How to export Arc bookmarks and spaces to Zen

Updated 18 October 2026

Zen can’t read Arc, and Arc can’t export, so the route goes through a bookmarks file: convert Arc’s StorableSidebar.json with our free Arc bookmarks exporter, import the result from Zen’s Library, then rebuild your spaces as Zen workspaces.

Why there’s no one-click route

Zen is built on Firefox and takes its bookmarks and import tools from it. Firefox’s import wizard reads browsers such as Chrome, Edge and Safari; Arc isn’t one of them, Zen’s documentation describes no Arc import, and threads asking for one in Zen’s GitHub discussions (2025 and 2026) confirm there’s no built-in way. Arc itself only imports. The Browser Company now builds Dia, and arc.net says Arc receives Chromium updates only, which is why many Arc users are looking at Zen.

Step 1: turn Arc’s sidebar into a bookmarks file

1. Find StorableSidebar.json. On a Mac it’s in ~/Library/Application Support/Arc/ (Finder > Go > Go to Folder). On Windows, open %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\, then the folder starting with TheBrowserCompany.Arc, then LocalCache\Local\Arc\. Copy the file to your desktop.
2. Drop the copy onto the Arc bookmarks exporter. It runs in your browser and uploads nothing.
3. Download the bookmarks file (.html). Each space is a folder, pinned tabs and folders keep their nesting, and tabs that were open below the divider sit in an Unpinned tabs subfolder.

Step 2: import it into Zen

1. Open Zen’s Library with Ctrl+Shift+O, or from the application menu: Bookmarks > Manage bookmarks.
2. Click Import and Backup > Import Bookmarks from HTML… and pick the file.
3. Like Firefox, Zen adds HTML imports to the Bookmarks Menu, so that’s where your space folders are. Open the Bookmarks sidebar with Ctrl+B to browse them.

Want a space in view all the time? Drag its folder to the Bookmarks Toolbar, which Ctrl+Shift+B shows or hides.

Step 3: rebuild your spaces as workspaces

Zen’s workspaces and pinned tabs belong to its tab bar and are separate from bookmarks, so the import gives you the links without the layout. For each Arc space:

1. Create a workspace: click Default in the sidebar, then the + icon, and give it the space’s name and an icon.
2. In the Bookmarks sidebar, right-click the space’s folder and open all of its bookmarks.
3. Pin the tabs you want to keep (right-click a tab > Pin Tab) and close the rest.

Each workspace can also have a default container, which keeps logins for different accounts apart; Zen’s docs cover it under Workspaces. Community scripts that write Arc spaces straight into Zen’s session file also exist. They’re unofficial, so back up your Zen profile before trying one.

What stays in Arc

• The Favorites row at the top of Arc’s sidebar is stored differently and may be missing from the file. Add those sites by hand.
• Notes, Easels and Boosts aren’t bookmarks.
• Extensions: Arc ran Chrome extensions and Zen runs Firefox add-ons, so look for each one on Firefox’s add-ons site.
• History and passwords aren’t in the sidebar file, and Zen has no Arc importer to fetch them.

Heading to Chrome or Brave? The same exporter makes a Stackboard backup that turns each Arc space into a space on the new tab page in Stackboard; moving Arc to Chrome walks through it.