There are three ways to back up Chrome, and they cover different things. Saving to your Google Account is automatic once you’re signed in and covers bookmarks, passwords, extensions and settings. Exporting gives you files you hold yourself: an HTML file of your bookmarks and a .csv file of your passwords. Copying the profile folder takes everything else, like cookies and history. For most people, the first two together are enough.
1. Save your data in your Google Account
When you’re signed in to Chrome, Google can keep a copy of your bookmarks and reading list, passwords, payment info, identity docs, contact and travel info, extensions, web apps, and settings and preferences. History and open tabs are saved only if you turn them on. (Source: Google’s sign-in help.)
- Open Chrome and sign in with your Google Account.
- Select More (three dots) > Settings > You and Google, then select your account name.
- Choose what to save in your Google Account. Turn on History and tabs if you want your history backed up too.
- If your profile icon at the top right shows Save x items in Account, select it, choose what to save and select Save in account. This moves info you saved while signed out into your account.
To restore, sign in to Chrome with the same account on any computer or phone. If you use one, Google notes that you need your sync passphrase to sign in on a new device.
One thing to know: this copy follows your changes. Google says that if you delete data like history while you’re signed in, Chrome removes it from your Google Account and your other devices too (delete browsing data). It is a live copy, not a snapshot, so keep an exported copy as well.
2. Export your bookmarks and passwords to files
Bookmarks:
- Select More > Bookmarks and lists > Bookmark manager. On a Mac, ⌘ + Option + B opens it.
- Select More at the top of the bookmark manager > Export bookmarks.
- Save the HTML file. You can also use it to move your bookmarks to another browser (Google’s steps).
Passwords:
- Select More > Passwords and autofill > Google Password Manager > Settings.
- Scroll to “Export passwords” and select Download file. Chrome saves a .csv file (Google’s steps).
Google warns that anyone who uses the device can open the .csv file and see your passwords, so store it somewhere only you can reach, such as an encrypted drive, and don’t leave it in your Downloads folder.
To restore: import the bookmarks file with More > Bookmarks and lists > Import bookmarks and settings > Choose file. Import the passwords from Google Password Manager > Settings > “Import passwords” > Select file. Chrome imports up to 3,000 passwords at a time.
3. Copy your whole profile folder
Your profile folder holds everything Chrome keeps on your computer, including the things your Google Account doesn’t, like cookies and website data (Chromium documentation). The default locations:
- Windows:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data - Mac:
~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome - Linux:
~/.config/google-chrome
To check where yours is, type chrome://version in the address bar and look at Profile Path. The folder above that one is the user data folder, and each Chrome profile is a subfolder in it, often called Default.
- Quit Chrome completely, so no files are being written while you copy.
- Copy the whole user data folder to an external drive or another safe place.
Google doesn’t publish steps for restoring a copied profile folder. Treat the folder copy as an extra, and keep the Google Account copy and the exports from step 2 as your dependable backup.
When you’ll need a backup
Back up before you do a clean install of Chrome, before you uninstall Chrome and delete your profile, or before you move to a new computer. A normal reinstall keeps your profile on the computer, so it doesn’t need one, but a backup costs only a minute.