When you spend a lot of time on the internet, you also happen to amass a collection of bookmarks. Some of these bookmarks are rare finds you don’t want to lose. Others are websites you frequently want to visit or are saving for a later visit when you have more time on your hands.

Whatever the situation may be, it’d be a real shame to lose them. Fortunately, it’s very easy to backup the bookmarks from the Google Chrome browser. If, for some reason, you can’t open the Chrome browser, you can also find the bookmarks directly in the folder they are stored. Let’s get going then!

Where are the Chrome Bookmarks Stored?

Whether you’re just curious or want to access the location of bookmarks to modify/ delete/ copy them, it’s a piece of cake. But the location of the Bookmarks file will vary depending on the OS you’re using.

For Windows users, you can find the bookmarks file by navigating to the following location. But before opening the location, quit Google Chrome if it is open on your system.

Open ‘This PC’ or ‘File Explorer’ on your PC. Then, go to the following location.

C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data

When you reach the ‘Users’ folder, if you only have one user account on your PC, there won’t be any trouble. You can just open the folder with the Username, in this instance, ‘Sakshi Garg’. But if there are multiple user accounts on your PC, then navigate to the right folder from the multiple folders present accordingly.

Now, once you’re in the UserName folder, you might not find the folder for ‘AppData’ as it’s generally hidden. To view it, go to the ‘View’ option on the menu bar.

Then, go to ‘Show’ from the menu that appears and select ‘Hidden Items’ from the sub-menu. The AppData folder will appear.

Instead of taking the long route, you can also copy the above path, and paste it in the ‘Quick Access’ bar of File Explorer. Then, replace [UserName] with the actual folder name on the computer in the path and press Enter.

Once you reach the ‘User Data’ folder, your next step will depend on the number of Chrome profiles you have. If you only have a single Chrome profile, then look for the folder ‘Default’.

Otherwise, you might also have folders like ‘Profile 1’, ‘Profile 2’, and so on other than the ‘Default’ folder. Open the folder for the Chrome Profile you want to find the bookmarks for.

For this guide, we opened the Default folder. In the folder, you’d find the ‘Bookmarks’ and ‘Bookmarks.bak’ files. Bookmarks.bak is the backup file for Bookmarks.

You can now modify, delete, or copy the file for bookmarks. But before you modify or delete the file, be very sure that you want to proceed as any actions will directly impact the bookmarks on your browser.

How to Backup Chrome Bookmarks

Backing up your Chrome bookmarks is notoriously easy. The best way to do it is directly from the browser.

Go to the three-dot menu on the right end of the address bar.

From the menu that opens, go to ‘Bookmarks’ and then, click ‘Bookmark Manager’ from the sub-menu. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + O to open the Bookmark manager faster.

Your bookmarks will open. Click the ‘Organize’ icon (three-dot menu) on the top-right corner of the bookmarks screen.

Then, select ‘Export Bookmarks’ from the menu.

The ‘Save’ dialog box will open. Choose a name and location for the file and click the ‘Save’ button.

Bookmarks will be exported as an HTML file. You can use this file to restore your bookmarks in case you lose them or import them to other browsers or devices.

Alternate: Sync the Bookmarks Instead

If you want to create a backup of the bookmarks to import them to another browser or device, you can instead sync the bookmarks. Syncing the bookmarks with your Google account on Chrome makes it accessible on the Chrome browser on any device you log in with the same account on. With synced bookmarks, when you edit the bookmarks on one device, they change on all your devices.

To turn on sync, go to your Profile icon on the address bar and click it.

Then, click ‘Turn on sync’ from the menu that appears and sign in to your Google account.

Once you’ve linked your account, make sure that bookmarks are syncing. By default, everything syncs with your Google account but it’s wise to check just in case. If you ever changed the settings previously, bookmarks could be off.

Go to ‘Settings’ from the three-dot menu.

Then, click ‘Sync and Google Services’.

Click the option for ‘Manage what you sync’.

Now, if you have the option ‘Sync everything’ selected, you’re good to go. But if you’re instead using the option ‘Customize sync’, then, make sure the toggle for ‘Bookmarks’ is on.

If you cannot use either of the above options to export or backup your bookmarks for some reason, but the contents of your hard drive are accessible to you, you can use the bookmarks file from the location in the C: Drive to copy the bookmarks.