Where Are Chrome Bookmarks Stored

Chrome stores bookmarks in a plain JSON file on your computer. There is no database, no encrypted container. It is a regular text file you can open, read, copy, and edit.

File paths by operating system

Chrome keeps bookmark files inside your user profile directory. The default profile is called "Default." If you use multiple Chrome profiles, replace "Default" with "Profile 1," "Profile 2," etc.

Windows:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Bookmarks
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Bookmarks.bak

The full path is typically C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\.

macOS:

~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Bookmarks
~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Bookmarks.bak

The Library folder is hidden by default. In Finder, press Cmd+Shift+G and paste the path, or hold Option while clicking the Go menu to reveal it.

Linux:

~/.config/google-chrome/Default/Bookmarks
~/.config/google-chrome/Default/Bookmarks.bak

Two files: Bookmarks and Bookmarks.bak

Chrome maintains two bookmark files:

Bookmarks is the active file. Chrome reads from this file on startup and writes to it whenever you add, edit, move, or delete a bookmark. This is your live bookmark data.

Bookmarks.bak is a backup copy. Chrome creates this file automatically by copying the current Bookmarks file the first time it saves a change after the browser starts. It reflects the state of your bookmarks before that change.

The relationship between these two files is important to understand:

• While Chrome is running, Bookmarks gets updated in real time. Bookmarks.bak stays frozen at whatever state existed before your first change this session.
• Soon after Chrome starts, the first time it saves a change it copies the existing Bookmarks to Bookmarks.bak, preserving the prior state.
• This means Bookmarks.bak always lags one session behind. If you deleted bookmarks during your current session, .bak still has the old version, but only until Chrome restarts and saves again.

This is why the restore guide emphasizes speed. The .bak file is your recovery window, and it closes once Chrome relaunches and saves again.

What the JSON file looks like

The Bookmarks file is valid JSON. You can open it in any text editor. Here is a simplified example of the structure:

{
  "roots": {
    "bookmark_bar": {
      "children": [
        {
          "name": "Example Site",
          "type": "url",
          "url": "https://example.com",
          "date_added": "13345678901234567"
        },
        {
          "name": "Work",
          "type": "folder",
          "children": [
            {
              "name": "Project Dashboard",
              "type": "url",
              "url": "https://dashboard.example.com"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "name": "Bookmarks bar",
      "type": "folder"
    },
    "other": {
      "children": [],
      "name": "Other bookmarks",
      "type": "folder"
    },
    "synced": {
      "children": [],
      "name": "Mobile bookmarks",
      "type": "folder"
    }
  },
  "version": 1
}

Each bookmark has a name, url, and type (either "url" for a bookmark or "folder" for a folder). Folders contain a children array with nested bookmarks and subfolders.

The date_added field uses Chrome's internal timestamp format, which counts microseconds since January 1, 1601. This is not a standard Unix timestamp, so the numbers look unfamiliar.

The three root sections (bookmark_bar, other, and synced) correspond to the Bookmarks bar, Other Bookmarks, and Mobile Bookmarks sections you see in Chrome's Bookmark Manager.

What you can do with these files

Knowing where Chrome stores bookmarks is useful for several tasks:

Manual backup. Copy the Bookmarks file to another location. This gives you an exact snapshot that you can restore by copying it back. Unlike an HTML export, this preserves Chrome's internal metadata.

Recovery. If you accidentally deleted bookmarks, you can restore from Bookmarks.bak by renaming it to replace the active file. Close Chrome completely before touching either file.

Inspection. Open the file in a text editor to see exactly what Chrome has stored. This is useful for debugging sync issues or confirming whether a bookmark actually exists.

Migration. The JSON format is easy to parse programmatically. If you are building a tool or script that works with bookmarks, this file is the source of truth.

What not to do with these files

Do not edit the Bookmarks file while Chrome is running. Chrome holds the file in memory and writes to it periodically. Any changes you make to the file on disk will be overwritten the next time Chrome saves. Worse, if you corrupt the JSON structure, Chrome may fail to load your bookmarks entirely. Always close Chrome completely before making any manual changes to these files.

Do not delete both files. If you delete Bookmarks and Bookmarks.bak, Chrome starts with an empty library on next launch. There is no way to recover from this without a separate backup.

How this compares to the HTML export

Chrome also lets you export bookmarks to an HTML file. The two formats serve different purposes:

• The JSON Bookmarks file is Chrome's internal format. It preserves Chrome-specific metadata and is what Chrome actually reads on startup.
• The HTML export is a portable format that any browser can import. It contains URLs, names, and folder structure, but drops Chrome-specific details.

For backup purposes, the JSON file is a more complete snapshot. For moving bookmarks between browsers, HTML is the standard.

A more practical approach to backup

Manually copying files from hidden system folders works, but it is not something most people will do regularly. TrueBookmark automates bookmark backup so you always have a restore point available, without navigating to these file paths or remembering to copy anything.