How to Rearrange Bookmarks in Chrome

You rearrange bookmarks in Chrome by dragging them. On the bookmarks bar, you drag bookmarks left or right to reorder them. In Bookmark Manager, you drag bookmarks up and down within a folder or between folders. There is no menu option to reorder bookmarks. It is all drag-and-drop.

Before rearranging a large collection, back up your bookmarks. Chrome has no undo for moving bookmarks to the wrong spot, and dragging mistakes can put bookmarks inside folders you did not intend.

Rearrange bookmarks on the bookmarks bar

The bookmarks bar is the row of bookmarks below the address bar. If yours is not visible, press Ctrl+Shift+B (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+B (Mac) to show it.

To reorder bookmarks on the bar:

1. Click and hold the bookmark you want to move.
2. Drag it left or right along the bar.
3. Watch for the insertion line. A thin vertical line appears between bookmarks showing where the bookmark will land.
4. Release the mouse button when the line is in the right position.

The folder gotcha: If you drag a bookmark directly on top of a folder icon on the bar, Chrome drops the bookmark inside that folder instead of placing it next to the folder. To place a bookmark next to a folder, aim for the gap between the folder and the next item. Watch for the vertical insertion line rather than a folder highlight.

Rearrange bookmarks in Bookmark Manager

Bookmark Manager gives you more control, especially for large collections or bookmarks buried in folders.

1. Open Bookmark Manager (Ctrl+Shift+O on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Option+B on macOS).
2. Use the left sidebar to navigate to the folder containing the bookmarks you want to rearrange.
3. Click and hold a bookmark in the main panel.
4. Drag it up or down to change its position within the folder.
5. Release when the horizontal insertion line is where you want the bookmark.

This works the same way for folders. You can drag a folder up or down to change its position among other folders and bookmarks.

Move bookmarks between folders

To move a bookmark from one folder to another in Bookmark Manager:

1. Open Bookmark Manager (Ctrl+Shift+O on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Option+B on macOS).
2. Navigate to the folder containing the bookmark.
3. Drag the bookmark from the main panel and drop it onto a different folder in the left sidebar.

You can also right-click a bookmark and select Move to folder to choose a destination from the folder tree. This is easier when the target folder is deeply nested, since you do not need to drag across the sidebar.

On the bookmarks bar, you can drag a bookmark directly into a folder by dropping it on the folder icon. The folder highlights when your cursor is over it, confirming it will go inside.

Move multiple bookmarks at once

Bookmark Manager supports multi-select:

1. Hold Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or Cmd (Mac) and click each bookmark you want to move.
2. To select a range, click the first bookmark, then hold Shift and click the last one.
3. Drag any of the selected bookmarks to the new position or folder. All selected bookmarks move together.

Try this with two or three bookmarks first to make sure they land where you expect before selecting a large batch.

Use "Sort by name" for bulk reordering

If you want alphabetical order instead of a custom arrangement, Chrome can sort an entire folder at once.

1. Open Bookmark Manager.
2. Navigate to the folder you want to sort.
3. Click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner.
4. Select Sort by name.

This is permanent. Chrome does not remember the previous order and there is no way to undo it. If you have a specific custom order you care about, back up before sorting. The alphabetical sort guide covers this in detail.

Tips for keeping bookmarks in order

Rearranging fixes the problem once. A few habits keep it from coming back:

• Choose a folder when you save. When you press Ctrl+D / Cmd+D to bookmark a page, pick the right folder before clicking Done. This is easier than dragging it later.
• Keep the bookmarks bar short. The bar has limited space. Put your most-used bookmarks there and move everything else into organized folders.
• Use folders on the bar. A folder on the bookmarks bar acts like a dropdown menu, giving you quick access to a group of related bookmarks without cluttering the bar.

Find instead of rearrange

If you are rearranging bookmarks because you cannot find what you need, there is a faster option. Type @bookmarks in Chrome's address bar followed by your search term to search your bookmarks directly without scrolling through folders.

TrueBookmark takes this further with Quick Find, a popup that searches all your bookmarks instantly and opens the one you need in a single step.