Lost history from one entire Brave window

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History from 1 of 2 open windows lost after closing.
No idea how it can be reproduced. I just know that I had 2 windows open, most with a bunch of tabs I intended to look at later, and 1 with something else. After closing Windows and restarting, only the Brave window with the “something else” tab opened, and the other one did not reappear as usual in my history, so no way to restore. I am seriously pissed off.

I am using Version 1.77.97 Chromium: 135.0.7049.84 (Official Build) (64-bit)

This has only happened maybe once before. Usually it’s not a problem. What would cause this to happen, and is there any way I can get that history back, short of going through individual web pages in the existing history, if they’re even there?

Brave gets such good reviews for privacy, but so do some other browsers as long as Privacy Badger or something similar is in use. Maybe I’ll have to go back to one of them. This is infuriating.

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One of the fundamentals of using technology, is being prepared for something to fail. May interest:

Knowing where the Brave Browser software (egs.: for Windows OS) installation is located, and maintaining routine data backups:

All Brave Profiles Gone After Corruption Message – Urgent Help Needed - #2 by 289wk

History file (per BB user Profile):

%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\History
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 1\History
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 2\History
etc.

Get DB Browser for SQLite

https://sqlitebrowser.org/

Copy the History file to the Windows OS PC Desktop.

Open that History file (“Open Database”), using DB Browser for SQLite

Screen Shot 2025-04-09 at 10.10.37 AM
Screen Shot 2025-04-09 at 10.10.37 AM553×287 25.9 KB

Double-check On exit tab, Browsing history setting at:

brave://settings/clearBrowserData

You probably want that DISABLED.

3

Thanks for all of that, but I can’t locate any of those history files at all (and yes, File Explorer is set to show hidden files). In the Default folder, there’s no History file; in User Data, there’s no Profile folder at all. Though Brave launches fine, with no error messages and no obvious issues. I’m baffled. Anyway, I’m leaving today for a week with out my Surface, so I’ll have to resume this troubleshooting when I return. Thanks again for your help.

4

@privatebay

In a Brave Browser New Window, go to: brave://version and scroll down to Profile Path.

IF you have not changed the Brave Browser user Profile names, THEN:

Profile named “Profile 1” data is in folder named “Default”

Profile named “Profile 2” data is in folder named “Profile 1”

Profile named “Profile 3” data is in folder named “Profile 2”

etc.

That pattern applies to all Brave Browser Linux OS, MacOS, and Windows OS users.

NOTE: Profile named “Profile 1” is the default Brave Browser (“BB”) user Profile created during the original installation of BB.

5

This is all I see under Profile Path: …AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default

So I went into the Default folder. Suddenly a bunch more things showed up that didn’t show up before (weird?). I see a History file, which I’ve copied to my desktop. I’m still not seeing anything called Profile 1 (or anything with the word “Profile”).

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@privatebay

“History file, which I’ve copied to my desktop”

Good