How to back up your Chrome bookmarks

Your bookmarks are undeniably handy, therefore it is fully understandable that you want to have them backed up, not just to keep them safe against any unwanted event that might end up losing them, but also to facilitate their export to other computers or devices where you might need them. Though it may sound like a complicated matter, backing up the Google Chrome bookmarks is actually a pretty simple task, and it can be performed in multiple ways, all of them being easy and straightforward.

Using Chrome's automatic synchronization feature

If you let Google Chrome log you in to your Google account, then your Google profile will be automatically synchronized to the cloud, and this means that your bookmarks will be available on any Chrome installation that you use while authenticated with the same account. Your passwords, open tabs, settings and other browser features and personal data will also be available on all Chrome instances that you use.

To sign in to your Google account from Google Chrome, go to the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar (located next to the address bar, usually in the upper right area), click it, then click the Sign in to Chrome option, enter the required Google account information, and press Sign In. That's it, now your bookmarks will also be saved in the cloud and securely backed up.

Using Chrome's bookmark export function

Google Chrome allows you to back up your bookmarks by exporting them to an HTML file. The HTML file containing the bookmarks can be later imported to another Chrome installation or even to other web browsers and applications. Exporting the bookmarks is easy, just follow these steps:

1. Open Google Chrome;
2. Locate and click on the Customize and Control Google Chrome menu (usually the upper right corner of Google Chrome);
3. Go to the Bookmarks submenu and select the Bookmark Manager entry (you may also press the Control+Shift+O keys simultaneously);

The Customize and Control Google Chrome menu - Bookmarks submenu

4. A new browser page will open ( chrome://bookmarks/ ), displaying the current bookmarks and their folders. Now click on the Organize menu and then on the "Export bookmarks to HTML file..." option;

5. You will be asked to choose the location and the name of the HTML file that will contain the bookmarks. Once you've done this, press the Save button;

This is it. Your bookmarks are now backed up to an HTML file which you can easily import to another Chrome installation using the Import bookmarks and settings submenu from the Bookmarks menu, and choosing the From Bookmarks HTML File option, as you can see in the image below:

Using third-party applications

If the aforementioned bookmark export function is not what you were looking for, you may try using third-party tools that offer an equally easy way to back up bookmarks. These bookmark backup apps can even provide you with some handy additional advantages, such as the possibility to export the archive containing the bookmarks to another format than HTML, or the possibility to back up other Chrome data aside the bookmarks, such as the Chrome settings or history.

For example, a neat program called Google Chrome Backup can create, back up, restore, and manage entire Google Chrome profiles that contain not only bookmarks but also other personal data like Chrome browsing history. EZ Backup Google Chrome is even more powerful, as it allows you to back up Google Chrome bookmarks and settings to various locations, including a local drive, network folder, CD/DVD and even a remote FTP server. Furthermore, this cool app also creates a self-restoring backup archive which includes a wizard interface that will guide you through your data restoration, therefore it's really easy to use and it can be handled even by complete beginners without any problem.

There are also programs that aren't specialized on backing up Chrome data, but focus on transferring entire data among computers and that support Chrome bookmarks as well. The tool called PCTransfer is such an application, and exporting browser bookmarks is just one of the many things that it can do.