshooting Information. From the Help menu, choose Troubleshooting Information. The Troubleshooting Information tab will open.

• Under the Application Basics section, click on Open Folder Show in Finder Open Directory. A window will open that contains your profile folder.Your profile folder will open.

Finding your profile without opening Firefox

Firefox stores your profile folder in this location on your computer, by default:
C:\Users\ \AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\
Windows hides the AppData folder by default but you can find your profile folder as follows:

1. From the Start Screen, click the Desktop tile. The Desktop view will open.
2. From the Desktop, hover in the lower right-hand corner to access the Charms.
3. Select the Search charm. The Search sidebar will open.
4. In the search box, type in:
   %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\
   without pressing Enter. A list of profile folders will appear.
5. Click on the profile folder you wish to open (it will open in a window). If you only have one profile, its folder would have "default" in the name.

1. Click the Finder icon in the dock. On the menu bar, click the Go menu, hold down the option or alt key and select Library . A window will open containing your Library folder.
2. Open the Application Support folder, then open the Firefox folder, and then the Profiles folder.
3. Your profile folder is within this folder. If you only have one profile, its folder would have "default" in the name.

1. (Ubuntu) Click the Places menu on the top right of the screen and select Home Folder. A File Browser window will appear.
2. Click the View menu and select Show Hidden Files if it isn't already checked.
3. Double click the folder marked .mozilla .
4. Double click the folder marked firefox . Your profile folder is within this folder. If you only have one profile, its folder would have "default" in the name.

What information is stored in my profile?

Note: This is not a complete list. Only important information is described.

• Bookmarks, Downloads and Browsing History: The places.sqlite file contains all your Firefox bookmarks and lists of all the files you"ve downloaded and websites you've visited. The bookmarkbackups folder stores bookmark backup files, which can be used to restore your bookmarks. The favicons.sqlite file contains all of the favicons for your Firefox bookmarks. For more information, see Bookmarks in Firefox and Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer .
• Passwords: Your passwords are stored in the key4.db and logins.json files. For more information, see Password Manager - Remember, delete, change and import saved passwords in Firefox.
• Site-specific preferences: The permissions.sqlite and content-prefs.sqlite files store many of your Firefox permissions (for instance, which sites are allowed to display popups) or zoom levels that are set on a site-by-site basis (see Font size and zoom - increase the size of web pages).
• Search engines: The search.json.mozlz4 file stores user-installed search engines. For more information, see Add or remove a search engine in Firefox.
• Personal dictionary: The persdict.dat file stores any custom words you have added to Firefox's dictionary. For more information, see How do I use the Firefox spell checker? .
• Autocomplete history: The formhistory.sqlite file remembers what you have searched for in the Firefox search bar and what information you’ve entered into forms on websites. For more information, see Control whether Firefox automatically fills in forms .
• Cookies: A cookie is a bit of information stored on your computer by a website you’ve visited. Usually this is something like your site preferences or login status. Cookies are all stored in the cookies.sqlite file.
• DOM storage: DOM Storage is designed to provide a larger, more secure, and easier-to-use alternative to storing information in cookies. Information is stored in the webappsstore.sqlite file for websites and in the chromeappsstore.sqlite for about:* pages.
• Extensions: The extensions folder, if it exists, stores files for any extensions you have installed. To learn more about Firefox extensions and other add-ons, see Find and install add-ons to add features to Firefox.
• Security certificate settings: The cert9.db file stores all your security certificate settings and any SSL certificates you have imported into Firefox.
• Security device settings: The pkcs11.txt file stores security module configuration.
• Download actions: The handlers.json file stores your preferences that tell Firefox what to do when it comes across a particular type of file. For example, these are the settings that tell Firefox to open a PDF file with Acrobat Reader when you click on it. For more information, see Change what Firefox does when you click on or download a file .
• Stored session: The sessionstore.jsonlz4 file stores the currently open tabs and windows. For more information, see Restore previous session - Configure when Firefox shows your most recent tabs and windows .
• Toolbar customization: The xulstore.json file stores toolbar and window size/position settings. For more information, see

What are profiles in Mozilla Firefox? This is a collection of settings and user information. Firefox can be launched with a specific profile and then Firefox will have its own settings, plugins, external display, etc. It's almost like having Firefox installed and configured separately.

This way you can create profiles for different users or for one user, but for different tasks.

For example, I needed profiles:

1. for everyday work on the Internet - social media, authorization on the necessary sites, necessary bookmarks, your own visiting history;
2. for work - this is authorization, remembering authorization on specific sites. Authorization of other accounts on social networks, etc.
3. for mom :) Link to classmates in bookmarks in the most visible place and login with memorization on the same site :)

Application may vary.

So what exactly is stored in profiles:

• Bookmarks and browsing history
• Passwords
• Special site settings
• Search engines
• Personal dictionary
• Autofill fields
• Cookies
• Security certificate settings
• File Type Management
• User styles

Also, for each profile you can set your own design and add-ons installed in Firefox in the current profile will also be available only in this profile.

How to manage Firefox profiles?

To do this, you need to launch Firefox with the parameter. You can do this, Start -> Run and then enter (before this you will need to close all open Firefox windows, otherwise execution next command will simply lead to launching the browser, not the profile manager)

firefox.exe -ProfileManager

I just want to note that the checkboxes in the window affect the current launch of the browser. Work autonomously - means that the browser will work autonomously (with) CEP.

If you select any of the profiles and check the “Do not ask at startup” checkbox, then the next time you launch the browser without specifying a profile, it will start with the selected profile. If you uncheck the box, you will be prompted to select each time you start the browser. personal profile. If you checked the “Do not ask at startup” checkbox, but then you need to change the profile that is loaded by default, you will need to start the profile manager again, as described above, and set the necessary settings.

Where is the profile stored? On Windows XP my files are stored here. One profile - one folder, for example zwv9xv8q.lampdevru.

C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Mozilla\\Profiles

You can also open the profile folder by doing the following: select the menu item Help -> Troubleshooting information or in a new tab in the address bar we write about: support, the page loads, we see the following

How to launch Firefox with the desired profile?

To do this, the executable file must be launched with the parameter -p profilename. For example, you can create a shortcut and set the following in the “Object” property

How to transfer mozilla firefox. After switching to, after reinstalling the system, or you need to transfer the browser with all the settings to other computers. Today I will tell you how to do this. Let's consider, in my opinion, the simplest option.

Transferring the Mozilla Firefox browser

I’ll show you using the example of transferring from Windows to Linux Debian. We will transfer the entire profile along with plugins, bookmarks, certificates, settings, passwords, cache, cookies, etc. As a result, you will open the browser in the form in which you copied it at the time of transfer.

Copy the profile folder from Windows

If firefox was installed by default, then you need to open the folder in the following path:

C:/Users/System username/AppData/Roaming/Mozilla/Fireox/Profiles/t11n5wpzl.default

If you don't know where the browser is installed. For example, installed on another disk. You can open Mozilla settings. To do this, click the settings menu (the button at the top right with three horizontal stripes). And click on the icon with question mark at the bottom.

In the menu that opens, select “Information for solving problems”

On the page that opens. In the Profile Folder section, click the Open Folder button.

The profile folder will open.

The “t11n5wpzl.default” folder will be called differently in your case. This is exactly the firefox user profile directory. We copy it to any convenient place on a disk or flash drive. It’s better to create an archive so it will be more convenient to work in the future. You can now copy the contents of a folder on another system.

Transferring the profile to the computer with the system

Now let's look at how to do this in Debian (it's the same in any other distribution). We install and Russify. Open the profile folder. It is located in the user's directory.

~/home/Username/.mozilla/firefox/i8u5wobv.default

This directory is hidden so that it appears in file manager turn on display hidden files. This can be done by pressing the key combination “Ctrl+h”. Or, by opening the “viewing options”, check the “Show hidden files” flag.

To get to this directory you can use the same method as in Windows.

Open and delete everything that is there. Then we copy into it the contents of the folder that we are transferring from another system. Now launch the browser and use it.