backed up my local user data folder, i replaced the new user data folder, removed Local State file, but my brave browser does not detect any of my previous data
Version 1.68.141 Chromium: 127.0.6533.120 (Official Build) (64-bit)
i’m not sure which version my brave browser was on the computer i reformatted
Thank you for reporting.
To confirm, you’re saying that no user data from your previous profile/installation is appearing? Or is it just a specific type of data that isn’t showing?
Hello, thanks for the response!! Nothing is being recognized. I replaced the bookmarks file so I can now see my bookmarks. but when i did an entire folder replacement, it looked like a fresh install of brave.
That is strange that the whole folder didn’t do the trick but an individual file would. Just to make sure we’re on the same page, you’re replacing the entire User data directory located here:
C:\Users\[your Windows user name]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\
With your old User data directory? Or are you replacing just your profile folder (if you never created an additional profile, it would be the Default directory) here:
C:\Users\[your Windows user name]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default
With your previously saved Default folder?
Hello Mattches, I saved the “User Data” folder, zipped it and moved it to my external hard drive. I reformatted my ssd, installed Brave, went to the Brave-Browser folder, deleted the User Data folder, brought over my zipped file, unzipped it, deleted the Last State file and started Brave.
Sorry for the late reply — thank you for confirming.
Looking into this with some team members now since as far as I know, what you did should have worked for all data with the exception of passwords. Passwords use os_crypt to encrypt certain data in [Chromium] browsers and are decrypted using a secret key tied to the OS itself.
Since you reformatted, that key is basically “lost” so I would expect this to be the case for password data. But bookmarks, autofill, history, cc information, extensions, etc should all be fine.
Will let you know when I have more informaiton.
Hello Mattches, I don’t care about the passwords because I use a password manager. I’m just confused what I’m doing wrong, is it because I’m using a different version than the current one? Is there a way to see which version that the “saved data” is expecting?
@kingka,
I believe that the versioning only matters if you’re going backwards — that is, if the saved data is from a [significantly, I believe] later version than the installation you’re trying to use it with.