URGENT HELP: Brave deleted all my bookmarks after an upgrade. How do I get them back?

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Description of the issue:

I turned off my computer, turned it on and Brave had updated to the latest version. But it doing so, it deleted all of my bookmarks. I need those bookmarks for very important work I’m doing right now and will do in the future, and cannot afford to lose them.

Where would I even go to find or restore them?

Brave Version( check About Brave):
Brave 1.80.122 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Chromium: 138.0.7204.157

Additional Information:

If you have solved this issue in the past, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to anyone who knows how to solve this issue.

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@354ccffa1e49ff6c9e06

IF you use Brave Sync, DISABLE IT, so it is not running during all the following steps. And, please disable any extensions that you have added.

Exit / Quit everything and Restart the computer.

After the initial installation and setup of Brave Browser (“BB”), the original BB user profile data is within the Default folder:

  • C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default

You should verify that location; in a BB New Window, go to brave://version and scroll down to Profile Path.

Now, without BB running, and before doing anything else, make a backup of the User Data folder . . . placing the backup somewhere that is safe and NOT within any BB installation path.

Next, with BB running, create a new BB user profile ← its user data will be in a newly created user profile folder Profile 1 located at:

  • C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 1

During creation of the new user profile, DO NOT import anything and avoid enabling BB Rewards and other (what may be called) BB extras.

Exit / Quit everything and restart the computer.

Run BB and using ONLY the newly created user profile, visit website: https://test.nextdns.io/ ← that is a very simple website. Create a bookmark for that webpage.

Exit / Quit BB, and DELETE any new Bookmarks file and Bookmarks.BAK file within the newly created Profile 1 folder - for example:

  • C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 1\Bookmarks
  • C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 1\Bookmarks.BAK

Next, MOVE the old Bookmarks file from the Default folder:

  • C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\Bookmarks

to the Profile 1 folder:

  • C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 1\

Run BB, using ONLY the newly created BB user profile. Use the BB Bookmarks Manager. In that manager’s window, IF the bookmarks exist . . . you should see them. And, you can then EXPORT them > the export process will place the bookmarks in a bookmarks.html file.

Exit / Quit BB. Run BB using ONLY the old, original BB user profile. IMPORT the bookmarks from the bookmarks.html file.

1 Like
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My only problem with your instructions is that I don’t have an old “Bookmarks” file or folder within the User Data folder. It’s completely gone.

Will your troubleshooting instructions still work?

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@354ccffa1e49ff6c9e06

Did you back up the User Data folder?

Did you visit brave://version in order to see the Profile Path?

Re Bookmarks file: Did you look at the specific path of the BB user profile folder Default?

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I backed up the User Data folder as instructed.

I visited Brave://version in order to see the profile path. It was:

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default

I looked at the specific path of the BB user profile folder Default and couldn’t find any file called Bookmarks or Bookmarks.bak

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@354ccffa1e49ff6c9e06

IF you also did a Restart, and the file is still missing, then . . .

Unfortunately, your bookmarks are gone . . . unless by chance, you have a similar collection on another computing device, or you use MSFT’s onedrive.live.com ?

At the following link, a Brave Community member discovered that a Profile 2 folder was magically created, and it contained BRIEFLY a Bookmarks file:

‘Update deleted everything: profile, bookmarks, extensions, settings’

. . . that appeared to have bookmarks, but the bookmarks disappeared again:

‘Update deleted everything: profile, bookmarks, extensions, settings - #7 by AnotherUserName’

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The file is still missing. No similar collection on another computing device, and I don’t use MSFT’s onedrive.live.com

This makes zero sense at all. Why would a Brave update lead to this happening?

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@354ccffa1e49ff6c9e06

I added to my previous reply. The two links are for the same issue ← similar to yours, but loss of more than just the bookmarks. Study of the material, will not lead to a solution . . . but it convinces some users to get into the habit of making routine backups.

I make chronological backups:

Bookmarks files

  • 20250704_BB_Bkmks_Bkup.zip
  • 20250705_BB_Bkmks_Bkup.zip

BraveSoftware folder (MacOS)

  • 20250704_BB_Sftwr_Bkup.zip
  • 20250705_BB_Sftwr_Bkup.zip

And I use a 3rd party password manager / password wallet. Never use a lone password manager ← always at least 2 separate methods.

And, save to at least 2 different locations ← one of which is external, not on the computing device.

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That’s weird, because my bookmarks are the only thing I lost. My extensions, passwords, browsing history, Brave Wallet, and everything else are still perfectly intact.

But for sure I will be convinced to make routine backups going forward. And I’ll likely start using another browser altogether because of this experience.

1 Like
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