Undo Google Sync in chrome

DO NOT CLOSE CHROME.

Assuming you are an windows 7 user go here, %appdata%\..\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default. Replace the Bookmarks.bak file with Bookmarks file. Yes, just changing the extension will do. Reset chrome and old bookmarks should be back.

Sometimes it doesn't work and then you are out of luck. What I did was re-installed everything and then replaced the bookmark file. Don't know why, but it worked unlike the previous attempt.


I set up profiles for each of my family members on my desktop. When setting up my laptop, I synced with my Chrome profile. Somehow all my old bookmarks returned. Without thinking, I synced the desktop soon after & lost my current bookmarks set which is pretty huge. So now I had to sort out my profile AND default bookmark files. Similar to the above, here's what I did:

On the device I want to sync from:

  1. Turn off sync on both devices: Chrome > Customize (3 lines top right under X) > Settings > Sign In: Advanced Sync Settings > Choose what to sync > uncheck Bookmarks
  2. Go to: User/AppData/Local/Google/Chrome/User Data/Profile # (whichever profile is yours)
  3. Check the Date modified of Bookmarks.bak to ensure its not been altered since last sync
  4. Delete Bookmarks > rename Bookmarks.bak to Bookmarks
  5. Copy the file
  6. Go back to: User Data folder > Default
  7. Delete Bookmarks and Bookmarks.bak
  8. Paste

For the device I want to sync to:

  1. Delete all bookmarks: Chrome > Customize > Bookmarks > Bookmark Manager > Right-hand side menu > Select all > Delete
  2. SYNC - Chrome > Settings > Choose what to sync > check Bookmarks
  3. Go to the relevant folder: User Data/Profile # OR User Data/Default
  4. Now delete the backup file Bookmarks.bak
  5. Copy Bookmarks > rename to Bookmarks.bak

Done - reopen Chrome & restart Sync if required - hope it helps!


None of these answers are as Simple as this solution that I use all the time.

  1. Search for bookmarks.bak using windows search. Right click on the bookmarks.bak result in the search window and choose "open file location"
  2. At the top in the address bar click it until it shows up like this: C:\Users*your username here*\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default it should now be highlighted. right click it and choose copy.
  3. Open Google Chrome and go to the Three vertical Lines on the top right corner of the chrome browser window. Click Bookmarks, then Import bookmarks and settings.
  4. in the address bar at the top of the popup window right click and paste the C:\Users*your username here*\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
  5. in the File Name: window type in bookmarks.bak and click next.

Your old bookmarks will now be in the list of bookmarks.

Tags:

Google Chrome

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