On your Chrome browser, you have carefully built an essential collection of websites and resources that appear as bookmarks for easy access and organization. But an accidental click leads to the disappearance of critical bookmark folders. You know your bookmarks have disappeared without moving files to the Recycle Bin or Trash.
No doubt, this makes your situation dire, leaving you thinking about how to recover deleted bookmarks in Chrome. Don’t worry, though. The following post serves as an all-inclusive guide about how to recover bookmarks in Chrome Windows 10/11 and Mac and under what conditions. We’ll also explain where the bookmarks go when you remove them from Chrome!
Part 1: What Happens When You Delete a Bookmark in Chrome?
When you remove a bookmark from Chrome, it vanishes from your Windows/Mac system permanently. Online bookmarks in Chrome have no capability to recover a deleted entry because the browser lacks both a Trash feature and a recovery function.
In fact, the removal of a bookmark, if it’s synced with your Google account, will remove it permanently from all linked devices. However, not all hope is lost. You still have a couple of methods to recover deleted Chrome bookmarks, which are through a backup, unsynced devices, Google History, or a specialized recovery tool.
Part 2: How to Recover Deleted/Lost Bookmarks in Chrome?
Here’s how to recover bookmarks in Chrome for Windows 10/11 and Mac. Pick a solution that best suits your circumstances and platform:
Option A: Restore from Bookmark Backup
If you’ve created a backup of your bookmarks in Chrome before you removed them from there, you can restore the bookmarks by locating the backup file. However, you must’ve created that backup already. Here’s how to recover lost bookmarks in Google Chrome by retrieving them from their backup:
Step 1: Execute Chrome browser on your computer. Then, click the three dots in the top-right corner of the browser.
Step 2: Hover over “Bookmarks and lists.” Then, select “Bookmark manager.”
Step 3: Click the three dots next to the “Search bookmarks” field. Next, choose “Import bookmarks.”
Step 3: Locate the backup file of the bookmarks you saved, which is usually in HTML format. Tap “Open” to recover deleted Chrome bookmarks.
Option B: Use a Chrome Bookmarks Recovery Tool
When you don’t have a backup of Chrome bookmarks, you can use a specialized Chrome bookmarks recovery tool to get them back. You can use the 4DDiG Data Recovery app for this purpose. It can restore Chrome bookmarks back to the location where they were stored before you removed them incidentally. The tool is also famous for retrieving numerous file types that are hidden, deleted, formatted, or missing. Here’s a glance at the advanced functions of this free data recovery tool:
- This app can reclaim 2000+ data types, including html, mp3, mp4, avi, doc, pptx, etc.
- This recovery tool supports both Windows and macOS systems.
- It offers a high recovery rate and a user-friendly interface.
- You can pick your desired file types and locations to recover files.
- Free trial for Windows users.
Here’s how to recover lost bookmarks in Google Chrome with this tool:
Step 1: Download, install, and execute this Chrome bookmarks recovery tool on your computer. Then, pick the location to scan where the bookmarks are stored. Hit “Scan.”
Step 2: After the scan recovers the bookmarks, examine them.
Step 3: Hit “Recover” to recover Chrome bookmarks on Mac or Windows computer or your cloud drive.
Option C: Check Google History
You can also look for Chrome bookmarks in Google History if you’ve opened them recently (not old bookmarks that you haven’t visited or erased from History). However, this method only functions if you’re signed into a Google account. Here’s how to recover bookmarks in Chrome Windows 10/11 and Mac:
Step 1: Step 1: Execute Chrome browser on your computer. Then, sign in to your Google account. Next, click the three dots in the top-right corner of the browser.
Step 2: Tap “ History.” Next, open the “History” sub menu. Locate your recently opened bookmarks and save them again.
Option D: Recover From Unsynced Devices
Another way to undelete Chrome bookmarks is through another laptop or computer that is signed into your Google account but hasn’t synced yet. Thus, it still doesn’t reflect the new changes, like the removal of Chrome bookmarks. So, here’s how to recover deleted bookmarks in Chrome from an unsynced device:
Step 1: First, turn off sync on your original computer. After this, to recover deleted Chrome bookmarks on another computer, head to “File Explorer.”
Step 2: Next, move to “C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default” (Here replace the “YourUsername” with the username of your computer.
Step 3: Look for the files named “Bookmarks” and “Bookmarks.bak.”
Step 4: Copy the “Bookmarks” file (and optionally “Bookmarks.bak”). Transfer the file to the new computer. Use a USB drive for this purpose.
Step 5: On your original computer, head to the same folder:
C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
Step 6: Paste the copied file there. Replace the existing file if asked.
Step 7: Execute Chrome. Then, sign in with your Google account. Turn on sync, and you will be able to undelete Chrome bookmarks.
Option E: Use a Time Machine Backup
In case you’re using Mac and you erased Chrome bookmarks, you can get them back from the Time Machine backup. However, you must have enabled this feature beforehand to recover Chrome bookmarks on Mac. Time Machine creates copies of all your macOS files, including Chrome bookmarks, over a period and saves them to an external storage. However, this method only functions on Mac. Here’s how to recover lost bookmarks in Google Chrome using Time Machine backup:
Step 1: The first step involves attaching an external Time Machine drive to your computer before opening its icon from the menu bar. Then, tap “Enter Time Machine.”
Step 2: Open the Chrome bookmarks folder in “Time Machine.” The bookmarks file will exist in this location: “Macintosh HD > Users > [Your Username] > Library > Application Support > Google > Chrome > Default.”
Step 2: Once you locate a file that bears the name “Bookmarks” inside the “Default” folder, hit “Restore.” Restart Google Chrome to restore your bookmarks.
Bonus Tip: Use DNS Cache
In a situation where you lose the Chrome bookmarks because of a browser update, you can get them back through DNS. This method will run the list of all recent websites you’ve visited and bookmarked. From there you can undelete Chrome bookmarks. To do so:
Step 1: Input “cmd” in the Windows search field. Then, execute “Command Prompt.”
Step 2: Type the following command. Hit “Enter” afterward:
- ipcongif /displaydns
Step 3: Browse the recently visited websites and mark them as bookmarks again in Chrome.
Part 3: How to Backup Chrome Bookmarks to Avoid Future Errors?
After you recover Chrome bookmarks on Mac/Windows, you can create their backup. This will ascertain you won’t lose crucial links due to accidental deletion, updation, browser issues, or device changes:
Step 1: Execute Chrome on your computer. Click the three dots (top right) on Chrome. Next, hover over “Bookmarks.” Tap “Bookmark manager.”
Step 2: Click the three dots (top right) again. Next, select “Export bookmarks.”
Step 3: Choose where to save the file (it saves as an HTML file). Hit “Save.”
Step 4: Store the file safely on a USB drive, cloud storage, or external hard drive for future use.
Final Words
You can learn how to recover deleted bookmarks in Chrome by checking Google History, backup restoration, or unsynced device utilizations. If these methods don’t work, the recovery process requires the utilization of a professional tool like 4DDiG Data Recovery. The program can retrieve 2000+ file types, including bookmarks, with high success. It can also reclaim data from numerous data loss scenarios and storage.
