Moving bookmarks from old machine is not working!

Brave Browser
,
1

Description of the issue:

My Dell Win 10 Pro desktop machine got a Microsoft update, and now will not boot off the C: (boot & apps drive. But, another internal drive still had an older instance of the Win 10 Pro OS on it, and I can boot from it, and pull files off other drives, in this case an “I” drive that was primarily for some programs (apps), and data backup. All the drives, “C:” through “I:”, appear to be working ok, except the OS on “C:” no longer works.

Brave version 1.81.137 was installed on the “I” drive. However, the bookmarks do not display in Brave, any more. The bookmarks and favicons files DO still reside in <Brave…\… …\“Defaults” folder on “I”. I took a look at the bookmarks file, with notepad, being careful not to alter it, and, it looks good, so far as I can tell.

I had just started gradually setting up a new (to me) Dell Win 11 Pro Desktop machine, so I am transferring apps and data to it. Brave version 1.82.166 was added to it a little while back, but only a couple bookmarks had been added to it. Those displayed ok.

I copied the Brave bookmarks and favicons files to a USB flash drive, and then tried to use the import function to move the bookmarks into the Win 11 Pro machine’s <Brave…\… …\”Defaults” folder, and copy / pasted the favicon file there too. (Actually, I’ve tried this both with and without the copy / paste of the favicon file. This appeared to work, but, the imported favorites do not show up in the Brave Favorites bar. I tried copy/pasting over the bookmarks file into that same Defaults folder: Same result.

Steps to Reproduce (add as many as necessary): 1. 2. 3.

Please see above.

Actual Result (gifs and screenshots are welcome!):

The bookmarks file and favicons files are in the Win 11 Pro machine’s Brave…\… …\”Defaults” folder, but, Brave does not display them.

Expected result:

I expected to see “Imported Favorites (or bookmarks) displayed in the Favorites Bar.

Reproduces how often:
Always.

Operating System and Brave Version(See the About Brave page in the main menu):

Dell Win 10 Pro Desktop machine has Brave version 1.81.137

Dell Win 11 Pro Desktop machine has Brave version 1.82.166

Additional Information:

HELP!

2

BTW, the Win 11 Pro machine only has one internal drive, the “C:” (boot) drive at present.

3

Hmm I think this should work. Can you confirm that you only have one profile created in the browser on your new machine? Also, can you try deleting all bookmarks in the browser, then copy/paste/replace the bookmarks file in the Default folder again with your old bookmarks and see if this makes any difference? Make sure you only past in the bookmarks file – the favicons are not necessary.

4

Thanks for the quick reply! Um, I’m not even sure how to confirm that I only have one profile created in the browser on my new machine.

The delete / replace I can do. Should I leave the favicons in the Default folder or delete them?

5

@PolR I would just leave the file as is.

6

Ok, thanks!

How do I confirm that I only have one profile created in the browser on my new machine? Via the create new profile route?

7

If you don’t see an icon like this in your browser then you likely only have one profile:
image

8

There’s no icon like that, and, when I go part way in to add a profile, only one shows up as already existing.

I’ll delete the bookmarks file in the new machine, and copy/paste the file from the old machine in, again.

9

Ok, I shut down Brave Browser, then I deleted the bookmarks.html file in the defaults folder in the new machine, then I copy/pasted the file from the old machine to the defaults folder in the new machine via USB stick. Then I fired Brave back up, and… Brave shows no bookmarks. The Bookmark manager lists “Bookmarks” and “Other Bookmarks”, but there is nothing there. The bookmarks.html file itself is definitely in the proper “Defaults folder”, scans as having no errors, etc.

FWIW, I also tried the same procedure leaving Brave running during the process. No dice.

Yes, this really has me stumped. :woozy_face:

10

Apologies – if you’re using a bookmarks.html file, you’ll want to import that file rather than paste it into the Default folder. In Brave, go to brave://bookmarks and click the overflow menu on the top right, then Import bookmarks:

image
image927×307 13.2 KB

Select your bookmarks.html file and you should be good to go.

11

That’s what I did originally. See my OP, however, to clarify by adding the file name:

I copied the Brave bookmarks (Bookmarks.html) and favicons files to a USB flash drive, and then tried to use the import function to move the bookmarks into the Win 11 Pro machine’s <Brave…\… …\”Defaults” folder, and copy / pasted the favicon file there too. (Actually, I’ve tried this both with and without the copy / paste of the favicon file.) This appeared to work, but, the imported favorites do not show up in the Brave Favorites bar. I also tried copy/pasting the same bookmarks.html file into that same Defaults folder: Same result.

ALSO, I think I forgot to mention that somewhere along the line yesterday, I tried uninstalling and then reinstalling Brave on the new machine, and there have been a couple full power downs and cold boots of it, too, plus scanning of drives for errors, and such.

12

Are you saying that the bookmarks did appear in the new browser but they just didn’t show up on the bookmarks bar? That is, if you go to brave://bookmarks you see the bookmarks you imported there?

13

No, the importation PROCESS via Brave just seemed to work and conclude fine / as it always has for me in the past, but, then Brave does NOT display the bookmarks even though the file is in the defaults folder. They do not display in the bookmarks bar near the address bar / top of the window, the bookmarks if called up in the sidebar, or at brave://bookmarks.

I was thinking of trying to import the old machine’s Brave bookmarks to a different machine, as a test. But… If things are working right, would it just mash the already existent bookmarks together with the new ones? If so, maybe I can come up with a multi-drive machine and put a 2nd instance of Brave on, say, an “ E: ” drive.

The above parallels another question: If I import IE (actually Edge) bookmarks into Brave, using the standard import procedure, from one machine, and then another, will I see a single “mashed together” “Imported from IE” folder, or (a better result) an “Imported from IE folder” AND an “Imported from IE(2)” folder? (Maybe that is a topic for a separate thread!)

~~~

Thanks much! I appreciate you getting back to me, and I apologize for my hectic schedule, so I can’t always reply quickly.

14

Anyone out there with further ideas?

15

If you were to do the opposite, and import the bookmarks.html in question into Edge instead of in Brave, do the bookmarks get imported and displayed properly there?

16

Old Edge bookmarks or the “old” Brave bookmarks? Or, maybe it should not matter?

17

The same brave bookmarks.html file you’ve been trying to import into Brave. I want you to import it into Edge instead.

Open Edge and go to Settings --> Profile --> Import browser data --> Import browser data now and click Import:

image
image1317×512 70.2 KB

Then select Favorites or Bookmarks HTML file from the drop down menu:

image
image362×252 11.1 KB

18

Ok, thanks for the clarification. I’ll give that a try soon.

19

@PolR

IF you have only 1 Brave Browser user profile (“BBUP”), THEN the contents of that BBUP are within the Default folder at:

  • %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default

IF you have somehow created 1 additional BBUP, THEN the contents of that 2nd BBUP will be within the Profile 1 folder at:

  • %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 1

IF you have somehow created a 2nd additional BBUP, THEN the contents of that 3rd BBUP will be within the Profile 2 folder at:

  • %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 2

IF using some other Internet browser (“OIB”), you exported the bookmarks from that OIB, then the exported bookmarks are usually in a file named bookmarks.html or favorites.html.

NOW, skipping whatever is the process for importing data from another Internet browser - when first setting up a Brave Browser installation . . .

AND, only dealing with importing bookmarks from either a bookmarks.html file or a favorites.html file . . .

FIRST, close all Brave Browser (“BB”) Tabs that you have established.

SECOND, Exit / Quit BB - and be certain that BB is not the default Internet browser for your Windows OS 11 computer. AND, I suggest that you locate the FAVICONS file(s) that you copied over and remove them.

THIRD, remove (if any exist) the Bookmarks file and the Bookmarks.BAK file from the Default folder:

  • %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\Bookmarks
  • %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\Bookmarks.BAK

FOURTH, restart your Windows OS 11 computer.

When the computer is running again, then start up BB. Use the BB Bookmarks Manager to import whichever applies: the bookmarks.html file or the favorites.html file.

PS. Helps to create a new Internet browser user profile for a purpose:

Visit a few websites - creating bookmarks for each, then exporting the bookmarks to a bookmarks.html file. ← That file, you may examine with a text editor and keep that file as a model of the bookmarks.html file structure - for future comparison / contrast.

Date: Oct. 12, 2025 - 2310 EDT USA

20

Yesterday I tried exporting my Brave bookmarks from my Win 11 Pro laptop to the new Win 11 Pro desktop machine. That worked, with no problems, except that the bookmarks from the laptop are a much less extensive collection than what I had on the old Win 10 Pro desktop. :grimacing:

From this, I take it that I am not doing something “wrong” when I try to move the bookmarks from the Win 10 Pro desktop machine to the Win 11 Pro desktop machine, and instead, “something” happened to the bookmarks file on the Win 10 Pro desktop machine in the course of the disastrous Windows Update or the subsequent failure to boot up from either the normal boot drive (C:) or a bootable USB stick that I downloaded. However, a check of the Win 10 Pro desktop machine’s C: drive reveals no disk errors. (I can run the machine off a different internal SSD drive used for data, as it has also has on it an un-updated copy of Win 10 Pro on it, so I just disconnect the ethernet cable (to prevent an update attempt, restart the machine, and drop into BIOS to boot off the alternate drive.)

I’ll add that I’ve seen quite a bit of online comment about that late Sept. Win 10 Pro update having “broken” many machines, but I’ve not had time to research patches or even how to patch a machine that won’t boot off it’s C: drive. I assume I make a new bootable USB stick on a separate machine, and proceed from there - but that’s not the subject of this thread. :slightly_smiling_face:

I also see a long helpful looking post just above this comment, so, I’ll dive into that, later. Tomorrow I’ll be busy setting up a new Win 11 Pro machine for my wife.