How to Find Bookmarks in Firefox (and Restore Lost Ones)

How to Find Bookmarks in Firefox, and Get Back Ones That Disappeared

Search from the address bar

Click the address bar and type an asterisk, a space and your query—for example, * sourdough starter. Firefox then limits suggestions to bookmarks instead of mixing in ordinary history and web suggestions. Bookmarked results display a star.

Try a site or domain such as * mozilla or * nytimes when the article title is forgotten. Tags can match too. Firefox documents bookmark-only search in its official bookmarks guide.

Open the bookmarks sidebar

Press Ctrl+B on Windows or Linux and Command+B on macOS. If another sidebar tool is showing, select Bookmarks, then use its search field.

The sidebar keeps the current page visible and works well when you know the likely folder. Reserve it for active collections: ten links for a current trip are scannable; years of links in “Useful” are not.

Search the Library

Open the Firefox menu, choose Bookmarks, then Manage bookmarks. The shortcuts are Ctrl+Shift+O on Windows or Linux and Command+Shift+O on macOS.

Use the Library to search displayed names, inspect addresses, move bookmarks, edit names and tags, sort entries or remove old saves. It is the better view when the address bar returns too many similar pages or when you want to clean up after finding the right one.

Bookmarks toolbar missing?

Press Ctrl+Shift+B on Windows or Linux, or Command+Shift+B on macOS, to show or hide the Bookmarks Toolbar. To choose when it appears, open the menu, select More tools, then Customize Toolbar, open the Toolbars dropdown and pick Always Show, Never Show or Only Show on New Tab.

Bookmarks you did not put in a folder may sit in Other Bookmarks. Firefox shows that folder at the right end of the toolbar when it has anything in it, and you can also open it in the Library.

Firefox bookmarks disappeared? How to get them back

Check these in order before you restore anything:

Right profile. An update or reinstall can open Firefox with a new, empty profile. Type about:profiles in the address bar and open your older profile to see whether the bookmarks are there.
Sync. If you use Firefox Sync, sign in on this computer and wait for it to finish. Mozilla notes that Sync keeps devices the same and is not a backup: a deletion syncs too.
Automatic backups. Firefox saves dated bookmark backups on its own. Open the Library (Ctrl+Shift+O), select Import and Backup, then Restore, and choose a date from before the bookmarks went missing.

Restoring replaces all your current bookmarks with the ones in the backup. If you added bookmarks since then, first make a manual backup with Import and Backup, then Backup. To merge an old set with your current one instead, use Import Bookmarks from HTML with an HTML backup file. Deleted browsing history is a separate problem, covered in how to see deleted browser history. X users hit the same scare after app updates; there, what happened to bookmarks on X comes down to where the menu put them.

Where Firefox stores bookmarks

Bookmarks live in your Firefox profile folder, in a file called places.sqlite, and the automatic backups sit next to it in a folder called bookmarkbackups. To open the profile folder, type about:support in the address bar and select Open Folder next to Profile Folder. On Windows the profiles are under %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles.

You rarely need to touch these files. The Library's Restore option reads the same backups for you.

Search what Firefox actually stored

A bookmark stores an address and displayed name, plus tags if you add them. It does not normally store searchable page text. You may remember a paragraph about a leaking tap while the title says “Five Weekend Plumbing Jobs”; searching the remembered phrase may therefore fail. If you never bookmarked the page at all, finding a website you visited before starts from your browser history instead.

Also check whether the link went into Firefox, another browser profile, a reading app or a message to yourself before rebuilding folders. The broader process is covered in how to remember where you saved something. If the link was saved in Chrome or on your phone, follow these steps to find a saved link in Chrome.

Rename only important bookmarks

When clicking the star, replace vague or promotional titles with the words you expect to recall:

“The Ultimate Guide for Beginners” → “Repair scratched wood table”
“Issue 48” → “Newsletter about choosing induction pans”

The address stays the same. Rename only meaningful pages; doing this for every casual save creates enough friction to discourage saving.

Use a small tag vocabulary

A chair-repair guide might use woodwork and house; a restaurant might use Lisbon and trip. Reuse a handful of broad tags rather than inventing a new one for each item. Avoid near-duplicates such as recipe, recipes, cooking and food unless each serves a distinct purpose.

Edit tags from the bookmark star or the Library.

Keep folders shallow

Folders work best for real activities such as “Current renovation,” “Tax return” and “Japan trip.” Deep subject trees create ambiguous choices: a kitchen light might belong under House, Electrical, Shopping, Design or Repairs. Keep a few top-level folders, rely on search for the rest, and archive or remove project links when the work ends. If folders never stick for you, you may simply be a piler; what filers and pilers each give up explains the tradeoff.

When the page is broken

Finding a bookmark does not guarantee the publisher kept the page. Search the site for its title, then search the web for a distinctive title phrase. Update or remove irrelevant redirects. A bookmark preserves an address, not a permanent copy; when a saved link will not open, locating the record and recovering the content are separate tasks.

Browser bookmarks, read-later apps, self-messages, folders and tags all work until their collections outgrow the way you search them. Pick one primary destination for long-term material instead of creating more disconnected places to inspect.

FAQ

How do I search only my bookmarks in Firefox?

Type an asterisk and a space in the address bar, then your word, for example * recipe. Firefox then shows only bookmarks. You can also open the menu, select Bookmarks and choose Search bookmarks.

How do I see all my bookmarks in Firefox?

Open the Library with Ctrl+Shift+O, or Command+Shift+O on macOS, and select All Bookmarks. The sidebar (Ctrl+B) shows them too.

Why did my Firefox bookmarks disappear after an update?

Often Firefox opened a different profile. Check about:profiles first. If the bookmarks are really gone, restore them from an automatic backup in the Library.

Can Firefox search the text inside bookmarked pages?

No. It searches the bookmark name, address and tags. If you remember an idea from the page, search your history or rename important bookmarks with the words you will remember.