How to recover Chrome bookmarks that have disappeared
You open Chrome and your bookmarks are gone. Before you give up, work through these steps in order, from the simplest to the most technical.
Years of saved links and, suddenly, an empty bookmarks bar. It's a scare, but often your bookmarks are still there: they're just hidden, in another profile or in a copy Chrome keeps without telling you.
Here's what to check first, how to try to get them back and how to keep a second copy of your important links so it doesn't happen again. One honest warning up front: recovery isn't always possible, so the sooner you act, the better.
1. Make sure they're not just hidden
Show the bookmarks bar
Press Ctrl+Shift+B. This shortcut shows or hides the bookmarks bar, and it's easy to press by accident. If the bar comes back with your folders, you're done.
Search the Bookmark manager
Press Ctrl+Shift+O to open the Bookmark manager. Type the name of a site you had saved into the search box at the top. Sometimes bookmarks aren't on the bar but in Other bookmarks or inside another folder.
Check you're in your profile
Look at the profile icon in the top right. If there are several Chrome profiles on your computer, you may have opened a different one. Click the icon and switch to yours.
Check you're signed in and syncing
In the same profile icon, check that you're signed in with your Google account and that sync is turned on. If you were signed out, your bookmarks may come back when you sign in again.
2. Just deleted them? Undo with Ctrl+Z
If you deleted a bookmark or folder a moment ago, open the Bookmark manager (Ctrl+Shift+O) and press Ctrl+Z. Chrome undoes the last deletion.
Note: this only works if you haven't closed Chrome since you deleted them. If you have, move on to the next step.
3. Use the Bookmarks.bak backup file (Windows)
Close Chrome completely
Close every Chrome window. If the Chrome icon is next to the Windows clock, close it from there too.
Open your profile folder
Open File Explorer and go to C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default. If you use another profile, the folder is called Profile 1, Profile 2 and so on. You'll see two files there: Bookmarks and Bookmarks.bak.
Copy both files somewhere safe
Before changing anything, copy Bookmarks and Bookmarks.bak somewhere else, such as your desktop. That way, if something goes wrong, you can put everything back as it was.
Check the dates
Look at the modified date of Bookmarks.bak. If it's older than the moment your bookmarks disappeared, it may still have them. If it's newer, they're most likely not in there.
Rename the files
Rename Bookmarks to Bookmarks.old. Then rename Bookmarks.bak to Bookmarks. If you can't see the .bak extension, turn on View > Show > File name extensions in File Explorer.
Open Chrome and check
Open Chrome and look at your bookmarks. If they're back, export a copy as soon as you can (see below).
What about Mac?
On a Mac the process is the same, but the folder is ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default. To get there, in Finder choose Go > Go to Folder and paste that path.
4. Look on another synced device
If sync was on, there's some bad news: when you delete a bookmark, the deletion is copied to all your devices. That's why they don't usually come back on their own.
But if you have another computer that has been switched off or offline since then, it may still have your bookmarks. Export the bookmarks from that device to a file, ideally before it goes online or as soon as you open it. Then you can import them where you lost them.
5. Import an HTML file you exported earlier
If you ever exported your bookmarks, you'll have an HTML file with all of them. Open the Bookmark manager (Ctrl+Shift+O), click the ⋮ menu in the top right and choose Import bookmarks. Select the file and Chrome adds them back.
You'll find the step-by-step in our guide to exporting and importing Chrome bookmarks.
How to stop it from happening again
Export your bookmarks from time to time. An HTML file saved in another folder or in the cloud is the simplest backup. Do it, say, once a month or whenever you've saved lots of new links.
Keep your important links in NexoPad too. In NexoPad, open the popup's settings menu and click Import Bookmarks. Your bookmarks are saved as NexoPad links in your account, separate from Chrome. That gives you a second copy: if something happens to your Chrome bookmarks, your links are still in NexoPad.
You can also find them by typing a few letters into the popup's search box, or by pressing Ctrl+K on any page. To keep them tidy, see how to organize your bookmarks and our guide to organizing links.
Frequently asked questions
Why have my Chrome bookmarks disappeared?
Often the bar is just hidden (Ctrl+Shift+B brings it back), you're in another profile or you were signed out of Google. If they were really deleted, try Ctrl+Z or the Bookmarks.bak backup.
Where does Chrome keep its bookmarks backup?
On Windows, in C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default, as Bookmarks.bak. On a Mac, in ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default.
Can I recover bookmarks I deleted weeks ago?
It's unlikely. Chrome keeps only one backup and replaces it soon. Your best options are an HTML file you exported earlier or a device that hasn't synced since then.
Does Chrome sync protect me if I delete a bookmark?
No. Sync copies the deletion to all your devices. It's for having your bookmarks on several computers, not a backup.
Is NexoPad free for saving my links?
Yes. The free plan saves up to 20 links and Pro up to 1,000. NexoPad doesn't recover bookmarks that are already lost, but it gives you a second copy of the ones you import.
Published on October 20, 20267 min read
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