Where Firefox stores your bookmarks

Updated 18 October 2026

Firefox keeps your bookmarks in a file called places.sqlite inside your profile folder, together with your browsing history. On Windows 10 and 11 the profiles live in %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles, and the quickest way to open yours is about:support > Profile Folder > Open Folder.

Profile folders by system

Each profile is a folder named with eight random characters and a name, such as a1b2c3d4.default-release. With a single profile, it’s the one with default in its name. On Linux, if the folder in the table isn’t there, try ~/.config/mozilla/firefox (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mozilla/firefox): current Firefox releases create new profiles there when no ~/.mozilla/firefox folder exists yet. about:support always shows the real path.

Open your profile folder

1. Type about:support in the address bar, or click the menu button > Help and Report (Help in older versions) > More troubleshooting information.
2. Under Application Basics, find Profile Folder and click Open Folder. On a Mac the button is Show in Finder; on Linux the row is Profile Directory with Open Directory.

Without opening Firefox: on Windows, press Win+R, type %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ and click OK. On a Mac, open Finder’s Go menu, hold Option, choose Library and go to Application Support > Firefox > Profiles. On Linux, show hidden files in your home folder and open .mozilla > firefox.

Several profiles? Find the one in use

about:profiles lists every profile with its Root Directory and Local Directory, and marks the current one with “This is the profile in use and it cannot be deleted.” Your bookmarks are in the Root Directory. Firefox creates a profile for each installation, so a reinstall can leave an older folder that still holds your bookmarks. Recovering deleted bookmarks covers switching back to it.

The bookmark files

Can you open places.sqlite?

A text editor shows nothing useful: it’s an SQLite database that Firefox has open while it runs, and Mozilla’s steps for working with it start by closing Firefox. When the file is damaged, Mozilla’s fix is to rename it. Firefox then builds a new one and fills it from the latest file in bookmarkbackups, so your bookmarks come back as of that backup and your history is lost.

To read your bookmarks outside Firefox, export them to HTML, or drop a file from bookmarkbackups into our Firefox backup converter and browse the result in the bookmarks viewer.

Back up or move the files

• Bookmarks only: the Library’s Export Bookmarks to HTML… or Backup… (how to export).
• The whole profile: close Firefox and copy the profile folder somewhere safe. Mozilla notes that profiles don’t always move between operating systems; from Linux to Windows, for example, you may only be able to carry over the bookmark and password files.
• Into another profile: with Firefox closed, a copied places.sqlite replaces that profile’s bookmarks and history.

Are they in the cloud too?

Only with Firefox Sync. Signed in to a Mozilla account with Bookmarks ticked, Firefox also keeps a copy with Mozilla so your other devices get them. Sync follows every change, deletes included, so keep a file backup as well. On Android and iPhone, Sync is also how phone bookmarks reach a computer, where they appear in the Mobile Bookmarks folder.