Vacuum Firefox databases for better performance, now with no restart
A few months ago, I posted how to improve Firefox performance by defragmenting its database files executing SQLite VACUUM command. The only con was that it required a Firefox restart to execute the command.
Thanks to Mozilla’s Jeremy Orem, we have now learned it can be done from within Firefox in two short steps:
- Open the Error Console: Tools menu/Error Console
- In the Code text box paste this (it’s a single line):
Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL("VACUUM"); - Press Evaluate. All the UI will freeze for a few seconds while databases are VACUUMed
Note however that the procedure optimizes the Places database only, but this is precisely where you will get the most significant performance improvements.
Comments in Jeremy’s blog post point to the open bug on the issue and plans to include this optimization by default, and Vacuum Places, an (experimental) add-on by Revertron that does just this.
Comments
Arneh
El Guru, it’s the last two quotation marks, try:
Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL(“VACUUM”);
Arneh
Hmm, it didn’t come out correctly in my altered paste above. Just replace the last two italic quotation marks with regular ones.
TnS
El Guru: Because the typographic quotation marks around VACUUM. Here is the correct:
Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL(“VACUUM”);
Philipp
@El Guru:
I got the same error but found the solution. You have to replace the â€-characters around VACUUM (at the end) with normal “-characters. Hope this works for you ;)
Stan
Percy, the text from the main article is overlapping the links and history columns.
Percy CabelloAugust 22nd, 2009 at 10:32 am
Yeah, sorry about that. It’s fixed now and with the correct characters. Thanks for the head up all.
Ray R.
If you have the Console2 extension installed, the text box to the left of the “Evaluate” button is not IDed. Is this box the same as the “Code” box cited above?
level
Vacuum Places :: Add-ons for Firefox
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/13824
Cirus
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/statistics/addon/13878
A polished version of Vacuum Places, with automatic cleaning, periodic reminder and i18n
Ray R.August 31st, 2009 at 7:15 am
Cirus,
I am getting a “You do not have access error” when trying to follow your provided link. Is there another way to get to that add-on?
Toby
I get “uncaught exception”:
Error: uncaught exception: [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80570018 (NS_ERROR_XPC_BAD_IID) [nsIJSCID.getService]” nsresult: “0×80570018 (NS_ERROR_XPC_BAD_IID)” location: “JS frame :: javascript:%20Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL(“VACUUM”); :: :: line 1″ data: no]
Rob T.
I’m getting the following exception when I try to run this.
Error: uncaught exception: [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80570018 (NS_ERROR_XPC_BAD_IID) [nsIJSCID.getService]” nsresult: “0×80570018 (NS_ERROR_XPC_BAD_IID)” location: “JS frame :: javascript:%20Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL(“VACUUM”); :: :: line 1″ data: no]
I’ve checked that I’ve got normal quotes.
When I try to break it down, the error is being thrown from the getService
Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase)
‘
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks,
–Rob
MarsianMan
Error: uncaught exception: [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) [mozIStorageConnection.executeSimpleSQL]” nsresult: “0×80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE)” location: “JS frame :: javascript:%20Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL(“VACUUM”); :: :: line 1″ data: no]
running: Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL(“VACUUM”);
Giulio
Not working for me:
Error: uncaught exception: [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80570018 (NS_ERROR_XPC_BAD_IID) [nsIJSCID.getService]” nsresult: “0×80570018 (NS_ERROR_XPC_BAD_IID)” location: “JS frame :: javascript:%20Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL(“VACUUM”); :: :: line 1″ data: no]
I’m running version 3.0.13 on Ubuntu Hardy Heron.
GiulioAugust 26th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
EDIT: I just figured out that the trick only works with Firefox 3.5
Bob
WooHoo!.
I put that code into a “Custombuttons²”-button for easy access, works great!
xoc
I get:
Error: uncaught exception: [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80570018 (NS_ERROR_XPC_BAD_IID) [nsIJSCID.getService]” nsresult: “0×80570018 (NS_ERROR_XPC_BAD_IID)” location: “JS frame :: javascript:%20Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL(“VACUUM”); :: :: line 1″ data: no]
GiulioSeptember 1st, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Only works in FF3.5.
If yuo have a former version (3.0 or higher) you can use this howto to vacuum all the databases “manually”:
http://mozillalinks.org/wp/2009/07/vacuum-your-firefox-databases-for-better-performance/
Mohammad Khatib
Thanks! Keep the performance of Firefox up please!
This really helped!
Jawwad
i paste this code in code bar >
Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL(“VACUUM”);
but nothing is happen after clicking Evaluate ?? why ?
Ray R.October 23rd, 2009 at 11:57 am
I think all quotes need to be straight quotes. The quotes around VACUUM appear to be angled.
There are now add-ons that provide a nice user interface to vacuum Places. I use Vacuum Places Improved 1 available at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/13878
nonpyrogenic
you need this small application speedyfox.exe find it w/ searchengine
AbortRetry---> FFv3.6=EpicFail
Here’s the correct one, copy the ENTIRE LINE, paste into Error Console from Tools dropdown menu within Firefox:
Components.classes["@mozilla.org/browser/nav-history-service;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsPIPlacesDatabase).DBConnection.executeSimpleSQL(“VACUUM”);
By the way, the above does NOT work with FireFox v3.6, it just sits there and does nothing, no error, no syntax issues, zip, just sits there, and in reply to the guy above, SpeedyFox does NOT shink your places file, it has nothing to do with this phishing database and all about MTU, browser chache and TCP tweakz, so your comment is OFF TOPIC.
Anyway, the latest build of FF v3.6 (available now from Mozilla) which I installed yesterday to WinVista as a test, now has a file called “urlclassifier3.sqlite” that has somehow inflated to 14.2 gigabytes?!? Anyone know how I might get that shrunken down to a more resonable size? This strange bloatfile is slowing down everything that is cool about FireFox.
It is located here: ~\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\np147ohm.default
Traditionally, in FF v3.5 the “urlclassifier3.sqlite” never got any larger than 20-30 mb, it suddenly bloated itself like a cancerous biomass in my PC, and each time I close/open FF v3.6, it seems to expand by another gig or so, how is that possible?
For now, I’m going back to FireFox 3.5, more stable and without the baloon bloat plague affecting these critical files.
David Naylor
Great tip. Thanks! Didn’t know this could be done from inside Firefox.
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