Where Brave stores your bookmarks on Windows, Mac, Linux and phones
Brave keeps your bookmarks in a file named Bookmarks, with no extension, inside your profile folder. On Windows 10 and 11 that’s C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\Bookmarks, and a backup called Bookmarks.bak sits next to it.
Where the file is on each system
| System | Profile folder (the Bookmarks file is inside) |
|---|---|
| Windows 10 and 11 | %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default |
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Default |
| Linux | ~/.config/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Default |
| Android | Brave’s help gives no file path; use Export Bookmarks to get a copy |
| iPhone and iPad | A database, Brave.sqlite, which Brave’s recovery steps find in the Files app under On My iPhone > Brave |
Default is your first profile; other Brave profiles get their own folders beside it. Brave Beta, Dev and Nightly keep separate data folders with the channel added to the name, such as Brave-Browser-Beta and Brave-Browser-Nightly.
Find your exact folder with brave://version
- Type
brave://versionin the address bar and press Enter. - Look for Profile Path. It shows the folder of the profile you’re using right now, whichever channel or profile that is.
- Copy the path. On Windows, paste it into File Explorer’s address bar; on a Mac, use Finder’s Go > Go to Folder; on Linux, paste it into your file manager or a terminal.
AppData on Windows and Library on a Mac are hidden by default, which is why pasting the path is the quickest way in. On Windows you can also paste %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data straight into File Explorer.
The files that matter
| File | What it is |
|---|---|
Bookmarks | All your bookmarks as JSON text: bookmarks bar, Other bookmarks and Mobile bookmarks. Brave rewrites it about 2.5 seconds after each change, as Chrome does. |
Bookmarks.bak | A copy Brave makes the first time your bookmarks change after it starts, so it shows them as they were at the start of the session. |
EncryptedBookmarks2 | If you see it: an encrypted copy that newer Chromium code writes beside the plain file. Text editors and converters can’t read it. |
Open Bookmarks in any text editor to look, but leave it alone while Brave runs: Brave holds your bookmarks in memory and writes over the file at the next change.
Get deleted bookmarks back
If Brave is still open, press Ctrl+Z in the Bookmark Manager (Cmd+Z on a Mac) to undo the delete. After a restart, Bookmarks.bak is your best chance: copy it to the desktop before your bookmarks change again, drop the copy into our free bookmarks JSON to HTML tool, and import the HTML file from the Bookmark Manager’s More options menu. Brave uses Chrome’s file format, so the walkthrough in recovering deleted bookmarks in Chrome works here with Brave’s folder.
What Brave Sync keeps
- No account, encrypted on your device: Brave Sync links devices in a sync chain. Brave encrypts the data on your device before it goes to Brave’s own servers, and says none of it goes to Google.
- The server copy expires: sync data nobody has accessed for 12 months is deleted from the server. The bookmarks in your browser stay.
- Deleting the chain keeps local bookmarks: Delete Sync account wipes the server copy for good, and every device keeps the bookmarks it already has.
- Sync copies deletes too: delete a bookmark on one device and it goes from the others, so keep an export as your backup.
Back up your Brave bookmarks
An HTML export is the simplest copy (how to export). Copying the Bookmarks file to another drive works too, and the converter above turns that copy into a file any browser imports. Two cautions from Brave’s help: deleting the whole User Data folder resets Brave completely, Brave Wallet and Rewards data included, and uninstalling Brave on a phone deletes its data, so export or sync before you reinstall.
Extensions that save links as bookmarks keep them in the same file. Stackboard, a new tab board that runs in Brave, stores its spaces in Other bookmarks › Stackboard, so one backup covers them.
Questions
Where are Brave bookmarks stored on Windows 11?
In C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\Bookmarks, the same place as on Windows 10. Paste %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data into File Explorer to get there.
Where are Brave bookmarks stored on a Mac?
In ~/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Default/Bookmarks. In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder and paste the folder path.
Where are Brave bookmarks stored on Linux?
In ~/.config/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Default/Bookmarks. The .config folder is hidden, so show hidden files or open it from a terminal.
Are Brave bookmarks stored locally or in the cloud?
Locally, in the Bookmarks file. With Brave Sync on, an encrypted copy also sits on Brave’s sync servers, and Brave says only you can read it.
Where are Brave favorites stored?
If you mean bookmarks, which Brave’s import window labels Favorites/Bookmarks, they live in the same Bookmarks file. On the new tab page, Favorites is a different list: the top sites you pick yourself, chosen under Show Top Sites in the Customize panel.
Try Stackboard
A free Chrome extension that turns your new tab into a board of your own bookmarks. No account, nothing leaves your browser.
Add to Chrome, it’s freeSources
- Brave Help Center: Sensitive data storage (User Data folder, copying profiles)
- Brave source: Windows folder names BraveSoftware and Brave-Browser, channel suffixes (chromium_install_modes.h)
- Brave source: Mac data folder BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser (build/config.gni)
- Brave source: CrProductDirName in the Mac Info.plist (tweak_info_plist.py)
- Brave source: Linux data folder under ~/.config (chrome_paths_linux.cc)
- Brave strings: "Profile Path" on brave://version (version_ui_strings.grdp)
- Chromium docs: User Data Directory (the profile folder, often Default)
- Chromium source: Mac data folder from CrProductDirName (chrome_paths_mac.mm)
- Chromium source: when Bookmarks.bak is written (bookmark_storage.cc)
- Chromium source: the 2.5 second save delay (bookmark_storage.h)
- Chromium source: the EncryptedBookmarks2 file name (bookmark_constants.cc)
- Chromium source: Bookmark Manager undo shortcut (command_manager.ts)
- Brave Help Center: How can I recover my lost iOS bookmarks? (Brave.sqlite in Files)
- Brave Help Center: How do I import or export data in Brave [Android]?
- Brave Help Center: Sync FAQ
- Brave Help Center: Understanding Brave Sync
- Brave Help Center: Delete Sync Account FAQ
- Brave Help Center: How do I delete my data in Brave?
- Brave Help Center: How do I import or export browsing data?
- Brave Help Center: How do I customize my New Tab Page? (Favorites in Top Sites)
- Chromium strings: the "Favorites/Bookmarks" import checkbox (settings_strings.grdp)