Mostly structural info re Windows OS users, but the principle of Back Up Your Data, applies:
‘Brave deleted all my active tabs and favorites - #2 by 289wk’
In order to increase chances of data restoration. I use scheduled AppleScripts to daily back up data for Internet browsers.
Backing up, for example:
/Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/
/Users/[username]/Library/Preferences/ ← includes Brave Browser .plist file: com.brave.Browser.plist
For scheduling, I use launchd for older MacOS, and crontab for MacOS 14 Sonoma.
In addition, for MacOS Sonoma, also using Apple’s Time Machine, and Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC).
When you want to restore Brave Browser (MacOS) to a known-working status 'back in time' - you need a chronological backup
In order to make chronological backups of the Brave Browser (MacOS) installation’s BraveSoftware folder at:
/Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware
I created an AppleScript, used within an Automator application, that I named bkup_BraveSoftware_fldr.app.
When Brave Browser does something strange, and you want to restore Brave Browser to a known-working status “back in time,” then - WITHOUT Brave Browser running (your making sure, by examining the Activity Monitor application) - you can set the existing BraveSoftware folder at:
/Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware
aside . . . and expand one of the chronological backups → will cause that backup’s un-zipped folder BraveSoftware to show at:
/Users/[username]/Documents/BraveSoftwareBKUPS/BraveSoftware
and move that older BraveSoftware into position at:
/Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/
Thus, restoring Brave Browser to a slightly older point in time.
That is how I have restored all Internet browsers on the Mac, for many years, by maintaining chronological backups.
Steps to create the backup application
Startup Automator application ← it is in the Applications folder.
Click the Application icon, and then click the Choose button.
In the Untitled (Application) window that displays, the adjacent scroll area to the left ← scroll down in that area, to Run AppleScript
Drag that Run AppleScript action over to the right . . . and into the area that reads: Drag actions or files here to build your workflow.
A frame will display with title Run AppleScript
You are going to copy the AppleScript code and paste it on the area that reads: (* Your script goes here *)
The AppleScript to copy, is the entire, lightly-gray-shaded area:
--
--
-- Makes a .zip compressed backup of the BraveSoftware folder located
-- at: /Users[/username]/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware
--
-- The backup is stored
-- at: /Users[/username]/Documents/BraveSoftwareBKUPS/
--
-- The backups are named in order for them to display in the Finder,
-- in chronological order; example:
--
-- 20260207-234745_EST_Saturday_BraveSoftwareBKUP.zip
--
set hmFldr to (path to home folder) as string
set storedDelimiters to AppleScript's text item delimiters
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to {":"}
set btVol to first text item of hmFldr
set usrNm to third text item of hmFldr
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to storedDelimiters
--
set POSIXpthToBraveSoftware to "/Volumes/" & btVol & "/Users/" & usrNm & "/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware"
set POSIXpthToBraveSoftwareQ to quoted form of POSIXpthToBraveSoftware
--
set bkupPth to "/Volumes/" & btVol & "/Users/" & usrNm & "/Documents/BraveSoftwareBKUPS/"
set bkupPthQ to quoted form of bkupPth
--
tell me to (do shell script ("mkdir -p " & bkupPthQ))
--
tell me to set dateTimeStamp to ("" & (do shell script "date \"+%Y-%m-%d %H.%M.%S\" | sed -e 's/\\.//g' -e 's/\\-//g' -e 's/\\ /-/g'") & "_" & (do shell script "date | egrep -o 'EDT|EST|CDT|CST|MDT|MST|PDT|PST'") & "_" & (do shell script "date | sed -e 's/\\ .*//g' -e 's/Sun/Sunday/g' -e 's/Mon/Monday/g' -e 's/Tue/Tuesday/g' -e 's/Wed/Wednesday/g' -e 's/Thu/Thursday/g' -e 's/Fri/Friday/g' -e 's/Sat/Saturday/g' -e 's/\\...$//g'") & "") -- .%S seconds: -e 's/\\...$//g'
--
set destItem to bkupPth & dateTimeStamp & "_BraveSoftwareBKUP.zip"
set destItemQ to quoted form of destItem
--
tell me to (do shell script ("ditto -c -k -X --sequesterRsrc " & POSIXpthToBraveSoftwareQ & " " & destItemQ & "; wait"))
--
--
--
--
After the paste action, you will see:
Next, in the Automator’s menu bar > select File and scroll down to, and select, Save...
A pop-up window will display, where you can create the name for the new application - replacing Untitled:
with bkup_BraveSoftware_fldr
Click the Save button, saving the new application to your Desktop.
Quit Automator.
When you run the bkup_BraveSoftware_fldr.app application, a backup of the BraveSoftware folder at:
/Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware
will appear at:
/Users/[username]/Documents/BraveSoftwareBKUPS/
A screenshot taken after 3 runs of the bkup_BraveSoftware_fldr.app application:
