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linux flatpak: "loss" of profile directory (.var/app/.librewolf -> new empty .var/app/config/librewolf/librewolf) #3212

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opened 2026-09-08 17:50:33 +00:00 by jakobi · 7 comments

jakobi commented

2026-09-08 17:50:33 +00:00

LibreWolf Version

155.0.1

Operating System

Debian / Ubuntu / Mint

Installation Source / Package

Flatpak

Description

Suddenly on restart I'm in a empty profile.

Switch happened with some update sometime after Aug28.

Environment official arm flatpak, raspios (thus debian based), raspberry pi 500+). Both on Wayland and a Xvfb X11 Display.

Flatpak in question: flathub's LibreWolf io.gitlab.librewolf-community 155.0-1 stable system


ls -ld ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/{.librewolf,config/librewolf/librewolf}/*default:

Sep  8 19:14 ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/config/librewolf/librewolf/7qg8ds94.default
^ (1) unclear why this was written to, as it's not used, likely a distributed unused artefact?
         contains just a .parentlock and a times_json.

Sep  8 19:20 ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/config/librewolf/librewolf/extg8swv.default-default
^ (2) the new profile I'm thrown into... (and which _IS_ writable from the flatpak)

Oct 15  2025 ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/.librewolf/eppiy517.default
^ (1') same..., and in contrast to (1), it was nearly never touched... . 
         Lacks the .parentlock, but similarly empty

Aug 28 20:48 ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/.librewolf/pwffllif.default-default
^ (3) the profile I expected to use...

I'm tempted to just make a symlink and force things back to the proper profile, but I also lost access to ~/Downloads, so flatpak and/or portal misbehaviour might also be involved (still looking at that just now).

ls -lc .../config/librewolf/librewolf suggests that it happened ON Aug 28 on this host. I only added the xdg-desktop-portal* via apt on that day. flatpak history is truncated to the sep06 though and useless :/.

Logs / Screenshots

No response

Checklist

I have read the FAQ and confirmed my problem isn't addressed there.
I have searched existing issues to ensure this hasn't been reported yet.
I have made sure there is no existing issue about this for Firefox, e.g. on Firefox Support or the Firefox Community Forum.

### LibreWolf Version 155.0.1 ### Operating System Debian / Ubuntu / Mint ### Installation Source / Package Flatpak ### Description Suddenly on restart I'm in a empty profile. Switch happened with some update sometime after Aug28. Environment official arm flatpak, raspios (thus debian based), raspberry pi 500+). Both on Wayland and a Xvfb X11 Display. Flatpak in question: flathub's LibreWolf io.gitlab.librewolf-community 155.0-1 stable system ``` ls -ld ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/{.librewolf,config/librewolf/librewolf}/*default: Sep 8 19:14 ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/config/librewolf/librewolf/7qg8ds94.default ^ (1) unclear why this was written to, as it's not used, likely a distributed unused artefact? contains just a .parentlock and a times_json. Sep 8 19:20 ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/config/librewolf/librewolf/extg8swv.default-default ^ (2) the new profile I'm thrown into... (and which _IS_ writable from the flatpak) Oct 15 2025 ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/.librewolf/eppiy517.default ^ (1') same..., and in contrast to (1), it was nearly never touched... . Lacks the .parentlock, but similarly empty Aug 28 20:48 ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/.librewolf/pwffllif.default-default ^ (3) the profile I expected to use... ``` I'm tempted to just make a symlink and force things back to the proper profile, but I also lost access to ~/Downloads, so flatpak and/or portal misbehaviour might also be involved (still looking at that just now). ls -lc .../config/librewolf/librewolf suggests that it happened ON Aug 28 on this host. I only added the xdg-desktop-portal* via apt on that day. flatpak history is truncated to the sep06 though and useless :/. ### Logs / Screenshots _No response_ ### Checklist - [x] I have read the [FAQ](https://librewolf.net/docs/faq/) and confirmed my problem isn't addressed there. - [x] I have searched existing issues to ensure this hasn't been reported yet. - [x] I have made sure there is no existing issue about this for Firefox, e.g. on [Firefox Support](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/firefox) or the [Firefox Community Forum](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/firefox).

jakobi added the

Type

Bug

label

2026-09-08 17:50:33 +00:00

jakobi commented

2026-09-08 18:04:48 +00:00

Author

Raw observations (will be edited)

access via file:///home/jakobi/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/ is possible everywhere, incl. the OLD(!) profile location
at least the new location has the excuse of fitting flatpak's notion of XDG Base dirs
the arm flatpak update for my case somehow missed triggering a possible hopefully existing migration script to move/symlink things?
https://github.com/flathub/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/issues/34
(n2self: maybe add a pointer if I know more?)
an x86_64 box of a friend was also updated in September, also flatpak (155.0.1*-1*)
this one is still using the old DOT-librewolf profile setup

Raw observations (will be edited) - access via file:///home/jakobi/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/ is possible everywhere, incl. the OLD(!) profile location - at least the new location has the excuse of fitting flatpak's notion of XDG Base dirs - the arm flatpak update for my case somehow missed triggering a possible hopefully existing migration script to move/symlink things? - https://github.com/flathub/io.gitlab.librewolf-community/issues/34 (n2self: maybe add a pointer if I know more?) - an x86_64 box of a friend was also updated in September, also flatpak (155.0.1*-1*) this one is still using the old DOT-librewolf profile setup

any1here commented

2026-09-08 18:05:36 +00:00

Owner

Can you still access it via about:profiles?

Can you still access it via `about:profiles`?

jakobi commented

2026-09-08 18:51:57 +00:00

Author

@any1here wrote in #3212 (comment):

Can you still access it via about:profiles?

I can see and read anything in either profile (old and new locations) below ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community, IFF I'm going via the corresponding files:/// URLs. Thus flatpak doesn't restrict access (which I also suspected initially).

(The open button doesn't like me though - harmless, likely some more portal/gnome-related snafu, and NOT profile-move-related: I'm currently running the arm librewolf flatpak on :1 (x11vnc/Xvfb) rather than natively on the HDMI display(wayland-0)).

@any1here wrote in https://librewolf.dev/librewolf/issues/issues/3212#issuecomment-20723: > Can you still access it via `about:profiles`? I can see and read anything in either profile (old and new locations) below ~/.var/app/io.gitlab.librewolf-community, **IFF** I'm going via the corresponding files:/// URLs. Thus flatpak doesn't restrict access (which I also suspected initially). _(The open button doesn't like me though - harmless, likely some more portal/gnome-related snafu, and NOT profile-move-related: I'm currently running the arm librewolf flatpak on :1 (x11vnc/Xvfb) rather than natively on the HDMI display(wayland-0))._

any1here commented

2026-09-08 20:29:39 +00:00

Owner

I'm not entirely following what you mean. Can you launch your old profile via about:profiles?

I'm not entirely following what you mean. Can you launch your old profile via `about:profiles`?

jakobi commented

2026-09-08 20:53:30 +00:00

Author

Portal issue / inaccessible ~/Downloads was due to loss of profile, setting widget.use-xdg-desktop-portal.file-picker back to 3 fixes it (i.e. flatpak security & (user) flatpak config is innocent here).

**Portal** issue / inaccessible ~/Downloads was due to loss of profile, setting widget.use-xdg-desktop-portal.file-picker back to 3 fixes it (i.e. flatpak security & (user) flatpak config is innocent here).

jakobi commented

2026-09-08 21:08:16 +00:00

Author

@any1here wrote in #3212 (comment):

I'm not entirely following what you mean. Can you launch your old profile via about:profiles?

No. The profile from until-Aug28 is not even listed.

Symlinking or manually moving the profile should work (see previous comment).

But before that:

shouldn't we try to take a peek at WHAT triggered this unwanted switch of the profile location to the new XDG style /config/ location? There's a similar x86_64 setup (slightly newer version at 151.0.1-1), where this didn't happen.
If the switch is to be triggered (as it likely should be sometime in the future), check the migration setup, so my issue remains a RARE bug?

@any1here wrote in https://librewolf.dev/librewolf/issues/issues/3212#issuecomment-20732: > I'm not entirely following what you mean. Can you launch your old profile via `about:profiles`? No. The profile from until-Aug28 is not even listed. Symlinking or manually moving the profile should work (see previous comment). But before that: - shouldn't we try to take a peek at WHAT triggered this unwanted switch of the profile location to the new XDG style /config/ location? There's a similar x86_64 setup (slightly newer version at 151.0.1-1), where this didn't happen. - If the switch is to be triggered (as it likely should be sometime in the future), check the migration setup, so my issue remains a _RARE_ bug?

Screenshot.jpg

207 KiB

any1here commented

2026-09-08 21:13:11 +00:00

Owner

@jakobi wrote in #3212 (comment):

shouldn't we try to take a peek at WHAT triggered this unwanted switch of the profile location to the new XDG style /config/ location? There's a similar x86_64 setup (slightly newer version at 151.0.1-1), where this didn't happen.

If you cannot access it via about:profiles anymore, that means there is a deeper issue not related to LibreWolf. It created a new profile since it was not able to read .librewolf anymore and it still can't.

@jakobi wrote in https://librewolf.dev/librewolf/issues/issues/3212#issuecomment-20734: > * shouldn't we try to take a peek at WHAT triggered this unwanted switch of the profile location to the new XDG style /config/ location? There's a similar x86_64 setup (slightly newer version at 151.0.1-1), where this didn't happen. If you cannot access it via `about:profiles` anymore, that means there is a deeper issue not related to LibreWolf. It created a new profile since it was not able to read `.librewolf` anymore and it still can't.

any1here added the

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label

2026-09-10 19:45:50 +00:00