FireFox – Renaming Profiles

Every profile in Firefox has an associated folder. A profiles entry name (the one listed/displayed in FireFox) can be different from it’s corresponding folder name. They do not have to match. Usually they don’t. Why they don’t could be for any number of reasons. For example, when creating new profiles within Firefox, you gotta give it a name. Firefox applies that name to its corresponding folder but prepends some obscure set of number/letters to it by default. Jacking isht all up. This might be confusing for some. It may seem more secure for others. The names don’t have to match for everything to work as it should. Things are definitely easier to manage when they do match though, I’ll tell ya that much.

Whatever your situation, you may want or need to change the entry name, the folder name, or both. Changing the folder name is a bit trickier but I will share my methods for accomplishing both.

When a new profile is created, FireFox will give that profile a name or you can name it yourself. When creating a new profile without choosing a custom folder, FF will create a randomly named folder for you in the default location and append the profile name to it. When choosing a custom folder, FF will store the profile data in that folder, with no name adjustments.

 

If you decide to change the profile name later, you can do so easily. Here’s how

 

1: Launch FireFox

 

2: Type about:profiles in the URL bar and press ENTER

 

3: Identify the correct profile that you’d like to rename and hit the RENAME button directly underneath that profile.

 

4: Give the profile a name and press enter

 

Done!

If you notice, the steps above will only change the profile entry name within FireFox. The name of the profile folder associated with it will not change. There’s no way to do this from within Firefox that I know of. You’ll have to do it manually. In this example we’ll be handling the “School” profile folder.

 

1: Launch FireFox

 

2: Type about:profiles in the URL bar and press ENTER

 

3: Identify the correct profile.

 

4: Make sure the profile you are about to handle does NOT show ‘This is the profile in use and cannot be deleted’. If it does, make another profile the default by hitting the ‘Set as default profile’ button under it. If the desired profile is the only one, you’ll have to create a new profile and set it as default. Then restart Firefox and go back to step 1.

 

 

In the example below, The profile we need is not the default. We’re all clear.

 

5: Open the Root directory of the desired profile by clicking the “open folder” button to the right of the ROOT DIRECTORY.

Make sure you go “up” one folder so that you end up viewing the profile folder itself, not the contents within it. You can also navigate to the profiles folder manually.

 

6: Rename the profile folder to whatever you like.

 

**The problem with this is that these changes are not recognized and updating by Firefox. You’ve just disconnected that profile folder from its entry. FF will still be looking for the original folder name. To complete the process, we will create a new profile and point it to our renamed folder.

 

7: Rename the old profile entry by hitting its Rename button. Add -BACKUP to the end of it. This is done just in case we want to use that old profile entry name for our new profile. No two profiles can have the same name.

If you’re gonna use a different entry name when creating the new profile, you could just delete the old profile entry by hitting its Remove button. But I would wait until we have successfully completed the process to be safe. We wouldn’t want you to accidentally delete your profile folder!

I know, I knooooow. Just trust me.

 

8: Back at the About Profiles window within Firefox, hit the “Create a new profile” button.

 

9: Click next on the profile creator welcome screen.

 

10: Select “Choose Folder”

 

11: Navigate to and select the folder you just renamed in step 6.

Since this is already an existing profile folder, Firefox will not create a new profile. It’ll just link to the one that’s already there.

 

12: Give the profile a name (the entry name that will be displayed in Firefox, not the folder name).

 

13: Confirm the correct profile path. It should lead into the renamed folder. Press finish.

Your renamed profile folder should be ready to rock with your new profile!

When a new profile is created, FireFox will usually make it the default profile automatically. If not, set the new profile as default. Close FireFox and relaunch it using the new profile.

14: Navigate back to the About Profiles window. You should see “This is the profile in use and cannot be deleted” under the profile entry you just made. This is how you know it is the one currently in use. Now go ahead, snoop around! Make sure all is back to normal. You should see your bookmarks, layout, plugins, etc. If all is well, congrats! Now let’s delete that obsolete profile entry we renamed in step 7.

15:  Delete the BACKUP profile by clicking its Remove button.

 

DONE. PROFILE FOLDER RENAMED! 🙂

 

If you had to create another profile in step 4, you can delete this one as well. Or leave it just in case you need an extra profile for something later.

To get more experience, take the time to rename the spare profile entry and  its folder so that they match each other. Give it a name that applies, like Admin or Troubleshooter or something.

 

Happy Browsing!

There is another way to edit profile entries and folder names like the pro you are!

You can edit the Path= line in the profiles.ini file.

This method is much simpler in action than the steps in this guide but requires a more advanced understanding. You won’t have to create a new profile or delete anything. In fact you won’t even have to open FF at all. If you get familiar with the above mentioned ini file, it’s as simple as typing in the new folder path, or entry name. It’s definitely worth learning. Check out this article HERE. The answer is in the Profile section!