Google Chrome is the world’s most popular web browser, largely due to its speed, extensions, and seamless synchronization across devices. If you use Chrome regularly, your collection of saved links—whether you call them "favorites" (a term inherited from Internet Explorer) or "bookmarks" (Chrome’s official name)—is one of your most valuable digital assets.
There is —it depends on your OS and, for Windows and Linux, your username. Detailed Locations by Operating System 1. Windows 10 & 11 On modern Windows versions, Chrome stores bookmarks inside a hidden folder called User Data within your local application data directory.
Bookmarks.bak – Chrome automatically creates this backup of the last good bookmark state. 2. macOS On a Mac, Chrome bookmarks are stored in the user’s Application Support folder inside the Library directory. where are chrome favorites stored
Do not delete these files randomly—especially the main Bookmarks file—unless you have a known backup. How to Open and Read the Bookmarks File Since Bookmarks is a JSON file, you can open it with any text editor (Notepad, VS Code, Sublime Text, etc.). The structure looks like this (truncated):
"roots": "bookmark_bar": "children": [ "name": "Google", "type": "url", "url": "https://www.google.com" , "name": "Work Folder", "type": "folder", "children": [ ... ] ] , "other": ... , "synced": ... Google Chrome is the world’s most popular web
Bookmarks.bak (same folder). 3. Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, etc.) On Linux distributions, Chrome uses the ~/.config directory, following the XDG Base Directory Specification.
| File Name | Purpose | |-----------|---------| | | The main, active bookmarks file. It’s a JSON file (human-readable text). | | Bookmarks.bak (or .bak.json ) | Automatic backup created every time Chrome starts. If the main file gets corrupted, Chrome restores from this. | | Bookmarks.bak2 | Secondary backup on some Chrome versions. | | Bookmarks.bak-old | Older backup, usually after an update or profile migration. | Detailed Locations by Operating System 1
C:\Users\[YourUserName]\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Profile [N]\Bookmarks ...where [N] is a number (e.g., Profile 2 , Profile 3 ).