How to Sort Bookmarks in Chrome

Chrome's Bookmark Manager has one sort option: alphabetical by name. The bookmarks side panel adds a few more — newest, oldest, last opened, and Z to A — but neither lets you sort by URL or by how often you visit a site. Here is what Chrome offers, what it does not, and how to get closer to the sorting you actually want.

Back up before sorting

Sorting by name in Chrome is permanent. Chrome does not remember the previous order and there is no undo. Before you sort, create a backup so you can restore your original arrangement if needed.

How to sort bookmarks alphabetically

1. Open Bookmark Manager (Ctrl+Shift+O on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Option+B on Mac).
2. Click the folder you want to sort in the left sidebar.
3. Click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner.
4. Select Sort by name.

The bookmarks in that folder are now arranged A to Z. Folders sort to the top (also alphabetically), followed by individual bookmarks.

Key things to know about Sort by name

• It sorts one folder at a time. Sorting does not cascade into subfolders. If you want to sort multiple folders, open each one and sort it separately.
• It is permanent. Once you sort, the previous custom order is gone. You cannot undo this with Ctrl+Z.
• Folders come first. Subfolders appear at the top of the sorted list, then individual bookmarks.
• Numbers come before letters. A bookmark called "10 Best Tools" sorts before "Amazon."
• Sorting is case-insensitive. "apple" and "Amazon" sort by letter, not by case.

Tip: Try sorting just one folder first. Check the result before sorting the rest of your library. This lets you see whether alphabetical order actually helps for your bookmarks.

For a deeper look at alphabetical sorting, including when it helps and when it does not, see How to Sort Bookmarks Alphabetically in Chrome.

More sort orders in the bookmarks side panel

The Bookmark Manager only sorts A to Z, but Chrome's bookmarks side panel offers a few more orders:

1. Click the three-dot menu (⋮), then Bookmarks and lists > Show all bookmarks to open the side panel.
2. Click Organize at the top of the panel.
3. Choose Sort by newest, Sort by oldest, Sort by last opened, Sort by A to Z, or Sort by Z to A.

This changes how the side panel displays your bookmarks. It is a view order rather than a permanent rearrangement of the bookmarks bar, so it is a safe way to surface your newest or least-recently-opened bookmarks without committing to a new layout.

Sorting the bookmarks bar

You can sort the bookmarks bar using the same steps:

1. Open Bookmark Manager.
2. Click Bookmarks bar in the left sidebar.
3. Click the three-dot menu and select Sort by name.

After sorting, your leftmost bookmark will be the one that comes first alphabetically. If you had your most-used sites positioned on the left side of the bar, they will move to their alphabetical position. This may not be what you want, so consider this carefully before sorting the bar.

What Chrome still cannot sort by

Even with the side panel's extra orders, Chrome does not offer:

• Sort by most visited. Chrome does not track or surface visit frequency when sorting bookmarks.
• Sort by URL or domain. There is no built-in sort that groups bookmarks from the same website together.
• Custom sort criteria. You cannot define your own sort rules.
• A permanent, recursive sort. Sort by name in the Bookmark Manager handles one folder at a time and does not cascade into subfolders, and the side panel orders are a display view rather than a saved arrangement.

This is a genuine limitation, not a hidden feature. Chrome's sorting is built for basic organization.

Workarounds for other sort orders

Sort by date using the export file

The side panel's Sort by newest and Sort by oldest cover most date sorting. If you need exact timestamps or want to sort them outside Chrome:

1. Export your bookmarks as an HTML file.
2. Open the HTML file in a text editor.
3. Look for the ADD_DATE attribute on each bookmark entry. This is a Unix timestamp of when the bookmark was created.

You can sort these timestamps externally using a spreadsheet or a script. This does not change the order in Chrome, but it lets you identify your oldest or newest bookmarks.

Group by domain manually

If you want bookmarks from the same website near each other:

1. Open Bookmark Manager.
2. Use the search bar to search for a domain (for example, "github.com").
3. Move the matching bookmarks into a dedicated folder.

Repeat for each domain you want to group. This takes time but gives you a clean organization that alphabetical sort cannot achieve.

Use manual drag-and-drop for custom order

If you want a specific order that is not alphabetical, you can drag and drop bookmarks in Bookmark Manager to arrange them however you want. Click and hold a bookmark, then drag it to the desired position.

This is practical for small folders (under 20 bookmarks) but gets tedious for large ones.

Sorting and duplicates

Alphabetical sorting can be a useful step in finding duplicate bookmarks. After sorting, bookmarks with identical or similar names will be next to each other, making them easier to spot. If you suspect you have duplicates, sort the folder first, then scan through looking for repeated entries.

For a more thorough approach, see How to Remove Duplicate Bookmarks in Chrome.

A better approach for large libraries

If you have hundreds of bookmarks, sorting one folder at a time may not solve the underlying problem. Consider a broader organization strategy instead:

• Create 4 to 7 broad category folders and distribute bookmarks across them
• Keep each folder small enough to scan visually (under 30 bookmarks per folder)
• Use clear, descriptive bookmark names so search works better

The bookmark organization guide covers these strategies in more detail.

Finding bookmarks without relying on sort order

If the reason you want to sort is that you cannot find things, search might be more practical than sorting. Type @bookmarks in Chrome's address bar (Chrome 108 or later) to search your bookmarks directly.

TrueBookmark's Quick Find popup lets you search your entire bookmark library instantly from any tab. If the core problem is finding bookmarks fast, search solves it regardless of how your bookmarks are sorted.