Firefox history file locations
2026-05-19 · 1 min
Firefox stores everything in a randomly named profile folder (e.g.
xxxxxxxx.default-release) under Profiles/.
Profile folder by operating system
Windows
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\cache2
macOS
/Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/<profile>
/Users/<username>/Library/Caches/Firefox/Profiles/<profile>/cache2
Linux
/home/<username>/.mozilla/firefox/<profile>
/home/<username>/.cache/mozilla/firefox/<profile>/cache2
What each file holds
| File | Format | Where inside |
|---|---|---|
places.sqlite | SQLite | History (moz_places, moz_historyvisits), bookmarks (moz_bookmarks), downloads (moz_annos) |
cookies.sqlite | SQLite | moz_cookies |
formhistory.sqlite | SQLite | moz_formhistory |
favicons.sqlite | SQLite | moz_icons |
logins.json | JSON | Saved credentials (encrypted) |
sessionstore.jsonlz4 / recovery.jsonlz4 | mozLz4 + JSON | Open & recently closed tabs |
prefs.js | Text | Browser settings |
Timestamps
Firefox stores times as microseconds since the Unix epoch
(1970‑01‑01 UTC). Drop places.sqlite or a .jsonlz4 session file on the
home page — the parser decodes both automatically.
Reference: Foxton Forensics — Firefox history location.