Use multiple bookmark files  

I have a lot of bookmarks. I am amazed at how little link rot I have, probably since most of them are from solid sites.

In the very olden days, when I used Internet Explorer (before I moved on to Chrome, and then to Firefox) I just put the topical or age-based batches in separate .htm files, and did the renaming processes to bring the batch I wanted to use into the browser.

I'd like to do something like that again. I've been using Firefox, so I investigated doing something like this in it, and I cannot see a way forward. I investigated the Profile Manager, which seemed to me to be even more awkward than my name-swapping method, and it seems to not be really supported now anyway. Nothing I read about Containers seems to be about this issue. I didn't search as diligently for Chrome work-arounds, but didn't find any path to a solution there either.

I see Explorer was succeed by Edge and now Chromium, and I don't know what the bookmark format is for either, or if there is a way to use the Microsoft browser for my purpose.

Any ideas? I posted here because I saw a response to a really gnarly bookmark issue (not at all like what I want to do) in this forum, so I know there are super experts here.

In most cases you can import bookmarks from other browsers or you can export them in several formats then use them as HTM files you can get them into Excel and sort them in many ways

Have you got so many bookmarks that they cannot reside in one file? I don't know the practical limits for Firefox, but appropriate naming of folders should make it manageable - I am not aware of any limitation on how deeply nested the bookmark folders can be.

mngerhold, thank you for prompting me to expand on the reason I want to do this.

The bookmarks can reside in one file. I can nest the folders. The problem I have is that I have a lot of interests and I dip into and out of them. I can go for long periods without taking up a major interest, then either I get interested or something comes up and I need to go into a completely different set of folders, which I have probably moved deep in the tree.

It would be easier for me if I could just treat sets of bookmarks like...books with bookmarks in them. I'd like to just put one set of bookmarks down and pick up the relevant one. Pick up the Science book, or the Animals book or the information links for the book I am writing, or the book of selections in case I want to shop for a vacuum cleaner...

Ideally I would love to have several of these "books" on the bookmark bar on the desktop, including one of links that are so old that I don't usually even need to search them very often. I'd then have other sets on, say, the bookmark bar of the laptop. I use the laptop for smaller projects and on trips, and just don't need all of what I consider to be the "major research" folders on it. But if I am using the laptop on a trip, I'd like to be able to synch or transfer the additions I made from the laptop to the desktop, and to put the "current events" "books" on the laptop when I am going to be using it.

Not sure why multiple files would help when a proper bookmark folder structure can accomplish much the same thing.

I just checked for the first time in 20 plus years:

I have over 300 nested bookmark folders containing over 4000 links---I'd guess I haven't even looked at 3000 of those links in the last 10 years. Probably 200 links get 95% of my browser time and the top 50 links probably get 50% of my browsing. I keep the top 10 or so on a toolbar at the top of my screen.

These folders have just evolved like a hard drive folder structure, based on whatever seemed useful and descriptive at the time.

I can copy bookmarks from one folder to another at will and occasionally do so to facilitate searching---maybe 1% of the 4000 are duplicates.

The bookmarks and their folder structure are among my most important data, so they are backed up frequently.

ignatzatsonic, that is useful advice. I am presently re-working the folders. However, mngerhold raised a point that also affects me. The file is about 26gb and putting the whole thing on the laptop would be a big hit on its disc space.

Judy in Texas said:

ignatzatsonic, that is useful advice. I am presently re-working the folders. However, mngerhold raised a point that also affects me. The file is about 26gb and putting the whole thing on the laptop would be a big hit on its disc space.

Not sure what is going on in your case.

My 4000 bookmarks are backed up in one file that amounts to only 3 MB

ignatzatsonic, how big your the bookmark file as it is used by the browser?