Lost all saved passwords and logged out upon "brave closing unexpectedly"

Browser Support Desktop Support
, ,
1

Brave version 1.80.113, up to date as of 7/1/2025
Hello,
I woke up this morning to a pop up of brave saying it closed unexpectedly with the frown, and asked me for a certain permission to do something which I by instinct pressed decline to without reading.
After which, upon checking my passwords, all were deleted and i was logged out of most sites

I dont remember updating anything, not by purpose, all that I know might have to do with it was that pop up I clicked decline to, I dont know what to do

TLDR:, all passwords/accounts deleted after clicking decline “decline or accept” on some official brave pop up asking me for a permission i didnt read in time after “brave closed unexpectedly” I do not have sync, did not update anything, would like to know if theres anything I can do asap.
Been using Brave for a while, time on this device. (one of four) First time happening

Screenshot 2025-07-01 111448
Screenshot 2025-07-01 111448785×152 136 KB

Thanks in advance

2

Hello - Are you on Windows? Are you running Brave as an Administrator?

Do you have any recent crash logs available when it occurred? They can be found at brave://crashes

3

Hello,thanks for the fast reply, i am on windows and im running brave normally (not as an administrator), I dont have any recent crash longs.

image
image1894×840 27.6 KB

4

@Alansteven have you made any changes to your User Data folder? Do you have sync enabled?

Thanks in advance!

1 Like
5

Hello, no I havent touched the User Data folder recently and i dont have sync enabled

6

Hey exact same thing happened to me. Password manager had all my passwords. I went to sleep 6hrs later I am here logged out of all platforms and websites with 0 login creds or passwords saved

7

So I noticed all the passwords have disappeared except 2. One says client.android.taxi and the other reads wish.contextlogic.com. I can very confidently say I haven’t even visited these two links in my entire life. Let alone have a username or a password for them. I don’t know what it is or what can you make of it

8

I checked the Login Data from the Default folder and apparently it still has ‘origin_url’ but ‘action_url’, ‘username_element’, ‘username_value’ ‘password_element’ are all empty fields. I uploaded and saved one username and password, right now and that is saved and has all these fields. The difference is for all the passwords that disappeared the field ‘blacklisted_by_user’ has a value of 1, but the one I just saved has value 0. Any fixes?

9

Hey, For me no passwords were in the password manager at all, idk why yours would be, maybe a malicious third party cookie? I dont know and I wouldnt know if removing them would cause any help. Interestingly for me cookies still appeared in brave://settings/content/all while still being logged out.
I cant find any fixes, i have tried running ts in admin after clicking decline to that permission and now im inclined to believe what happened after the crash isnt really reparable but that wouldn’t be that convenient to believe so ill wait if anyone knows/finds a fix, and I hope you find one aswell

10

Apparently it’s a very common problem with this browser, I was trying to search for some solutions on reddit and the threads are plagued with this issue.

11

I think data loss happens like on occasions or some updates, happened in 2023 looks like if you search in threads, hopefully this one will be resolved

12

@Mattches , @Evan123 , @steeven

Please take a look at the discovery details (re lost passwords) as @kumarsuraj wrote them in sequence:

‘Lost all saved passwords and logged out upon "brave closing unexpectedly" - #6 by kumarsuraj’

‘Lost all saved passwords and logged out upon "brave closing unexpectedly" - #7 by kumarsuraj’

‘Lost all saved passwords and logged out upon "brave closing unexpectedly" - #8 by kumarsuraj’

@kumarsuraj - Though not originally addressed to you, please answer the questions by @Evan123 and @steeven .

Thanks to all.

@Alansteven , @kumarsuraj - Please establish a practice of making routine backups of your User Data folder:

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

13

I assume this means there’s only preemptive action that can be done from now on, Thanks and for wrapping it up. Appreciated :heart:, However id still like to know if there are any User Data folders I could look within to check if there is any residual info left since oddly not everything was deleted.
Thanks again and sorry for the bother

14

@Alansteven

No wrapup. I PING’d / tagged those members of the Brave team, because they are looking for clues, indicators re what may be going wrong. There are some possibilities in the details mentioned by kumarsuraj.

Using a computer, requires routine data backup. I run scheduled, daily backups for Internet browser data - and have been doing that for over 20-25 years. Manual backups, before that.

My preference is to create a .zip compressed file of the data, and store each file in a safe location (outside the pathways of the software), and use chronological names, example:

  • 20250629_BBdatabkup.zip
  • 20250630_BBdatabkup.zip
  • 20250701_BBdatabkup.zip

I am usually a MacOS user, but, when using the Windows OS, I also create System Restore Points after each day of working on the computer, in addition to sometimes creating a System Restore Point before doing some things - installations, testing software, testing some issue.

Something(s) might be banged up / wounded inside a User Data folder, and the user might try to piece together a restoration - using pieces from the backup. At the following link, scroll down to “There are some key files I can share”:

‘Brave doesn't start when I run it as administrator and Brave Shield doesn't work - #73 by clifton’

My own two cents:

Windows OS > Brave Browser users > User Data tips re backup, permissions, recovering or restoring some of the data:

Windows OS users. Brave Browser data is within the folder and sub-folders of the User Data folder; location:

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

Also written as:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\

Let us say that you have backed up the User Data folder to a safe location - away from the BB installation paths, such as: on an external USB drive.

Next, because of some issue with BB, you decide to set aside the User Data folder - ie remove it from location:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\

for the moment, placing that User Data folder on your Windows Desktop; and then Restart the computer; and then Start up Brave Browser . . . BB will create an entirely new User Data folder that will include a fresh, new Default folder:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\

Let us say, that you previously had 2 additional BB user profiles. And, you want to try and restore what you can, from them ← therefore, create 2 new additional BB user profiles ← their respective new folders (Profile 1 folder and Profile 2 folder) will be created at:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 1\
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 2\

From the backup of the User Data folder that you created (and may also located on the external USB drive ← smart move!) -OR- from the User Data folder that you placed on your Windows Desktop . . . and while BB is NOT RUNNING after a Restart of the computer, there are some items that can by drag-copied (I am not a fan of Copy-and-Paste method) from the old (backed up) data location to the new.

SOMETIMES, you might succeed by “simply” replacing the new Default folder with the old ← BUT THAT MAY NOT PRODUCE THE RESULTS THAT YOU WISH.

Of BB PROFILE data, within a BB user’s profile folder, the following list of items, are known for being replaceable - BUT AGAIN, NO GUARANTEE OF SUCCESS:

BB PROFILE data, within a BB user’s profile folder (Default example):

  • %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default

The following list of items, are known for being replaceable - BUT AGAIN, NO GUARANTEE OF SUCCESS:

  • Bookmarks [JSON file]
  • History [SQLite file]
  • Login Data [passwords, SQLite file]
  • Preferences [majority of browser settings, JSON file]
  • Sessions [folder ← do not copy]
  • [but you can copy the Sessions and Tabs files:]
  • Session file example: “Session_13387619522050810” [SNSS file]
  • Tabs file example: “Tabs_13396004968468207” [SNSS file]
  • Tops Sites [saved tiles on new tab page, SQLite file]
  • Visited Links [binary file]
  • Web Data [autofill data, SQLite file]

NOTICE: Re Session_13387619522050810 ← the long string of numbers are a date-and-time stamp. On a MacOS computer, the following command (date -r 13387619522050810) will reveal: Thu Apr 6 12:40:10 EST 424238744

NOTICE: A Profile 1 folder, for example, cannot be replaced by a profile folder of another name (such as Profile 2). Same for the other BB user profile folders. DO NOT CHANGE the BB user’s profile folders names.

NOTICE: The most durable files, are Bookmarks, Bookmarks.bak. They can be copied between the BB user profile folders.

SOMETIMES: A BB user has recovered passwords by using the backed up Login Data file; and sometimes by doing that PLUS using the backed up Local State file; and sometimes by a combination of: Resetting the Brave Browser Settings, using the backed up Login Data file, plus, using the backed up Local State file.

FILE AND FOLDER PERMISSIONS: See https://community.brave.com/t/browser-wont-launch-after-install/606342/18 and https://community.brave.com/t/brave-doesnt-start-when-i-run-it-as-administrator-and-brave-shield-doesnt-work/628494/41

15

Same thing happened to me, I am on Manjaro KDE. Brave 1.80.113