Where Are Safari Bookmarks Stored on Mac

Safari stores all of your bookmarks in a single file named Bookmarks.plist, located inside the Safari folder in your home directory's Library folder. The full path is ~/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist. This one file holds your entire bookmark collection, including the Favorites bar and every folder.

Knowing where this file sits helps when you want to back up your bookmarks, move them to another Mac, or recover them after a problem. Here is how to find it and what to do with it.

The single file Safari uses

Unlike browsers that spread data across several files, Safari keeps bookmarks in one property list file: Bookmarks.plist. A property list is Apple's structured format for storing settings and data. On modern macOS this file is in binary form, so it will not open cleanly in a plain text editor.

Because it is a single file, it is easy to copy as a rough backup. It is also easy to break if you edit it directly, so treat it as read-only.

Reach the file in the hidden Library folder

The Library folder in your home directory is hidden by default, which is why most people never stumble across this file. To open the Safari folder:

1. In Finder, press Cmd+Shift+G to open Go to Folder.
2. Type ~/Library/Safari and press Return.
3. Look for Bookmarks.plist in the folder that opens.

Alternatively, click the Go menu in Finder while holding the Option key, and Library will appear in the list.

How to view or copy it safely

If you just want to confirm your bookmarks are there, or keep a quick copy, follow two rules:

• Quit Safari first, so it is not writing to the file while you work.
• Copy the file rather than opening the original. Drag Bookmarks.plist to your Desktop or an external drive to keep a snapshot. Inspect that copy, never the live one.

Editing the live Bookmarks.plist by hand risks corrupting it, and Safari may overwrite your changes anyway.

The portable way to back up Safari bookmarks

A copied .plist file only restores into Safari. For a backup that also works in other browsers, export to HTML instead. In recent versions of Safari on macOS, the export option moved into a combined menu:

1. Open Safari and click File in the menu bar.
2. Choose Export Browsing Data to File (older Safari versions show Export Bookmarks instead).
3. If prompted, make sure Bookmarks is selected, then confirm.
4. Choose a save location. Recent Safari saves a .zip that, once unzipped, contains a Bookmarks.html file.

That HTML file is readable, portable, and works as both a backup and an import source for another browser.

Let macOS and iCloud help

You may already have backups without realizing it:

• Time Machine captures Bookmarks.plist in its regular snapshots if it is enabled, so you can restore an earlier version of your bookmarks by browsing back through Time Machine to the Safari folder.
• iCloud syncs Safari bookmarks across your Apple devices when enabled in System Settings. This keeps your bookmarks consistent everywhere, though it is sync rather than an independent backup you fully control.

Between an HTML export and Time Machine, you have a portable copy and a dated history, which covers most recovery needs.

A note if you also use Chrome

Everything above is Safari-specific. Chrome stores bookmarks in a completely different file named Bookmarks inside its own profile folder, described in where Chrome bookmarks are stored. If you keep bookmarks in Chrome alongside Safari, TrueBookmark is a Chrome extension that backs up your bookmarks on install, on demand in one click, and automatically before any risky change, giving the Chrome side a restore history of its own.