How to recover deleted Safari bookmarks on Mac, iPhone and iPad

Updated 18 October 2026

If Safari syncs through iCloud, go to icloud.com/recovery on a computer, choose Restore Bookmarks and restore a version from before the delete; Apple’s help covers bookmarks deleted in the last 30 days. If Safari doesn’t sync, a Mac’s Time Machine backup of Bookmarks.plist is the next place to look.

1. Try undo straight away (Mac)

Apple’s Safari guide has no undo step for deleted bookmarks, so treat this as a quick first try: press Cmd+Z, the Mac’s shortcut for undoing the previous command, before you do anything else in Safari. If nothing comes back, move on to the next step. Apple describes no undo for bookmarks on iPhone or iPad either.

2. Restore an earlier version from iCloud.com

When Safari is turned on in iCloud settings, Apple archives your bookmarks automatically, and you can roll back from a web browser on a computer or tablet:

1. Go to icloud.com/recovery and sign in with your Apple Account. Already on iCloud.com? Open the app launcher in the toolbar and choose Recovery.
2. Select Restore Bookmarks. You can sort what’s listed by Date Deleted, Name or Folder.
3. Next to the version you want, select Restore. Scroll if you don’t see it, because there may be more versions than fit on screen.
4. Leave your bookmarks alone until the restore finishes. Apple says changes you make during a restore aren’t saved.

The restored set appears on every device that has Safari turned on in iCloud, and a lost Favorites folder comes back with it, since Favorites are bookmarks too. Your current bookmarks are archived first, so if you picked the wrong version, run the steps again and restore the most recent one. If the page says No Bookmarks, Apple’s explanation is that Safari isn’t turned on in iCloud settings on your devices.

3. Restore Bookmarks.plist with Time Machine (Mac)

A Mac keeps Safari’s bookmarks in one file, ~/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist, and Time Machine backs your files up hourly, daily and weekly. On APFS disks it also keeps hourly local snapshots for up to 24 hours, which work even when the backup disk isn’t connected.

1. Quit Safari with Cmd+Q.
2. In Finder, press Shift+Cmd+G (Go > Go to Folder), type ~/Library/Safari/ and press Return.
3. Copy Bookmarks.plist to your desktop, so today’s version is safe if the old one disappoints.
4. With that Safari folder open in front, open Time Machine with Spotlight.
5. Use the arrows and the timeline on the right to step back to a backup from before the delete.
6. Select Bookmarks.plist and click Restore. Time Machine returns it to its original place.
7. Open Safari and check your bookmarks.

If Safari syncs through iCloud, use step 2 first: it’s the route Apple documents for synced bookmarks, and it updates every device at once. Time Machine suits a Mac where Safari isn’t turned on in iCloud.

4. On iPhone or iPad

Deleting on an iPhone or iPad takes a touch and hold, then Delete, and Apple’s guides offer nothing to tap afterwards to bring it back. What helps depends on iCloud:

• Safari is on in iCloud: use Restore Bookmarks on iCloud.com (step 2) from a computer or tablet, and the restored set syncs back to the phone. Don’t count on another Apple device keeping a copy, because changes made on one device reach all of them.
• Safari is off in iCloud: the bookmarks lived only on the device, so a backup of it made before the delete still holds them; Apple says backups include what doesn’t already sync to iCloud. Restoring an iCloud backup means erasing the iPhone first, and the rest of the phone goes back to that day too, so keep it as a last resort.

5. Import an old export

A Bookmarks.html from an earlier export still holds what you lost. Check it first in our bookmarks viewer, which searches every title and folder, then import it on a Mac with File > Import Browsing Data from File or Folder. The imported bookmarks land after your current ones, so drag back what you need and delete the rest of the import, which would otherwise leave you with two copies of everything you still had.

Next time

Export now and then (how to export Safari bookmarks) and keep the zip somewhere other than the Mac. Leaving Safari on in iCloud gives you the automatic archive in step 2, and Time Machine gives you the file in step 3. Where Safari stores bookmarks lists every copy that might exist.