Update July 1st, 2019, 10:25AM ET: This article has been updated to include instructions on how to download Google Chrome passwords.

Despite some new improvements to user privacy, Google’s popular Chrome browser has recently been lambasted in some quarters as problematical when it comes to privacy issues. These same articles suggest that if you’re concerned about the security of your data, you should try an alternative browser, such as Firefox, Safari, or Brave.

Of course, anyone who has used a browser for any length of time will have built up a considerable library of bookmarks, preferences, and saved passwords. If you do move to a new browser, you won’t have to sacrifice your bookmarks; you can easily import them from Chrome into your new browser.

Here’s how to do it.

If you’re moving to Firefox:

After you’ve installed Firefox, click on the “Library” icon to the right of the address bar, and then click on “Bookmarks” on the drop-down menu.

Click on “Show All Bookmarks” on the bottom of the drop-down menu.

Click on “Import Data from Another Browser…” (If you are moving from a browser other than Safari or Chrome, you can first export your data as an HTML file and then import it to Firefox by selecting “Import Bookmarks from HTML…”

In the box “Import Settings and Data,” select “Chrome” (unless, of course, you’re moving from Safari…). You’ll be reminded to close the other browser.

If you have more than one Google profile established with Chrome, you’ll be asked which one you want to move.

You can move your cookies, your browsing history and / or your bookmarks. Uncheck any data you want to leave behind and click on “Continue.”

If everything has gone well, you’ll get a box telling you “Import Complete.”

Grid View Click on the “Library” icon and select “Bookmarks”

Select “Show All Bookmarks”

Click on the “Import and Backup” icon and then “Import Data from Another Browser”

Choose the Browser you’re importing from

Select which items to import

Success!

In my case, all my bookmarks and bookmark files imported successfully, and all were placed in a single folder called “From Google Chrome” on the bookmarks bar.

If you’re moving to Safari

Safari doesn’t wait to ask you whether you want your bookmarks; the first time you power it up, it automatically imports your bookmarks and history from either Chrome or Firefox. Your bookmarks and bookmark folders appear on the “Favorites” page; if you go to “Bookmarks” in the menu bar, they appear in a folder labeled “Imported.”

Don’t want your old bookmarks? That’s easy. At the bottom of the Favorites or Top Sites page, you’ll see a note asking if you want to keep the imported bookmarks; choose “Keep” or “Don’t Keep.” And it works. When I clicked on “Don’t Keep,” all my old bookmarks disappeared from the Favorites page.

If you change your mind at a future date, it’s easy enough to manually import your bookmarks:

Go to the menu bar and click on “File” > “Import From” > “Google Chrome.” You can also click on “Bookmarks HTML File” if you’re moving from a different browser.

Choose to import your bookmarks, your history, or both. Then click on “Import.”

Grid View Safari automatically imports your bookmarks, then asks if you want to keep them.

If you choose “Don’t Keep,” your bookmarks will disappear

You can also manually import your bookmarks.

You can import bookmarks and / or browsing history.

All your bookmarks are back.

And that’s it! The Favorites page once more had my imported bookmarks along with their folders, and the “Bookmarks” drop-down menu showed the same “Imported” folder as before.

If you’re moving to Brave

The Brave browser is often recommended when you are looking for a browser that protects your privacy. It’s as easy to move to as Firefox.

After you install Brave, you are taken through a series of “Welcome Tour” slides. The second slide is an invitation to import your bookmarks and settings; just click on “Import.” You can also import your bookmarks at any time by clicking on “Brave” > “Import Bookmarks and Settings...” from the top menu. After that:

Choose which browser to import from. Brave apparently checks to see which browsers you are using; interestingly, my drop-down choices included Safari and the two different accounts I had in Chrome, but did not include Firefox, even though it was also installed on my Mac. You can install from an existing bookmarks HTML file as well.

Select what you want to import: browsing history, favorites / bookmarks, saved passwords, and / or cookies.

Don’t forget to close Chrome before you start the process. I did forget, and when I closed Chrome in response to a browser request and tried to move ahead, Brave hung up. I closed the import tab, selected “Import” again from the slideshow, and this time, the process went without a hitch.

Grid View When you first start Brave, you’re invited to import your bookmarks.

Choose what browser to import from

Choose what to import

Don’t forget to close Chrome for the import

All done!

Brave puts all the bookmarks within a bookmarks drop-down menu from the top bar. It did not segregate my downloaded bookmarks. Instead, the bookmarks and files that had been in my Chrome menu bar were now available on the Brave menu bar, a very nice touch.

What about my passwords?

If you’ve used Chrome’s password manager, then you’ve probably collected as many, or more, passwords as you have bookmarks. Unfortunately, things get a little tricky when it comes to moving your passwords to a new browser.

Of the three browsers mentioned here, Firefox and Brave are capable of importing your passwords along with your bookmarks. Firefox did a nice job of moving my passwords; I was able to immediately log in to a random selection of sites. Brave, for some reason, only imported about a fourth of my passwords.

You can export your passwords from Chrome — sometimes. When I first published this article on June 29th, 2019, you could use Chrome://flag to enable an “Import” link in the password settings, but not an export link. However, over the weekend, I got an email from a reader who said that he had seen the export link. I checked the morning of July 1st and was surprised to find that a link to export passwords had miraculously appeared. So, as of this writing (but I can’t promise for how long), this is how you export your Chrome passwords:

Go to Settings (by clicking on the three dots in the upper right corner)

Click on “Passwords”

Click on the three dots to the right of “Saved Passwords.” You’ll see a button titled “Export Passwords.” Click on that.

You’ll get a warning that your passwords will be completely visible in that file. Click on “Export passwords...”

Grid View





The result will be a CSV file with the site name, URL, your username, and password laid out all nice and neat. You won’t be able to use that file to move those passwords to another browser since most browsers will only import from HTML files. But at least you’ll have a copy of your saved passwords, which you can then store somewhere safe.

Or you can move them to a password manager like LastPass or 1Password that can work with whatever browser you choose to use.