Profiles in Firefox
Your personal information that includes passwords, user preferences, and bookmarks are saved in some files that are commonly referred as your profile. Firefox stores these files in a separate location away from the program files.
Profile: Any changes that are made while using the browser are stored in these files (profile). Firefox uses this information the next time the user launches the Firefox. These changes include things what websites you have visited, changes that you have done to the toolbar or your home page and specific terms that you have entered into the search box. Firefox stores all this information in one location called the profile folder. These files are not stored in program files but are kept separately in a different location, which don't change.
This means that even after uninstalling Firefox, you do not loose your settings and if something goes terrible wrong with your browser, your information remains there. There is also no need to reinstall Firefox to troubleshoot a problem or clear your information. You can also see the files stored in the profile folder, view profile folder contents.
Locating your Profile: Every profile is kept in the profile folder on the hard drive. The default location of Mozilla Firefox profile is Mozilla/Firefox/xxxxxxxx.default/. xxxxxxxx is a string of eight characters.
If you are using Ubuntu version of Linux then do the following to locate the file. Click view menu and then select the option 'show hidden files' if it is not already checked.
3] Double click on the folder that is marked Mozilla.
4] Double click on the folder that is marked Firefox. All your profile folders are inside this folder.
Making changes in your profile: Advance users may want to make some users in their profile or you may be advised to make changes for fixing a problem that you are facing with Mozilla Firefox.
Managing your profile: Managing profile involves creating a new profile and deleting an old one. In Firefox, you are allowed to create multiple profiles. Each profile contains a different set of user information. ‘Using multiple profiles' are basically advanced features that are intended for extension developers. Unless you are troubleshooting a problem with Firefox or an advanced user, you must avoid using multiple profiles. At any time, only one profile remains active. With the help of Firefox profile manager, you are able to create, rename, and remove profiles.
To start the profile manager do the following steps:
1] Exit Firefox. For closing Firefox, select File menu and then choose the Quit option.
2] Open Applications menu, select Accessories and then choose terminal. A terminal window then opens up.
3] In terminal window, type the following: Firefox- Profile Manager and then press 'Enter'.
For starting the 'Create profile wizard', click on 'create profile’ in profile manager
2] Click next and then enter the name that you want to give to your profile. Use a descriptive profile name and not abbreviations. You can use your personal name.
3] You can also select a location where you would like to store your profile, which is indeed very useful, if you are thinking of exporting your data to another computer in future. To choose the storage location, click on 'choose folder'.
4] For creating the new profile, don't forget to click on Finish button.
5] The new profile is then created and displayed in Profile Manager.
Renaming a Profile:
1] Select the profile that you want to rename in profile manager and then click the 'Rename profile' button.
2] Enter the new name that you want to give to your profile. Type your new profile name and then click on OK button.
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