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Chrome bookmarks bar missing, empty or only on the New Tab page? Fix it

Updated October 28, 2026

The bookmarks bar is gone, shows up only on new tabs, or won't go away there. On Chrome's help forum, 38 people said they have the same question about an update that changed the bar (chrome update messed up the bookmarks bar), and 21 about the bar being forced onto the New Tab page (Forced Bookmarks Bar on New Tab Page after recent update). Here's how to set it the way you want.

1. Show or hide it with the shortcut

Press Ctrl+Shift+B (Mac: ⌘+Shift+B) to show or hide the bookmarks bar (Google's shortcut list). Or open ⋮, then Bookmarks and lists, then Show bookmarks bar (Google's bookmarks help).

2. Use the Bookmarks bar setting

Newer versions of Chrome have a setting that decides where the bar appears. Open ⋮, then Settings, then Appearance, and find Bookmarks bar. Its choices are Always show, Only show on New Tab page and Always hide (Chromium's settings text). If the bar appears only on new tabs, it's set to the middle option. If you want it gone from new tabs too, choose Always hide. If your version doesn't show this setting yet, use the shortcut in step 1.

3. The bar is there but empty

Open the Bookmark Manager with Ctrl+Shift+O (Mac: ⌘+Option+B) and look in the Bookmarks bar folder on the left. If it's empty, check Other bookmarks: when you import bookmarks into a Chrome that already has some, they go there instead (Google's import and export help). Also check that you're in the right profile, since each profile has its own bookmarks (Google's profiles help). If they're truly gone, see Chrome bookmarks disappeared after an update?

4. Tab groups are crowding the bar

Saved tab groups can appear on the bookmarks bar. To turn that off, open ⋮, Settings, Appearance, and turn off Show tab groups in bookmarks bar (Google's tab help).

So it never happens again

A bar that suddenly looks empty is the moment you find out whether you have a backup. We make Never Lose Tabs, and it backs up your bookmarks as well as your tabs, free:

  • Snapshots after every change. Within a couple of minutes of a change, it keeps a new snapshot of all your bookmarks on your computer.
  • An alarm when they suddenly vanish. If a large share of your bookmarks disappears at once, or your bookmarks bar goes empty, it tells you and offers to restore. The snapshot from before the loss is kept.
  • Restore that never overwrites. Restoring adds a folder named Restored bookmarks, with the snapshot's date, to Other bookmarks. Nothing you have now is changed or removed.
  • A copy outside Chrome. Snapshots are included in the hourly backup file in Downloads/NeverLoseTabs, and any snapshot can be exported as a bookmarks file any browser can import.

Bookmark backup is optional: turn it on with Back up my bookmarks too, and Chrome asks you to allow access to your bookmarks. It's free forever. It can't bring back bookmarks deleted before you turn it on.

Add to Chrome: freeHow it works

We make Never Lose Tabs. Chrome is a trademark of Google LLC. Never Lose Tabs is made by Coding Friend LLC and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.