Issues backing up / restoring Brave Browser Profile on Linux

[fmarier]

Thanks again for the follow-up tests Michael. Apologies again for the delay, I was on vacation when you wrote back.

@mdlueck

And here is where it gets interesting… there are a handful of passwords that Brave Browser flat out skipped migrating. I am guessing that is what happened to “one of my two always open” websites the first time I attempted the migration. There are no unique characters in the passwords, not an unusually short or long password (typical is between a length of 8 to 16). I think this is the only area that deserves continued looking into. How may I assist in this investigation seeking a solution?

Just to double-check, what you did here is the following?

1. Export all passwords in Firefox to a CSV file.
2. Import the CSV file into Brave.

I want to make sure that we’re talking about an import bug in Brave (as opposed to an export bug in Brave).

Secondly, since you have a handful of passwords that don’t import, I would suggest narrowing down the test case to make this easier to debug:

1. Take your CSV file exported from Firefox.
2. Remove any FTP passwords that will of course not import in Brave.
3. Remove all of the passwords that have been imported successfully in Brave, except for one.

What you should end up with is a CSV file which contains only a few lines:

• the CSV header
• a single password that imports fine
• the handful of passwords that don’t work

Once you have that file, please try to import it in a new Brave profile to confirm that there’s still just one password that can be imported.

[mdlueck]

Greetings fmarier

Just to double-check, what you did here is the following?

No, the first time I started up Brave Browser, I fully went into the browser’s newly created bare profile, then imported settings from my primary Mozilla Firefox profile. That process missed passwords… I came up with three ways it lost passwords… two of which were explained away as a non-issue, the third set is the troubling set.

I would think this qualifies as a bug against Brave Browser’s Mozilla Firefox settings import / harvest capability.

Thoughts?

I am thankful,
Michael

[fmarier]

Ok, so earlier you were trying to make it work by exporting a CSV file and then importing it in Brave, but in this last attempt you used the automatic import feature?

[mdlueck]

Greetings fmarier

I was trying to figure out where passwords were coming up missing doing the Mozilla Firefox to Brave Browser settings migration… that is how I began exporting password CSV files, observing the password count dropping. I was surprised not to see the same number of passwords.

I am thankful,
Michael

[fmarier]

Ok, let’s start with the CSV import problem. That might point to the real problem with the Firefox import feature in Brave.

Could you do the following to make sure that the bug is “stable”:

1. Take your CSV file exported from Firefox.
2. Remove any FTP passwords that will of course not import in Brave.
3. Remove all of the passwords that have been imported successfully in Brave, except for one.

What you should end up with is a CSV file which contains only a few lines:

• the CSV header
• a single password that imports fine
• the handful of passwords that don’t work

Once you have that file, please try to import it in a new Brave profile to confirm that there’s still just one password that can be imported.

[mdlueck]

Greetings fmarier

I appreciate your detailed test instructions!

All right, I will resume this three weeks out when I am back from travel.

I am thankful,
Michael