mozilla firefox error profile missing or inaccessible

How to run Firefox when your profile is missing or inaccessible

Firefox stores your user data and settings in a special profile folder and pulls information from this folder every time you start Firefox. The default profile folder location is under the%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles folder, which you can find using these instructions.

If you see an error message stating that Your Firefox profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible, it means that Firefox can't find the profile folder. If you moved, renamed, or deleted your Firefox profile folder, try one of these methods to resolve this issue.

Profile was moved or renamed

If you know where your profile is, try one of the following methods to help Firefox find it.

• Move the profile folder back to its original location.
• Restore the profile's original name if you've changed it.
• Create a new profile using the Profile Manager. Give it a descriptive name, click on theChoose Folder button, and then select the profile folder you moved or renamed, before you finish the Create a new profile wizard.

Profile was deleted

If you deleted or lost your profile folder and have no way of restoring it, use one of these methods to create a new Firefox profile:

Your new profile will not contain settings or user data from your deleted or lost profile.

Method 1: Use the Profile Manager wizard

Follow the steps in the Use the Profile Manager to create and remove Firefox profiles article to create a new profile.

Method 2: Manually delete the profiles.ini file

If you have problems accessing the Profile Manager, you can create a new default Firefox profile by deleting the profiles.ini file, using these steps:

1. Click on the Start menu and type %APPDATA%\Mozilla\ in the search box.
2. Click on the Firefox folder and delete (or rename, for example, to profiles.iniOLD) theprofiles.ini file.

When you start Firefox, a new profile will be created.

Based on information from Profile cannot be loaded (mozillaZine KB)