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Turn Chrome’s Bookmarks or Bookmarks.bak file into an importable HTML file

Updated 18 October 2026

Chrome stores your bookmarks in a file called Bookmarks and keeps the previous copy as Bookmarks.bak. Drop either one here to get a normal bookmarks HTML file, then import it. Your live bookmarks are never replaced.

🔒 Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.

1Add the Bookmarks file

Drop a Bookmarks or Bookmarks.bak file hereor click to choose it. Firefox .json and .jsonlz4 backups work too

2Check what was found

3Download

Find the file

  1. In Chrome, open chrome://version and look at Profile Path. That folder holds the files.
  2. Open the folder in File Explorer or Finder. You’ll see Bookmarks and often Bookmarks.bak (no file extension on either). Newer versions of Chrome may also have AccountBookmarks, which holds bookmarks saved to your Google Account; it converts the same way.
  3. Copy the file you want somewhere else, such as your desktop, before you do anything with it. Then drop the copy here.
SystemUsual profile folder
Windows%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
macOS~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default
Linux~/.config/google-chrome/Default

Other profiles live next to Default as Profile 1, Profile 2 and so on. On Windows, paste %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data into the File Explorer address bar to jump there. Brave and Edge keep the same files under BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data and Microsoft\Edge\User Data. More detail is in where Chrome bookmarks are stored.

Why convert instead of renaming the file

The classic fix for lost bookmarks is to close Chrome, delete Bookmarks and rename Bookmarks.bak to Bookmarks. It works, but it throws away everything saved since the backup, and Chrome sync can overwrite the result when it reconnects. Converting the backup leaves your profile alone: you import the old bookmarks as a separate folder, pick what you need and delete the rest. The full recovery walkthrough is in how to recover deleted bookmarks in Chrome.

Import the file into Chrome

  1. Open chrome://bookmarks (or press Ctrl+Shift+O, Cmd+Option+B on a Mac).
  2. Click the three-dot menu at the top right of the Bookmark Manager and choose Import bookmarks.
  3. Pick the .html file you downloaded. Chrome adds everything in a new folder, usually called Imported at the end of your bookmarks bar (look under Other bookmarks if it isn’t there), and your existing bookmarks stay as they are.

Edge, Brave, Firefox and Safari read the same file. Step-by-step versions: Chrome, Edge, Brave, Firefox and Safari.

Firefox backups too

Firefox saves automatic bookmark backups as .jsonlz4 files in the bookmarkbackups folder of your Firefox profile, and its manual Backup makes a .json file. Drop either here: the compressed format is unpacked in your browser and converted the same way, so you can import old Firefox bookmarks into Chrome.

Questions

Is Bookmarks.bak a newer or older copy?

Older. Chrome writes the backup from the previous version of the file, so it can still hold bookmarks you deleted recently. Convert both files and compare if you’re not sure.

The file has no extension. Is that right?

Yes. Both Bookmarks and Bookmarks.bak are JSON text files without a .json extension. Choose All files in the file picker if you don’t see them.

Can I use this for a profile from an old computer or a backup drive?

Yes. Any copy of the file works, from an old drive, a Windows backup or a Time Machine snapshot, as long as you can get the file onto this computer.

Is my file uploaded anywhere?

No. The page reads the file with your browser’s own file reader and builds the new file on your computer. You can load the page, turn off Wi-Fi and it still works.

Your bookmarks, on every new tab

Stackboard is a free Chrome extension that lays out your bookmarks as a board on the new tab page. It stores everything as ordinary Chrome bookmarks, with no account.

Add to Chrome, it’s free

Sources

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