@catfishinatophat
Having a routine of creating Windows OS System Restore Points, plus a backup of the User Data folder - every 24 hours, helps.
SOMETIMES A BB user has recovered via:
‘All Brave Profiles Gone After Corruption Message – Urgent Help Needed - #5 by thepanchalshadow’
SOMETIMES A BB user has recovered via:
‘Profiles gone AWOL - #2 by jessepf’
SOMETIMES: A BB user has recovered passwords by using the backed up Login Data file; and sometimes by doing that PLUS using a previously-backed up Local State file; and sometimes by a combination of: Resetting the Brave Browser Settings, using the backed up Login Data file, plus, using the previously-backed up Local State file.
SOMETIMES: Passwords come back after yet another reboot.
SOMETIMES: Recovery via Brave Sync.
SOMETIMES: Recovery by:
File and Folder Permissions - Brave Browser (Windows OS):
Ref.: ‘https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/38609’
And then, there is the following:
‘Lost cookies, extensions, filters, but tabs are there, on 2 different computers - #3 by Flex’
I asked Perplexity.ai to decipher those commands. The reply:
Those three commands are working together to take control of the Brave Browser profile folders and reset their permissions for the Administrators group.
1) takeown /F ... /R /D Y /A
takeown /F C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser /R /D Y /A
takeown – changes the owner of files/folders./F <path> – target folder: here it is the Brave-Browser folder in your profile./R – recurse into all subfolders and files./D Y – automatically answer “Yes” to any confirmation prompts when access is denied./A – make the Administrators group the owner (instead of just the current user).
Effect: Administrators become the owner of the entire Brave-Browser tree under that user profile, including all subfolders and files.
2) icacls ... /setowner Administrators /T
icacls C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser /setowner Administrators /T
icacls – manages NTFS permissions and ownership./setowner Administrators – explicitly sets the owner to the Administrators group./T – applies to the folder and all subfolders and files.
Effect: Confirms and enforces that Administrators are the owner of everything under Brave-Browser (similar goal to the first command, using a different tool).
3) icacls ... /inheritance:e /T /C
icacls C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware /inheritance:e /T /C
/inheritance:e – enables permission inheritance so items inherit ACLs from their parent folder./T – recurse through all subfolders and files under BraveSoftware./C – continue even if errors occur (skips over problem files, keeps going).
Effect: Re-enables normal inherited permissions for everything under BraveSoftware, so permissions flow down from the parent instead of using only custom/blocked ACLs.
Overall purpose
Together, these commands:
- Make the Administrators group the owner of the Brave Browser data folder and all of its contents.
- Ensure that ownership is set consistently using both tools (
takeown and icacls).
- Turn inheritance back on for the broader
BraveSoftware folder so its permissions are normalized and inherited from its parent, which can fix “Access denied” and permission corruption issues within the Brave profile.
‘Where Brave Browser Profiles Are Located’
The problem(s) of lost access to passwords and/or lost passwords, is not a simple matter and requires a lot of study. Above, I provided a basic set of what has SOMETIMES worked for an unknown, small number of Brave Browser users. My consolidated notes on the matter, are at:
‘Brave deleted all my active tabs and favorites - #2 by 289wk’
Some people use
I suggest that you study the pros/cons of those and others.
About three Windows recovery/backup concepts, because they’re related but often confused - according to ChatGPT:
1) Windows File History (backup of your files)
Think of File History as an automatic “time machine” for your personal files.
- It backs up copies of files in folders like:
- Documents
- Pictures
- Desktop
- Videos
- Music
- It saves versions over time, so you can go back to earlier copies of a file.
Example:
You edit a Word document and overwrite something important.
With File History, you can restore:
- yesterday’s version
- last week’s version
- even older ones (depending on settings)
Important:
- It requires an external drive or network location.
- It does NOT back up your entire system (only personal files).
2) “Previous Versions” (shadow copies of files/folders)
This is a built-in Windows feature that lets you right-click a file or folder and see older versions.
How it works:
Windows sometimes creates hidden snapshots called shadow copies.
You can:
- Right-click a file or folder
- Choose Properties
- Go to Previous Versions
You might see:
- Earlier versions of that file
- Or folder snapshots you can restore or copy from
Important:
- It often depends on System Protection / restore points being enabled
- It is NOT as reliable as File History unless configured properly
3) System Restore (restore points for Windows itself)
This is NOT a file backup tool.
Think of it as:
“Undo system changes, not your personal documents”
It creates restore points, which capture system settings like:
- Windows registry
- system files
- installed drivers
- some software changes
What it does:
If something breaks Windows (bad driver, update issue), you can:
- roll the system back to an earlier working state
What it does NOT do:
- It does NOT restore deleted personal files
- It does NOT act like backup for documents/photos
