Bookmarks are super handy for quickly revisiting favorite websites or important pages. They’re lifesavers for efficient web browsing. It’s crucial to protect them from loss, whether it’s a personal list or a collection of crucial work resources. Exporting or backing them up is a smart move to prevent having to search again or, worse, losing crucial links. Plus, having a backup file means you can also move your bookmarks to another browser if you need to.
Before we get started, it’s worth making sure you’re logged into Chrome with your Google account. That way your bookmarks will also sync across all your devices automatically, and also it will aid in backing up your bookmarks.
Method 1: Exporting Bookmarks to HTML
This is a reliable method to get a backup that can be imported into any browser.
- First, open Chrome. Click the three dots at the top-right of your window. In the menu, hover over “Bookmarks,” which is just under “Downloads”.
- In the menu that pops up, click on “Bookmark manager.” This opens a tab that shows all your current bookmarks.
- In the Bookmark Manager, look for three dots at the top-right, inside the blue bar at the top of the window, and click it.
- From the options, select “Export bookmarks.”
- A window will appear, asking where you want to save the backup. Choose where you would like the file saved, or make a new folder, then click “Save”.
This will save your bookmarks as an HTML file on your computer.
Method 2: Accessing the Chrome Bookmarks File
This method uses Chrome’s internal bookmark files. This method is not as effective as the previous method, as a change in location or file name of the internal files can make the backup unusable.
Chrome saves your bookmarks in a file on your computer, and you can copy this to make a backup. There’s also a “Bookmarks.bak” file which Chrome updates every time you close the browser.
To see these files, you’ll need to show hidden items in File Explorer. Open File Explorer and go to the “View” tab. In the “Show/hide” section, tick the box next to “Hidden items”.
Once you can see hidden files, go to this directory in File Explorer, but replace <Username> with your actual user profile name:
C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
Here’s where your bookmarks are stored.
The “Bookmarks” file is where Chrome keeps your current bookmarks. You can copy this to back it up. Right under it, you’ll see “Bookmarks.bak,” which is a backup. If the main “Bookmarks” file gets corrupted or disappears, you can just rename “Bookmarks.bak” to “Bookmarks” – just remove the “.bak” at the end to recover your bookmarks.
Knowing how to find these files ensures you always have a bookmark backup you can use.
Importing Bookmarks into Chrome
If you’ve lost bookmarks or want to import them from a backup or another browser, this is how you do it.
- Open the Bookmark Manager by going to the three dots at the top-right of Chrome, hover over “Bookmarks”, and click “Bookmark manager”.
- In the Bookmark Manager, click the three dots in the blue bar at the top-right.
- From the menu, select “Import bookmarks.”
- A File explorer window will appear, where you will have to navigate to the location of your HTML file that you saved, then click on “Open”.
Your imported bookmarks will now be in a new folder named “Imported” in the Bookmark Manager. Click the folder to see all the imported bookmarks.
Regularly backing up your Chrome bookmarks will make sure you always have access to important web pages. It’s a simple process that keeps your browsing smooth, whether you are using a new device or just want peace of mind.