How to Delete Bookmarks on Mac

How you delete bookmarks on Mac depends on which browser you use. Chrome and Safari handle bookmarks differently, so the steps are not the same. This guide covers both.

Deleting bookmarks in Chrome on Mac

Back up first if deleting in bulk

Chrome does not have a trash folder for bookmarks. Once you close the browser, deleted bookmarks are gone for good. If you are about to delete more than a few bookmarks, create a backup first. A quick HTML export takes 30 seconds and gives you a safety net.

Delete a single bookmark

From the bookmarks bar: Right-click the bookmark and select Delete.

From any bookmarked page: Click the blue star icon in the address bar, then click Remove in the popup that appears.

From Bookmark Manager: Open Bookmark Manager with Cmd+Option+B, navigate to the bookmark, right-click it, and select Delete.

Delete multiple bookmarks at once

1. Open Bookmark Manager (Cmd+Option+B).
2. Navigate to the folder containing the bookmarks you want to delete.
3. Hold Cmd and click each bookmark you want to select. Or hold Shift and click to select a range.
4. Right-click any of the selected bookmarks and select Delete.

Delete an entire folder

1. Open Bookmark Manager (Cmd+Option+B).
2. Right-click the folder in the sidebar or main panel.
3. Select Delete.

This deletes the folder and everything inside it immediately. There is no confirmation dialog. Open the folder first and check its contents before deleting.

Undo in Chrome

Press Cmd+Z immediately after deleting to undo. This only works if you have not navigated away from Bookmark Manager or closed the tab. Once you close Chrome, undo is no longer available.

For the full walkthrough of Chrome bookmark deletion, see How to Delete Bookmarks in Chrome.

Deleting bookmarks in Safari on Mac

Delete from the sidebar

1. Open Safari.
2. Click View in the menu bar, then select Show Sidebar (or press Ctrl+Cmd+1).
3. Click the bookmarks icon (looks like an open book) in the sidebar.
4. Find the bookmark you want to delete.
5. Right-click (or Control-click) the bookmark and select Delete.

Delete from the Bookmarks Editor

1. Open Safari.
2. Click Bookmarks in the menu bar, then select Edit Bookmarks (or press Cmd+Option+B).
3. Safari opens a full-page view of all your bookmarks and folders.
4. Select the bookmark you want to delete and press the Delete key on your keyboard.

To delete multiple bookmarks, hold Cmd and click each one to select them, then press Delete.

Delete from Favorites

Safari's Favorites bar works like Chrome's bookmarks bar. To remove a bookmark from the Favorites bar:

1. Right-click the bookmark on the Favorites bar.
2. Select Delete.

Or open the Favorites folder in the sidebar and delete from there.

Delete a folder in Safari

1. Open the sidebar or the Bookmarks Editor.
2. Right-click the folder.
3. Select Delete.

Safari deletes the folder and all bookmarks inside it. Like Chrome, there is no confirmation dialog.

Undo in Safari

Press Cmd+Z to undo a bookmark deletion in Safari. Safari's undo is more forgiving than Chrome's. You can undo multiple steps and the undo history survives longer in the current session. However, once you quit Safari, undo is no longer available.

iCloud sync: deletions affect other devices

If you use iCloud to sync Safari bookmarks across your Mac, iPhone, and iPad, deleting a bookmark on your Mac will also delete it on all your other Apple devices. This sync happens automatically, usually within minutes.

Before deleting bookmarks in Safari, consider whether you might still want them on your other devices. If you are unsure, export your Safari bookmarks first (File > Export Bookmarks) to have a backup copy of everything.

Clearing bookmarks from the Favorites bar vs. deleting them

In both Chrome and Safari, removing a bookmark from the bar is the same as deleting it. There is no separate "remove from bar" option that keeps the bookmark in another folder. If you want to keep a bookmark but take it off the bar, move it to a different folder before removing it from the bar.

In Chrome, you can do this by dragging the bookmark from the bar into a folder in Bookmark Manager. In Safari, use the sidebar to drag the bookmark from Favorites into another folder.

Protect your bookmarks before cleanup

If you are about to do a major cleanup in Chrome, TrueBookmark keeps automatic versioned backups so you can restore to any previous state if you delete something you did not mean to. No need to remember to export manually before every cleanup session.