All my profiles and logins are gone Windows

[spvdh]

Issue
At complete random all my Brave profiles disappeared including any logged-in information.

how it happened
I did check %appdata% map with user profiles, everything is still there. But upon opening Brave it just goes to 1 profile, which is also logged out of every website etc. It happened completely at random after closing Brave. I reopened it 5 minutes later expecting the page where I could pick a profile, but it just went to the basic new tab page.

Version 1.74.50 Chromium: 132.0.6834.111 (Official build) (64-bit)

observations
I additionally made a back-up of the whole user profiles map, reset all settings in Brave, Reïnstalled brave, and re-added my back-up to the map. The issue persists. Strangely enough the profile button is missing.

How can I restore my profiles?

[spvdh]

It is worse then I thought, every time I restart brave, I need to log in again on every account. Brave is completely broken and I changed nothing except for the reinstall after the problem already occured.

[289wk]

The Brave Browser executable, brave.exe, is located in one of:

64 architecture

• "C:\Program Files\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe"

x86 architecture

• "C:\Program Files(x86)\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe""

---

For the following Changed Paths, the switches are intended to:

• Start up Brave Browser, showing a New Private Window [–incognito]
• Disable all experiments at brave://flags [–no-experiments]
• Disable extensions [–disable-extensions]
• Disable hardware (GPU) ie Graphic Acceleration [–disable-gpu]
• Enable leak detection and if that failure occurs, then crash the browser [–enable-leak-detection --crash-on-failure are a combo]
• Produce error/log output to a file named ‘brave_console_out.txt’ on the Windows OS Desktop

Changed Paths:

64 architecture (change the path to):

"C:\Program Files\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe" --incognito --no-experiments --disable-extensions --disable-gpu --enable-leak-detection --crash-on-failure 2> %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\brave_console_out.txt

x86 architecture (note the switches to add):

"C:\Program Files(x86)\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe" --incognito --no-experiments --disable-extensions --disable-gpu --enable-leak-detection --crash-on-failure 2> %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\brave_console_out.txt

Notice that the existing path, BEFORE the additions, is enclosed by double-quote marks. And, everything added to the existing path, is located after the existing path.

---

If Brave Browser starts up and keeps running, then, in a New Window go to:

brave://local-state/

Search for:

That is the beginning of the Local State stored information about your Brave Browser Profiles.

Compare, make note of, the Profiles info that you find there.

---

The initial Brave Browser Profile (aka Profile 1), created during the installation of Brave Browser, is within the Default folder:

C:\Users[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\

---

If you create 1 additional Profile (aka Profile 2), it will be stored in folder Profile 1:

C:\Users[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 1\

If you create a 2nd additional Profile (aka Profile 3), it will be stored in folder Profile 2:

C:\Users[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 2\

---

Your Brave Browser Profiles; respective entries in the Local State file:

C:\Users[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Local State

should resemble each other “in spirit.”

You may need to spend time comparing the contents of the Profile folders (Default, Profile 1, Profile 2, etc.).

---

Let’s say, that you set aside the old BraveSoftware folder, and run a fresh install of Brave Browser. (Yes, you already did that.)

Let’s say, you have existing Profiles: Profile 1 (in folder “Default”), Profile 2 (in folder “Profile 1”), Profile 3 (in folder “Profile 2”) that were set aside within the old BraveSoftware folder.

BEFORE TRYING TO REPLACE the fresh Brave Browser installation’s BraveSoftware folder with your old BraveSoftware folder . . .

Using the Settings of the fresh Brave Browser installation, create the additional Profiles: Profile 2 and Profile 3

Open a New Window for Profile 2; and then close that window.

Open a New Window for Profile 3; and then close that window.

So all three fresh, new Profile folders: Default, Profile 1, Profile 2 are present in their proper locations within the fresh BraveSoftware folder.

Exit / Quit Brave Browser.

Replace only 1 Profile folder at-a-time, swapping out the fresh, new Profile folder for the old Profile folder, and then run Brave Browser in order to see if the old Profile is recognized.

---

PS. I would not try to replace the fresh, new Brave Browser installation’s BraveSoftware folder with your old BraveSoftware folder.

---

[spvdh]

[STEP 1] The executable isn’t located in these maps. It is located in %APPDATA% on my PC. Not Program files. It only has a TEMP map in program files and crash reports.

But I did change the path for my 64 architecture.

[step 2] looking for profile I found:

   },
   "profile": {
      "add_person_enabled": {
         "metadata": [ "default", "user_modifiable", "extension_modifiable" ],
         "value": true

 "profile": {
         "name": {
            "migrated": {
               "metadata": [ "user_controlled", "user_modifiable", "extension_modifiable" ],
               "value": true

 },
            "Profile 1": {
               "active_time": 1737808241.187867,
               "avatar_icon": "chrome://theme/IDR_PROFILE_AVATAR_77",
               "background_apps": false,
               "default_avatar_fill_color": -9761,
               "default_avatar_stroke_color": -2555870,
               "force_signin_profile_locked": false,
               "gaia_id": "",
               "is_consented_primary_account": false,
               "is_ephemeral": false,
               "is_using_default_avatar": false,
               "is_using_default_name": false,
               "managed_user_id": "",
               "metrics_bucket_index": 2,
               "name": "Salesprojecten",
               "profile_color_seed": -806210,
               "profile_highlight_color": -9761,
               "shortcut_name": "Salesprojecten",
               "signin.with_credential_provider": false,
               "use_gaia_picture": false,
               "user_name": ""
            }
         }

It recognizes 2 profiles, as I added a 'new ’ one as a test.

In my User Data folder however (C:\Users\simon\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data), there is Profile 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and default.

So currently there is a massive gap. Now trying to refresh and one by one replace the folders.

So after attempt 1 a new folder Profile 2 appeared, I replaced the contents, with the contents in Profile 8 (which indeed was my former profile). Which has my old bookmarks etc. but Brave, once more did not load them in.