ffpass - Import and Export passwords for Firefox Quantum

The latest version of Firefox doesn't allow to import or export the stored logins and passwords as a file.

This tools interacts with the encrypted password database of Firefox to provide these features.

Installation

ffpass requires Python 3.6+ and will work with Firefox 58+

pip install ffpass

Features

• Supports master passwords
• Automatic profile selection for Linux, macOS and Windows
• Export to CSV
• Import from CSV compatible with Google Chrome

Note: Firefox must be closed during the whole process, as these actions change its database.

Note: If you have Sync enabled, you'll have to disconnect and reconnect your Firefox account after importing the passwords.

Export to CSV

ffpass export > passwords.csv
ffpass export -f passwords.csv
ffpass export --file passwords.csv

Usage

usage: ffpass export [-h] [-t TO_FILE] [-d DIRECTORY] [-v]

outputs a CSV with header `url,username,password`

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -f FILE, --file FILE  file to export password (defaults to stdout)
  -d DIRECTORY, --directory DIRECTORY, --dir DIRECTORY
                        Firefox profile directory
  -v, --verbose

Import from CSV

ffpass import < passwords.csv
ffpass import -f passwords.csv
ffpass import --file passwords.csv

By default, it works with the passwords exported from Google Chrome.

Usage

usage: ffpass import [-h] [-f FROM_FILE] [-d DIRECTORY] [-v]

imports a CSV with columns `url,username,password` (order insensitive)

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -f FILE, --file FILE  file to import from (defaults to stdin)
  -d DIRECTORY, --directory DIRECTORY, --dir DIRECTORY
                        [Firefox profile directory](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data#w_how-do-i-find-my-profile)
  -v, --verbose

Formatting

For CSV files not exported from Google Chrome, take these formatting rules into consideration:

1. The CSV must have the headers "url", "username", and "password". Any other columns will be safely ignored.
2. The url must be formatted to include all prefixes ("http://", "https://", etc), or ffpass will not be able to read them correctly.
3. ffpass does not care if the CSV has quotes around fields, even if some fields have them and others don't.

Transfer from Google Chrome to Firefox

Now, Firefox can more accurately import logins saved in Chrome/Chromium on Windows and macOS (including timestamps, deduping, http auth. logins, etc.) so you don't need to use this tool on those operating systems. See File > Import from Another Browser… in Firefox to import.

Export from Google Chrome

1. Open Chrome and enter the following in the address bar: chrome://flags/#PasswordExport
2. Click Default next to “Password export” and choose Enabled.
3. Click Relaunch Now. Chrome will restart.
4. Click the Chrome menu in the toolbar and choose Settings.
5. Scroll to the bottom and click Advanced.
6. Scroll to the “Passwords and forms” section and click “Manage passwords”.
7. Click next to Saved Passwords and choose Export.
8. Click Export Passwords, enter the password you use to log in to your computer, and save the file to passwords.csv (or any other available name).

(instructions from https://support.1password.com/import-chrome/)

Import in Firefox

1. Stop Firefox
2. Import into Firefox:

ffpass import --file passwords.csv

Restart Firefox, making sure it didn't leave any process still open.

Transfer from Firefox to Google Chrome

Export from Firefox

1. Stop Firefox
2. Export from Firefox:

ffpass export --file passwords.csv

Import in Google Chrome

1. Open Chrome and enter the following in the address bar: chrome://flags/#PasswordImport
2. Click Default next to “Password import” and choose Enabled.
3. Click Relaunch Now. Chrome will restart.
4. Click the Chrome menu in the toolbar and choose Settings.
5. Scroll to the bottom and click Advanced.
6. Scroll to the “Passwords and forms” section and click “Manage passwords”.
7. Click next to Saved Passwords and choose Import.
8. Select the file passwords.csv and click Import.

Troubleshoot

• ffpass export: error: the following arguments are required: -d/--directory/--dir

  It means one of the following (launch with option --verbose to know):

  • Automatic profile selection is not supported for your platform.
  • There is more than one user profile for Firefox.

  You have to provide the --dir option with your Firefox Profile Folder. To find it, follow these instructions on the website of Firefox.

• Firefox password database is empty. Please create it from Firefox.

  It means that Firefox currently doens't store any password. ffpass cannot create the password database for security reasons. Just add one password manually to Firefox to create the database.

• TypeError: 'PosixPath' object is not iterable

  See #17.

• Empty url field ("example.com") in Firefox after importing: the urls of the source csv file must begin with a scheme (http://, https://, ftp://, etc…)

• Passwords do not sync to other devices, including Lockwise app.

  Importing passwords break the sync. You'll have to disconnect the Firefox account in the Sync options and the re-add it.

Credits

Thanks a lot to @lclevy for the retro-engineering! I was inspired by his repository https://github.com/lclevy/firepwd.