How to Recover Bookmarks in Chrome on Windows 10/11 or Mac

We all surf online on a daily basis, in search of different topics and solutions. And to be efficient, we save bookmarks in our browser to have quick access to those frequently-visited websites. Whenever we delete the bookmarks by mistake or lose them after update/reinstallation, we may feel extremely insecure.

As Google Chrome is used by the vast majority of users, here in this article, we will share 10 ways to restore bookmarks in Chrome, which are applicable for Windows 10, Windows 11 and Mac users.

Where is Chrome Bookmarks Stored?

When you bookmark websites in Google Chrome, it will save the site lists in a file named as Bookmarks, which contains information like url, date added, date last used, website name, website meta info and so on. Also, there is a file names as Bookmark.bak, it is the most recent backup to restore all the tabs that you opened in Google Chrome last time. You can open the Bookmark file in Chrome or other text editors.

Though you can search a bookmark file on your Machine, a Chrome bookmark is backed up locally in the following defaulted location.

On a Windows 10 or 11 PC:

C:\Users\(YourUserName)\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default.

On a Mac:

Users/xxx/Library/Application Support/Google/ Chrome/Default.

 

Why Lost All Bookmarks in Chrome?

There are a few reasons why all Chrome bookmarks are lost in a sudden. The most common one is that you reinstalled the system or browser and lost the profile data. But glitches and others can also cause Chrome bookmarks to disappear.

• Re-installation of system or Chrome

Generally speaking, re-installation of Windows, macOS or Google Chrome won’t delete your personal files, but there are many users still reported about data loss after an re-installation. So, this happens, including loss of a Chrome bookmark.

• System or Chrome glitches

Whenever there is an update for the system or Chrome app, we prefer to upgrade. But sometimes, a specific version of the software might be unstable and have minor bugs to cause bookmark disappeared.

• Corrupted bookmark file

The disk where backs up the Chrome bookmarks may have bad sectors, or the bookmark file is corrupted for other reasons, which prevent you accessing the file. You are recommended to run a check and repair on the disk using system built-in tools.

• Delete bookmark by accident

Or you just moved the bookmark file to recycle bin, deleted the bookmarks from bookmarks bar by accident. Or the bookmarks were deleted on another device by yourself and someone sharing the same Google account, if Google sync is enabled, the bookmarks will be lost across all devices.

• A new profile is created

You may accidentally create a new profile that stores the new personal data in Google Chrome, it won’t show up the bookmarks from another profile.

• Log into another user account

Have multiple user accounts on the same machine? The Chrome bookmarks will be backed up locally in the users library, make sure you’ve signed into the correct account on your PC or Mac.

 

How to Recover Lost or Deleted Bookmarks in Chrome on Windows 11, 10 or Mac?

Before spending time searching for and restoring the bookmarks in Chrome, make sure that you are looking for it in the correct user account, including the account on your machine and the Google account, given that Windows/Mac/Chrome allows you to stay signed in to multiple accounts, you might have signed into to a different account.

If you’ve logged into the correct account, there are 10 ways to restore deleted or lost bookmarks in Google Chrome, no matter you are using Windows 10,11 or latest Sequoia Mac.

1. The Easiest Way to Restore Chrome Bookmarks on Windows 11/10 and Mac

To recover deleted or lost Chrome bookmarks with least amount of time and effort, you should look out for top-notch recovery programs. With so many data recovery programs out there, picking the good one is challenging, but we are here to recommended you the best only --- Cisdem Data Recovery for Windows and Mac.

Cisdem Data Recovery can offer users an impeccable data recovery experience, from restoring 1000+ types of files on internal/external storage device to previewing and repairing files with ease, you will find plenty of reasons as following to pick this tool:

• Restore deleted, lost, missing, formatted and corrupted files
• Run data recovery on internal and external storage for Windows and macOS
• Repair video, image and document files
• Preview files before recovery
• Filter files and locate a lost file quickly
• Support different device, system format
• Resume scanning at anytime by saving result
• Auto save recovered files to preferred location

How to Recover Chrome Bookmarks on Windows 10, 11 or Mac Easily?

1. Download and install Cisdem Data Recovery.
   Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7 Free Download macOS 10.9 or later
2. Select a location and click Search for Lost Data to find the deleted or lost Chrome bookmarks first.
3. Go to Type > Documents, find the Chrome bookmark files saved in html format, or you can enter keyword and use the filter to find the wanted files quickly.
4. Check the Chrome bookmark files and click Recover.
5. Open Google Chrome browser, click the three-dot icon in the browser and go to Bookmarks > Bookmark Manager.
6. Click the three-dot icon at the top-right corner, go to Import bookmarks and import the recovered bookmark files by Cisdem. Then all the disappeared bookmarks will be back to your Google Chrome.

Also, you can check this YouTube video to know how Cisdem recovers your bookmarks in Chrome (starting from 02:50)

 

2. Sign out and Sign Back in

Somehow, by simply signing out and into Google account will show up the lost bookmarks again. This helps disconnect from your account, then link and reload the data to your account without error.

1. Click on the profile avatar.
2. Choose Sign out.
3. Then sign in again.
4. Also, make sure you’ve showed bookmarks bar (right click on the blank area from bookmarks bar).

 

3. Sync Bookmarks back in Chrome

If you’re signed into Chrome with your Google account on multiple devices, like both desktop and mobile, you can use the Chrome bookmark sync feature to remain the desktop bookmarks consistent with the ones on your mobile phone.

1. Open Google Chrome browser, click the three-dot icon and go to Settings.
2. Go to Sync and Google services.
3. Go to Manage what you sync.
4. Choose Customize sync > Bookmarks.

 

4. Restore Chrome Bookmarks from Backup

It is also a standard solution to recover deleted Chrome bookmarks with backup. All that we need to do is check the local drive where your system saves the bookmark files, then open Chrome browser and recover. The process is simple but different for Windows and Mac users.

For Windows 10/11 users:

1. Go to C:\Users\(YourUserName)\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default.
2. Delete the bookmarks file and rename the bookmarks.bak file as bookmark (removing the .bak extension).
3. Open Chrome to automatically load and recover the deleted bookmarks.
4. If it won’t load, open the Bookmark file in Chrome and manually paste the urls to Google Chrome for re-bookmarking.

For Mac users:

1. Click on Go from Apple’s menu bar, then choose Go to folder.
2. Navigate to the bookmark backup location: Library > Application Support > Google > Chrome > Default.
3. Delete the bookmarks file and remove the .bak extension of bookmarks.bak file to create a new bookmark backup file.
4. Open Chrome to automatically load and recover your bookmarks.
5. If it won’t load, open the Bookmark file in Chrome and manually paste the urls to Google Chrome for re-bookmarking.

 

5. Recover Bookmarks in Chrome by Importing Bookmarks

Google Chrome allows users to export and import bookmarks, if you have exported your bookmarks in HTML file to your Windows or Mac, you can get back the lost Chrome bookmarks by importing those files.

1. Click the three-dot icon in Chrome browser.
2. Go to Bookmarks > Import Bookmarks and Settings.
3. Choose the source or bookmark html file to import. Continue with Import.
4. Click Done and find the recovered bookmarks in the imported folder.

 

6. Get Bookmarks Back on Chrome via Safari or Firefox

If you have bookmarked frequently visited websites in other browsers like Safari or Firefox, you can also get bookmarks back on Chrome easily via this web browser.

1. Click the three-dot icon in Chrome browser.
2. Go to Bookmarks and lists > Import Bookmarks and Settings.
3. Choose Safari and click Import.

 

7. Recover Deleted Chrome Bookmarks from History

If unfortunately, none of above-listed methods works in your case to recover Chrome bookmarks, you might need to manually recover by browsing the history in your Chrome. This solution takes time and you may miss some websites, but it never fails.

1. Visit chrome://history in your Chrome.
2. Check out the browsing history, bookmark the websites as needed.

 

8. Restore Deleted Bookmarks in Chrome with DNS Cache

Another useful solution to recover deleted or lost Chrome bookmarks is using DNS cache. Actually, it is similar to restoring with browsing history, since we can get a list of recently visited websites from DNS cache, then bookmark these websites again.

To understand how to restore Chrome bookmarks with DNS cache, you can follow these simple steps:

1. Press Windows+R, type cmd.
2. Type ipcongif /displaydns and press Enter.
3. Check the list of recently visited websites, open and bookmark these website again.

 

9. Recover Bookmarks in Chrome by Searching File

Maybe you have exported the bookmarks, but the files were just lost on your device. In this case, we can recover bookmarks in Chrome by searching in File Explorer on Windows, or in Finder on Mac, then take the steps in Method 5 to import the bookmarks to your Chrome for recovery.

For Windows 10/11 users:

1. Click the Windows menu.
2. Enter bookmark in the search bar.
3. Locate the bookmark file or move it to your desktop.
4. Repeat the steps in part 5 to import the bookmark file to Chrome.

For Mac users:

1. Run Finder app.
2. Enter bookmark in the search box > press Enter.
3. Locate the bookmark file or move it to your desktop.
4. Repeat the steps in part 5 to import the bookmark file in Chrome for recovery.

 

10. Recover Lost Bookmarks in Google Chrome Online

The last guide on how to recover bookmarks in Chrome involves the use of an online Chrome bookmarks recovery tool. It is designed to convert the Bookmark file to html format, so users can easily import the html bookmarks to Chrome, in the case that the backed up bookmark file won’t load the bookmarks to the bar automatically.

However, this tool is disclaimed not to be an official Google product, so you’d better to be cautious if deciding to try this method.

1. Navigate to bookmark backup location on your Windows or Mac according to part 1.
2. Drag the Bookmark or Bookmark.bak file to this webpage.
3. Then download the HTML file, all the bookmarks will be saved in the file.
4. Click on the 3-dot icon in Chrome, go to Bookmarks and lists > Import Bookmarks and Settings.
5. Select Bookmarks HTML File, then choose the file and import. 

 

Conclusion

That’s all for the complete guide to recover deleted or lost bookmarks in Chrome and most of the solutions also apply for restoring bookmarks from other browsers. No matter which method you decide to use, it won’t take you long time with the steps we list for you.

If you want to test out how easy and how good it is to use Cisdem Data Recovery, you can download and install the free trial on its official website. It is expected that eventually, Cisdem will be the best solution for you.