How to import bookmarks into Safari, and where they land

Updated 18 October 2026

On a Mac, choose File > Import Browsing Data from File or Folder in Safari, click Choose File or Folder, pick your bookmarks HTML file and click Import. For Chrome or Firefox on the same Mac you can skip the file: File > Import From Browser copies the bookmarks directly. Either way, Safari adds them after the bookmarks you already have.

Import an HTML file on a Mac

1. Export a bookmarks file from the browser you’re leaving. Apple says Safari reads HTML exports from Firefox, Edge, Chrome and some other browsers; we have step-by-step guides for Firefox, Edge and Chrome.
2. In Safari 18 or later, choose File > Import Browsing Data from File or Folder.
3. Click Choose File or Folder and select the file. A folder of files works too, such as an unzipped export from Safari on another Mac.
4. Click Import.

Then delete the file you imported: Apple points out it may hold unencrypted data, passwords included. In Safari 17 and earlier, the command is File > Import From > Bookmarks HTML File.

Copy directly from Chrome or Firefox

1. Choose File > Import From Browser > Google Chrome, or File > Import From Browser > Firefox. Safari 17 calls the menu File > Import From.
2. Select the items you want. Bookmarks, history and passwords are on offer.
3. Click Import.

The other browser has to be installed on this Mac, and imported passwords go into your iCloud Keychain. You can run the import again whenever you like, even after an earlier one. If Chrome or Firefox was your default browser, Safari may already have asked: the first time you open it, a message at the bottom of the start page offers to keep the imported items, remove them or decide later, and Bookmarks > Show Start Page brings that page back. Apple names only Chrome and Firefox for this, so export an HTML file from Edge, Brave or Opera first.

On iPhone or iPad

From iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2, Safari imports a file on the device itself:

1. Save the HTML file or export zip where the Files app can reach it, such as iCloud Drive or On My iPhone.
2. Open Settings, tap Apps, then tap Safari.
3. Below History and Website Data, tap Import.
4. Tap Choose File, pick the file (a ZIP file of several files is fine) and tap Import to Safari.
5. Safari describes what it imported. Tap Done.

Passwords in the file go to the Passwords app. If you also have a Mac, importing there can be simpler: with Safari turned on in iCloud on both devices (Settings > your name > iCloud > See All on the iPhone), the bookmarks reach the phone on their own.

Where the bookmarks end up

Apple’s rule is that imported bookmarks appear after your existing bookmarks. In Safari 17, an HTML import arrived as a new folder in the sidebar below Bookmarks, named with Imported at the start and the date at the end. To find them on a Mac:

• Open the bookmarks sidebar with Control+Cmd+1 (or Bookmarks > Show Bookmarks) and scroll to the end of the list. Bookmarks > Edit Bookmarks is the other way to manage them.
• Or type the name of a site you imported into the search field at the top of the sidebar.

Imported bookmarks not showing in Safari?

• You’re checking the Favorites bar. The bar shows only the Favorites folder, and imports go to the end of your bookmarks. Drag the ones you use every day into Favorites; the Favorites bar guide covers the rest.
• Profiles aren’t the cause. Apple says bookmarks are the same in every Safari profile, so the sidebar shows them in any window.
• The file isn’t an HTML export. Chrome’s own Bookmarks file from its profile folder is JSON. Convert it with our Chrome bookmarks JSON to HTML tool and import the result.
• On the Mac but missing on the iPhone. Both need Safari turned on in iCloud settings, signed in with the same Apple Account. Apple’s fixes: turn Safari off in iCloud settings, wait a few minutes and turn it back on, make sure the date and time are right, then restart the browser and the device.
• Everything twice. Safari lets you import again at any time, so a second run can leave a second copy. Clean the file first with our duplicate bookmark finder, or combine several exports into one file without duplicates in the bookmark merger, and import once.

One limit from Apple’s sync help: in a folder with more than 500 bookmarks, the order may not match on every device. If order matters, split a big imported folder into smaller ones.