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Deleted Chrome bookmarks? How to get them back

Updated October 28, 2026

Google's help is blunt: "After you delete a bookmark, you can't get it back." (Google's bookmarks help) There's no Trash for bookmarks. But a copy may still exist in a few places, and the order you try them in matters.

Change as little as possible. Don't add, move or delete more bookmarks, and don't restart Chrome yet if you can help it. If you have Chrome on another computer, read step 1 before you open it.

1. Catch another computer before it syncs

If you sync bookmarks, they're kept in your Google Account and appear on your other devices (Google's sync help). A deletion is a change too, so it can reach them as well. A computer that's been switched off since before you deleted the bookmarks may still have the old ones until it syncs.

  1. On that computer, disconnect from the internet first (turn off Wi-Fi or unplug the cable).
  2. Open Chrome, open the Bookmark Manager, and from its ⋮ menu choose Export bookmarks (Google's import and export help). Save the file.
  3. Go back online. On your main computer, import that file (step 3).

2. Use Chrome's backup file, Bookmarks.bak

Chrome keeps your bookmarks in a file named Bookmarks in your profile folder. The first time your bookmarks change after Chrome starts, Chrome copies that file to Bookmarks.bak before writing the change (Chromium's bookmark storage code). So Bookmarks.bak usually holds your bookmarks as they were when Chrome last started. After the next restart and the next change, it's replaced, so be quick.

  1. Quit Chrome completely. On Windows, open ⋮ and choose Exit. On a Mac, press ⌘+Q.
  2. Open your profile folder:
    • Windows: press Windows+R, paste %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default and press Enter.
    • Mac: in Finder, choose Go, then Go to Folder, and paste ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default.
    If you use more than one profile, yours may be Profile 1, Profile 2 and so on. Type chrome://version in Chrome and look at Profile Path (Chromium's user data documentation).
  3. Copy Bookmarks, Bookmarks.bak and, if you see them, any files whose names start with EncryptedBookmarks to your desktop. That's your safety net.
  4. In the profile folder, rename Bookmarks to Bookmarks.old, then rename Bookmarks.bak to Bookmarks. If there's an EncryptedBookmarks2 file, move it out of the folder too (you have a copy on your desktop). Newer Chrome versions can load bookmarks from that encrypted file and fall back to the plain one only when it's missing (Chromium's bookmark settings code). On Windows, if you can't see the .bak ending, turn on file name extensions in File Explorer's View menu.
  5. Start Chrome and check your bookmarks. If they're back, export them right away from the Bookmark Manager's ⋮ menu with Export bookmarks (Google's import and export help). If not, quit Chrome and put your desktop copies back.

Two honest limits. This backup only covers bookmarks stored on this device: Chrome doesn't make a .bak copy of bookmarks kept in your Google Account (Chromium's bookmark storage code). And Google doesn't document this method, so work only from copies.

3. Import an old export file

Search your computer for bookmarks_ followed by a date, or any .html bookmarks file you saved. Then: ⋮, Bookmarks and lists, Import bookmarks and settings, and choose the file. If you already have bookmarks, Chrome puts the imported ones in a separate folder (Google's import and export help).

4. Check your other Chrome profiles

Click your profile picture at the top right of Chrome. If more than one profile is listed, open each one and look. Each profile keeps its own history, bookmarks and settings, so the "missing" tabs may be sitting in the profile Chrome didn't open (Google's profiles help). To pick a profile every time Chrome starts, open the same menu, choose Manage Chrome profiles and check Show on startup.

5. Rebuild from History

Press Ctrl+H (Mac: ⌘+Y) to open History. It lists the pages you visited in the last 90 days, not counting Incognito windows (Google's History help). Search for a site or a word you remember, or look through the day it happened. In the By group tab, Chrome groups pages by topic, and More, then Open all in new tab group, reopens a whole group of pages at once.

So it never happens again

Chrome has no Trash for bookmarks, and its one backup copy is replaced quickly. 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.