How to Recover Bookmarks in Chrome on Windows 11 or 10 [10 Ways]

We often save bookmarks in our browser to have quick access to those frequently-visited websites. Whenever we delete the bookmarks by mistake or lose them after update/reinstallation, we may feel extremely insecure. As Google Chrome is used by the vast majority of users, here in this article, we will share 10 ways to restore bookmarks in Chrome, which are applicable for Windows 11, Windows 10 and earlier versions.

Key Takeaways

• Google Chrome bookmarks are stored windows 11 or 10 here: C:\Users\(YourUserName)\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default. You are recommended to check this place when your Chrome bookmarks are gone.
• A Chrome bookmark can be saved in the format of JSON, HTML, or BAK, you should search and restore these files, then import it back to Google Chrome.
• The quickest way to recover bookmarks in Google Chrome is using a file recovery program like Cisdem Data Recovery, which is able of restoring deleted or disappeared Chrome bookmarks.
• There are free ways to find back the disappeared or deleted bookmarks in Chrome, including sync bookmarks across devices, check backups, import from other file or browser, check browsing history, restore via DNS cache, search the file on PC, or use online tools.

 Cisdem Data Recovery for Windows and Mac

Recover Deleted or Lost Chrome Bookmarks in Seconds

• Recover deleted, lost and old bookmarks in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.
• Recover Chrome bookmarks in JSON and HTML format
• Show the created date of a bookmark to recover the latest version
• Preview the bookmarks
• Quickly filter and locate bookmark files
• Also recover files lost due to deletion, format, crash, power off, virus attack, etc.
• Recover videos, photos, documents, archives, etc, in 1000+ formats
• Restore files from both internal and external storage devices

Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7 Free Download macOS 10.15 or later

Where Are Chrome Bookmarks Stored on Windows 11/10?

When you bookmark websites in Google Chrome, it will save the site lists in a file named as Bookmarks, which contains information like url, date added, date last used, website name, website meta info and so on. 

The native format of Chrome bookmarks is JSON, you can open it in a text editor. Or, it might be in HTML format, because Chrome allows users to export the bookmarks in HTML format.

Though you can search a bookmark file on your Machine, a Chrome bookmark is stored locally in the following defaulted location.

On a Windows 10 or 11 PC: C:\Users\(YourUserName)\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default.

Method 1. The Easiest Way to Restore Chrome Bookmarks on Windows 11/10

To get deleted or lost bookmarks back on Chrome with least amount of time and effort, you should look out for top-notch recovery programs. With so many data recovery programs out there, picking the good one is challenging, but we are here to recommended you the best only --- Cisdem Data Recovery for Windows, which can directly recover an older, deleted or lost Chrome bookmarks from the “Bookmarks” folder. 

Cisdem Data Recovery offers users an impeccable data recovery experience, from restoring 1000+ types of files on internal/external storage device to previewing and repairing files with ease, you will find plenty of reasons as following to pick this tool:

• Restore deleted, lost, missing, formatted and corrupted files
• Run data recovery on internal and external storage for Windows, including SD card, NAS, Linux, Bitlocker drive, crashed PC, etc.
• Recover 1000+ file types: bookmarks, documents, videos, photos, songs, emails, etc.
• Repair video, image and document files
• Recover unsaved documents in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, WPS, PSD format
• Preview files before recovery
• Filter files and locate a lost file quickly
• Resume scanning at anytime by saving result
• Save recovered files to local disk or to cloud
• Create backup for disk and support recovery via the disk image file
• Restore data from crashed PC

How to Recover Chrome Bookmarks on Windows 11 or 10 in Cisdem?

1. Download and install Cisdem Data Recovery.
   Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7
2. Select a location and click Search for Lost Data to find the deleted or lost Chrome bookmarks first. By default, it will be saved on C drive.
3. Go to Type > Bookmarks > Google, you will find all the Chrome bookmarks on your computer, including the most recent backup version (.bak file).
4. Select the Chrome bookmark files and click Recover, then choose a location to save the recovered bookmarks.
5. Now, you will be able to open and view the Chrome bookmark file.
6. Drag and drop the recovered bookmark file to the defaulted location where Chrome bookmarks are locally backed up.
   On a Windows 11 or 10 PC:
   C:\Users\(YourUserName)\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default.

In the case that you cannot find the bookmarks from Bookmarks folder, you can go to Type > Documents, check the HTML or JSON folder to see if the bookmarks are there for recovery, because a Chrome bookmark can also be saved in JSON or HTML format. 

And one more step, you need to import this recovered file. Open Google Chrome browser, click the three-dot icon in the browser and go to Bookmarks > Bookmark Manager > 3-dot > Import bookmarks to import the HTML file for bookmark recovery in Chrome.

Also, you can check this YouTube video to know how Cisdem recovers your bookmarks in Chrome (starting from 02:50)

Method 2. Sign out and Sign Back in

Somehow, by simply signing out and into Google account will show up the lost bookmarks again. This helps disconnect from your account, then link and reload the data to your account without error.

1. Click on the profile avatar.
2. Choose Sign out.
3. Then sign in again.
4. Also, make sure you’ve showed bookmarks bar (right click on the blank area from bookmarks bar).

Method 3. Sync Bookmarks back in Chrome

If you’re signed into Chrome with your Google account on multiple devices, like both desktop and mobile, you can use the Chrome bookmark sync feature to remain the desktop bookmarks consistent with the ones on your mobile phone.

1. Open Google Chrome browser, click the three-dot icon and go to Settings.
2. Go to Sync and Google services.
3. Go to Manage what you sync.
4. Choose Customize sync > Bookmarks.

Method 4. Restore Chrome Bookmarks from Backup

It is also a standard solution to recover deleted Chrome bookmarks with backup. All that we need to do is check the local drive where your system saves the bookmark files, then open Chrome browser and recover. 

1. Go to C:\Users\(YourUserName)\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default.
2. Delete the bookmarks file and rename the bookmarks.bak file as bookmark (removing the .bak extension).
3. Open Chrome to automatically load and recover the deleted bookmarks.
4. If it won’t load, open the Bookmark file in Chrome and manually paste the urls to Google Chrome for re-bookmarking.

Method 5. Recover Bookmarks in Chrome by Importing Bookmarks

Google Chrome allows users to export and import bookmarks, if you have exported your bookmarks in HTML file to your Windows, you can get back the lost Chrome bookmarks by importing those files.

1. Click the three-dot icon in Chrome browser.
2. Go to Bookmarks > Import Bookmarks and Settings.
3. Choose the source or bookmark html file to import. Continue with Import.
4. Click Done and find the recovered bookmarks in the imported folder.

Method 6. Get Bookmarks Back on Chrome via Safari or Firefox

If you have bookmarked frequently visited websites in other browsers like Safari or Firefox, you can also get bookmarks back on Chrome easily via this web browser.

1. Click the three-dot icon in Chrome browser.
2. Go to Bookmarks and lists > Import Bookmarks and Settings.
3. Choose Safari and click Import.

Method 7. Recover Deleted Chrome Bookmarks from History

If unfortunately, none of above-listed methods works in your case to recover Chrome bookmarks, you might need to manually recover by browsing the history in your Chrome. This solution takes time and you may miss some websites, but it never fails.

1. Visit chrome://history in your Chrome.
2. Check out the browsing history, bookmark the websites as needed.

Method 8. Restore Deleted Bookmarks in Chrome with DNS Cache

Another useful solution to recover deleted or lost Chrome bookmarks is using DNS cache. Actually, it is similar to restoring with browsing history, since we can get a list of recently visited websites from DNS cache, then bookmark these websites again.

To understand how to restore Chrome bookmarks with DNS cache, you can follow these simple steps:

1. Press Windows+R, type cmd.
2. Type ipcongif /displaydns and press Enter.
3. Check the list of recently visited websites, open and bookmark these website again.

Method 9. Recover Bookmarks in Chrome by Searching File

Maybe you have exported the bookmarks, but the files were just lost on your device. In this case, we can recover bookmarks in Chrome by searching in File Explorer on Windows, then take the steps in Method 5 to import the bookmarks to your Chrome for recovery.

1. Click the Windows menu.
2. Enter bookmark in the search bar.
3. Locate the bookmark file or move it to your desktop.
4. Repeat the steps in part 5 to import the bookmark file to Chrome.

Method 10. Recover Lost Bookmarks in Google Chrome Online

The last guide on how to recover bookmarks in Chrome involves the use of an online Chrome bookmarks recovery tool. It is designed to convert the Bookmark file to html format, so users can easily import the html bookmarks to Chrome, in the case that the backed up bookmark file won’t load the bookmarks to the bar automatically.

However, this tool is disclaimed not to be an official Google product, so you’d better to be cautious if deciding to try this method.

1. Navigate to bookmark backup location on your Windows according to part 4.
2. Drag the Bookmark or Bookmark.bak file to this webpage.
3. Then download the HTML file, all the bookmarks will be saved in the file.
4. Click on the 3-dot icon in Chrome, go to Bookmarks and lists > Import Bookmarks and Settings.
5. Select Bookmarks HTML File, then choose the file and import. 

FAQs

1. Why all of my bookmarks are gone on Chrome?

There are a few reasons why all Chrome bookmarks disappear in a sudden. The most common one is that you reinstalled the system or browser and lost the profile data. But glitches and others can also cause Chrome bookmarks to disappear.

• Re-installation of system or Chrome

Generally speaking, re-installation of Windows or Google Chrome won’t delete your personal files, but there are many users still reported about data loss after an re-installation. So, this happens, including loss of a Chrome bookmark.

• System or Chrome glitches

Whenever there is an update for the system or Chrome app, we prefer to upgrade. But sometimes, a specific version of the software might be unstable and have minor bugs to cause bookmark disappeared.

• Corrupted bookmark file

The disk where backs up the Chrome bookmarks may have bad sectors, or the bookmark file is corrupted for other reasons, which prevent you accessing the file. You are recommended to run a check and repair on the disk using system built-in tools.

• Delete bookmark by accident

Or you just moved the bookmark file to recycle bin, deleted the bookmarks from bookmarks bar by accident. Or the bookmarks were deleted on another device by yourself and someone sharing the same Google account, if Google sync is enabled, the bookmarks will be lost across all devices.

• A new profile is created

You may accidentally create a new profile that stores the new personal data in Google Chrome, it won’t show up the bookmarks from another profile.

• Log into another user account

Have multiple user accounts on the same machine? The Chrome bookmarks will be backed up locally in the users library, make sure you’ve signed into the correct account on your Windows.

2. Why did Chrome delete my bookmarks?

Google Chrome won't delete your bookmarks without your notice, unless it runs into following errors or issues:

• Corrupted user profile
• A sync issue happens
• Google Chrome crashes or has glitches
• Malicious 3rd-party software conflicts with Google Chrome

3. Is there a backup of Chrome bookmarks?

You may be wondering if Chrome bookmarks will be backed up, the answer is Yes.

There is a file names as Bookmark.bak, it is the most recent backup to restore all the tabs that you opened in Google Chrome last time. 

4. Where do deleted Chrome bookmarks go on Android?

Somewhere on the internal or external storage card on your Android device, and it will be kept there until new data/files overwrite them.

There is no trash bin or recently deleted folder to hold the deleted Chrome bookmarks on Android, nor Android gives user a direct access to Chrome's profiles unless the device is rooted. Therefore, it is impossible to find out the exact location where the Chrome bookmarks are stored on Android device. But it is possible to recover bookmarks in Google Chrome on Android, via a sync, or a professional Android data recovery program.

Conclusion

That’s all for the complete guide to recover deleted or lost bookmarks in Chrome and most of the solutions also apply for restoring bookmarks from other browsers. No matter which method you decide to use, it won’t take you long time with the steps we list for you.

If you want to test out how easy and how good it is to use Cisdem Data Recovery, you can download and install the free trial on its official website. It is expected that eventually, Cisdem will be the best solution for you.