How to Transfer Chrome Bookmarks to a New Computer

There are three ways to move your Chrome bookmarks to a new computer: Chrome Sync (automatic, requires the same Google account), HTML export and import (works across accounts), and direct file copy (for offline or advanced scenarios). Start with whichever fits your situation.

Before transferring, back up your bookmarks on the old computer. If anything goes wrong during the transfer, you will have a safety copy to fall back on.

Method 1: Chrome Sync

This is the fastest option if you use the same Google account on both computers.

On the old computer:

1. Open Chrome and click your profile icon in the top-right corner.
2. Confirm you are signed in and that Sync is on.
3. Go to chrome://settings/syncSetup and verify that Bookmarks is toggled on.
4. Wait a minute for any recent changes to finish syncing.

On the new computer:

1. Install Chrome and open it.
2. Sign in with the same Google account.
3. Turn on Sync when prompted, or go to chrome://settings/syncSetup and enable it.
4. Wait a few minutes. Your bookmarks will appear once Sync finishes.
5. Open Bookmark Manager (Ctrl+Shift+O on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Option+B on macOS) and verify your folders and bookmarks look correct.

When this does not work: You use different Google accounts on the two machines, your workplace restricts Sync, or you are transferring bookmarks to someone else's computer. In those cases, use Method 2.

For more on Sync setup and troubleshooting, see How to Sync Bookmarks in Chrome.

Method 2: HTML export and import

This works regardless of which Google accounts are involved. You export your bookmarks to a file on the old computer, move that file to the new computer, and import it.

On the old computer:

1. Open Bookmark Manager (Ctrl+Shift+O on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Option+B on macOS).
2. Click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner of Bookmark Manager.
3. Select Export bookmarks.
4. Save the HTML file somewhere you can access from the new computer (USB drive, cloud storage, email attachment).

For a detailed walkthrough of the export step, see How to Export Bookmarks from Chrome.

On the new computer:

1. Open Chrome and open Bookmark Manager.
2. Click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner.
3. Select Import bookmarks.
4. Choose the HTML file you transferred.

Chrome creates an Imported folder on the bookmarks bar containing all the bookmarks from the file. If the bar on the new computer was empty, bar-level bookmarks go directly onto the bar, and only the other bookmarks are placed inside the Imported folder.

After importing, move your bookmarks out of the Imported folder to their proper locations, then delete the empty folder. If the new computer already had some bookmarks, check for duplicates using the duplicate removal guide.

For the full import process, see How to Import Bookmarks into Chrome.

Method 3: Direct file copy

This is the most manual approach, but it works offline and preserves the raw bookmark data without going through the HTML export format.

Chrome stores your bookmarks in a JSON file called Bookmarks. You can copy this file from the old computer to the new one.

On the old computer:

1. Close Chrome completely.
2. Navigate to your Chrome profile folder:
   • Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\
   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/
   • Linux: ~/.config/google-chrome/Default/
3. Copy the file named Bookmarks (no file extension) to a USB drive or cloud storage.

For help finding this folder, see Where Are Chrome Bookmarks Stored.

On the new computer:

1. Install Chrome and open it once so it creates the profile folder, then close Chrome completely.
2. Navigate to the same profile folder path on the new computer.
3. Replace the Bookmarks file with the one from the old computer.
4. Open Chrome. Your bookmarks should appear exactly as they were.
5. Open Bookmark Manager and verify everything looks right.

Important: The new computer must not have Chrome running when you replace the file. If Chrome is open, it will overwrite your copied file with its own version.

Which method to choose

After the transfer

Regardless of which method you used, take a few minutes to verify:

1. Open Bookmark Manager on the new computer and spot-check a few folders.
2. Click a handful of bookmarks to confirm they open the right pages.
3. If you used HTML import, reorganize the Imported folder and check for duplicates.

This is also a good time to set up ongoing backup on the new computer. A one-time transfer protects you during the move, but your bookmarks will keep changing on the new machine.

TrueBookmark runs as a Chrome extension, so it works on any computer. Install it on the new machine and it starts keeping versioned backups automatically. No need to remember manual exports going forward.