Firefox Sync: How To Synchronize Bookmarks, Passwords Across Multiple Devices

Firefox 4 Beta has some nice improvements, some of which are a sleek skinny UI with Tabs on Top ala Google Chrome, an MS Office style button, support for hardware acceleration (Windows only), thumbnail previews in Windows 7 Superbar, and bookmark & password syncing across multiple computers, yet another feature already present in Chrome.

Prior to Firefox 4, we either had to import/export bookmarks manually or needed help from add-ons such as FEBE to backup and synchronize bookmarks, passwords, extensions, and other settings. Now that Firefox 4 has a built-in sync feature let us see how we can set this up and gain access to our data and settings on any device.

Set Up Firefox Sync

1. Click on the Firefox button (top left corner) –> Options. Go to the Sync tab and click on ‘Set Up Firefox Sync’.

2. In the next screen, click on ‘I’ve never used Sync before’.

3. This will take you to the Create your sync account dialog. Enter a username, Email address and password for your Firefox Sync account. By default Firefox Sync Server is used to set up the sync. You can also use a custom server by selecting it from the drop down box. For ease of understanding, we are going ahead with Firefox Sync Server.

Select the terms and conditions check box and click Next.

4. In the next screen, you will be asked to enter a secret phrase. This will be used to encrypt all your data, so that no one else can read it. Be careful not to forget this phrase(should be different from your password) which is not stored on the server or else you could end up losing all your sync data.

5. You can now choose what to sync in Firefox. By default everything including Bookmarks, Passwords, Preferences, History, and even Tabs. If you want to sync selected ones, choose ‘Use my custom settings’ from the drop down menu, and the clear all those you want to exclude. Click Next.

6. The next screen is a CAPTCHA recognition, asking you to input the words. We are not sure why Firefox would need this.

Once you are done with this, you should see the Setup Complete! screen. Tha’t it. You have now successfully set up automatic sync in Firefox. Now you need to set this up on your other devices, so that they all stay in sync, so you don’t have to worry about missing those bookmarks you added on your personal laptop in your workstation.

Firefox Server may take a while in syncing your data. For confirmation, look at your status bar. You should see the last updated time when you click on the Sync icon in the bottom right corner of your status bar.

Sync Firefox On Other Devices

1. On your other devices, open Options –> Sync tab in Firefox and click on Set Up Firefox Sync.

2. This time, click on ‘I’m already using Sync on another Computer’.

3. In the next screen, enter your username and password you have given in Step 3 above. Click Next.

4. Enter your secret phrase you chose in step 4 above.

5. Once you are authenticated, you will be asked to choose how to sync your other Computer’s data with this one. By default ‘Merge this Computer’s data with your Sync data’ is selected, being the most safe one. The other two choices replace your data with the other, so you may lose your data if you choose one of them. Click Next.

6. Confirm your choice by clicking Next again.

7. Choose your sync preferences, a full sync or selected sync using your custom settings (see step 5 above).

That’s it. You now have access to all your data and settings. Go to the Options –> Sync tab and you should be able to manage your sync on any device. You can change your password, secret phrase, sync settings. You can disconnect from Firefox server, reset your sync, or even use a different account.

Do you use both Firefox and Chrome? Then you may like to check out our article on how transfer Bookmarks, Passwords from Firefox to Chrome. Also check out some good Bookmark Manager tools that set you free browser dependencies.