Updating Firefox creates a new install of FF instead of update

[chris_alife]

When I get an update notification that includes Firefox, and I update, a new tab or window then says "Restart FF to keep using FF".

But restarting doesn't work as expected, it closes the open session successfully, all tabs and windows, but fails to re-open.
Then when I open FF, it's a fresh install, I'm logged out of my FF account and all other accounts, there's no session or history in the browser, the FF start page shortcuts are back to default with trash like facebook, twitter etc.

Today I was in the middle of something and had a bunch of tabs open including github, youtube, email, and more to complete said task, and logging back into all these services with 2FA is going to take more time than I am willing to commit. All because of a firefox software update process that is borked and has been for years.

Why is this happening and how can I avoid it in the future? I nearly threw a PC through a window just now.

[gapan]

Something probably went wrong with restarting. I have never used that "Restart FF" option. I just close firefox and start it myself.

Anyway, a new profile was probably created due to that failed restart. Open a terminal and run:

Code: Select all

firefox -ProfileManager

Choose the old profile and check the box to make that the default.

[laprjns]

I had the same problem here on multiple systems.

Something probably went wrong with restarting. I have never used that "Restart FF" option. I just close Firefox and start it myself.

Good to know, I will be doing this in the future.