How to export your Chrome bookmarks, and what to do with the file
3 min read · How-to
To export Chrome bookmarks, open chrome://bookmarks, click the three-dot menu at the top right of the bookmark manager, and choose Export bookmarks. Chrome writes every bookmark and folder you have into a single HTML file you can save anywhere. That file imports into Firefox, Edge, Opera, a fresh Chrome profile, or a bookmark manager like Linksley, where each folder arrives as a category on a board.
The four clicks
You are wiping the laptop on Friday, or handing the machine back, or you finally admitted the 1,200 bookmarks need to live somewhere better. Either way this is the step that makes the rest safe, and it takes under a minute.
Chrome exports everything in one file — there is no option to export a single folder. If you only want one folder, export the lot and prune after importing.
- Open chrome://bookmarks in a new tab. Keyboard: Ctrl+Shift+O on Windows and Linux, Cmd+Option+B on a Mac. Menu route: three dots → Bookmarks and lists → Bookmark manager.
- Find the three-dot menu at the top right of the bookmark manager page itself — it sits below Chrome's own three-dot menu, and it is the one people miss.
- Click Export bookmarks.
- Choose where to save. Chrome suggests a name like bookmarks_8_21_26.html. Keep the .html extension.
What is actually in that file
It is a plain HTML page in a format every browser has understood for decades — a nested list of links. Double-click it and it opens in a browser as a clickable index, which makes it a usable emergency backup on its own.
It contains the title, URL and folder position of every bookmark, plus the dates they were added. It does not contain your open tabs, your history, your passwords, or your extensions. And it is a snapshot: bookmarks you add after exporting are not in it, and dead links stay dead inside it.
Importing it somewhere else
Into another browser: in Firefox, press Ctrl+Shift+O for the Library, then Import and Backup → Import Bookmarks from HTML. In Edge or Opera, open the bookmark manager and use its import option, pointing it at the same file.
Into Linksley: open Import & export in the sidebar and drop the HTML file in. The folder structure is preserved — each top-level folder becomes a category, so a tree you spent years building does not arrive as one flat pile. The same importer handles Toby JSON exports, Raindrop CSV and Pocket CSV, which matters if your links are currently scattered across three tools.
An export file is a backup; a board is a place to work.If the links are ones other people need, or ones you open weekly, the file is a step on the way, not the destination.
Getting them back out again
Import is only half a promise. Linksley exports a standard bookmarks HTML file at any time, on every plan, including the free one — the same format Chrome reads. If you leave, you leave with your links in a file any browser will import.
The honest version: if all you want is a backup before reinstalling Windows, stop after the export. Save the HTML file to a drive you trust and you are done — no tool required.
Common questions
Where does Chrome save the exported bookmarks file?
Wherever you point the save dialog, usually your Downloads folder. Chrome suggests a filename in the form bookmarks_MM_DD_YY.html, and you can rename it freely as long as you keep the .html extension.
Can I export just one Chrome bookmark folder?
No. Chrome exports the entire bookmark tree to one file. The workaround is to export everything and delete the folders you do not want after importing them somewhere else.
How do I open a bookmarks HTML file?
Double-click it and it opens in your browser as a clickable list of every link. To turn it back into real bookmarks, use your browser's Import bookmarks from HTML option.
Can I export my links out of Linksley later?
Yes, any time and on every plan, as a standard bookmarks HTML file that Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Opera all import.
Your export file, turned into a board
Drop the HTML in and every folder becomes a category you can search, share, and actually reuse.
Start free