Chrome Bug: Unable to Import Bookmaks from HTML File?

Hi Everyone...

I just found this forum in a search attempt to resolve this issue, so any input will be much appreciated. I have recently upgraded to a Windows 10 computer and transferred all my important data (docs, pictures, music, software) to this computer from an older Windows 7 machine. Everything has gone relatively well and is nearly complete expect for moving my 100+ bookmarks from one computer to the other. I know how to import/export bookmarks and have done it on prior versions of Windows, so I'm a bit surprised that of all possible issues with 10, this would be the one I'd run into.

As the title states, I have exported my bookmarks from Chrome (from the Win 7 computer), saved the html file, transferred the html file to the Win 10 computer, selected Organize and then Import in Chrome's bookmark manager. The import will appear successful as Chrome will show the green check mark with "Success!" below it. However, the folders in the Bookmark Manager always come up empty after this process. I have tried several times and several different ways to do this, too. I've transferred the exported file 2 different ways (USB HD and email attachment) to make sure the exported file wasn't corrupted. The file transferred bookmarks seamlessly across browsers on the Win 7 computer. So, once I knew the exported file wasn't the source of the problem, I tried installing Firefox on the new computer and importing the bookmarks from Firefox to Chrome, but still nothing appears in Chrome's Bookmark Manager. Then, I imported my bookmarks from Chrome to IE (on the original Win 7 computer), saved the htm file that IE creates, tried to move that to Firefox and then Chrome (on the new Win 10 computer) and yet, Chrome's BM continues to remain empty. I now have both an htm (IE) file and html (Chrome) saved to the Win 10 computer, but neither Import (or they're importing but not appearing viewable in Chrome or Firefox's BM) with Windows 10.

Upon further search for an answer, I found an old post on another forum that mentions this is a bug with bookmarks created and imported by/into Chrome. Some posters mentioned there is a workaround by removing <HR> tags, but I don't quite understand how to do that. The post I'm referring to is here: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chrome/x6MvnQUkAug;context-place=topicsearchin/chrome/authorid$3AAPn2wQdcQqUgJv3XLWa8rW_zp1TFTyzVh1ZrPTIJEoqDgjF15F_GWofj_w9UTa8dgtZauMRE2yLg%7Csort:date% 7Cspell:false

I don't know if it's permitted to bring posts from other forums here, but if not, please understand that I needed to for a reference point. In case anyone here can better explain how to edit the bookmarks file in the way that has been explained there, I thought it would be worth the try since all other attempts have failed. According that post and others, this is apparently a known bug with Chrome that has gone on for a while, and I can't believe it doesn't seem to have been properly addressed other than the workaround mentioned there. If anyone can explain how to do the workaround mentioned there or has any other ideas, I'd appreciate it as I want to continue using Chrome and need my bookmarks transferred. Sorry for such a long post and thanks in advance for any assistance!

torre said:

Just to be clear, you are attempting to import the Chrome favs html file on Win10 computer to Chrome which is installed on the Win10 computer ?

Try to repost the link from the Chrome forum.

Yes, that is exactly what I'm trying to do. The html file is now saved to the Win 10 computer, but won't show up in the BM after imported.

Here's one link about it:
https://productforums.google.com/for...me/x6MvnQUkAug

Posts from "Bill Rolly" mention the <HR> tags. There's a longer thread about this, but the link won't copy/paste properly. Apparently, this has gone on for a long time, but it is my first experience with this. Thanks for responding, torre.:)

Would it benefit to start a new thread in the Chrome forum since the thread and others are old ?

Hopefully, someone here may have further info. In the interim, seems you will have to open the html file for access or import to Edge or IE.

(I am not currently using Chrome and have never experienced the issue)

torre said:

Would it benefit to start a new thread in the Chrome forum since the thread and others are old ?

Hopefully, someone here may have further info. In the interim, seems you will have to open the html file for access or import to Edge or IE.

(I am not currently using Chrome and have never experienced the issue)

The reason I chose this forum is because, unlike many others, I didn't experience this issue until using Windows 10. The file works fine in Win 7. I'm using Chrome as my default browser and Chrome will not open the file at all... not even as a shortcut on the desktop. I'm not sure what will populate the list of favorites even as a text file so I can copy and paste the links to this Windows 10 computer one by one.

Thank you so much for your help. Hopefully someone will have a suggestion that works for me. I will consider posting the same issue on the Chrome forum and check both.

I'm using Chrome as my default browser and Chrome will not open the file at all... not even as a shortcut on the desktop

Can file be opened by IE or Edge ? Or be imported by IE or Edge ?

On the Chrome thread, one user imported the file to a USB flash drive. May be worth a try.

torre said:

Can file be opened by IE or Edge ? Or be imported by IE or Edge ?

On the Chrome thread, one user imported the file to a USB flash drive. May be worth a try.

Unless I'm missing it (which is possible since I've been doing constant computer work), Edge doesn't have an option to import bookmarks via html or .htm file. I will try to import to IE and then back to Chrome, and then update this post with whether or not it worked.

I did try putting the file on a USB hard drive and then importing. I don't have a flash drive at the moment. I also figured if it wasn't working from a USB hard drive, it probably wouldn't make a difference if it was a flash drive, right? Anyone have any ideas what program can open/read this bookmarks file (either as htm or .html) as list a of code just so I can grab all the website addresses and copy/paste them into Chrome and bookmark individually? It might sound crazy as it is very time consuming, but I'm not sure what else to do.

Thanks again for trying to help!

Unless I'm missing it (which is possible since I've been doing constant computer work), Edge doesn't have an option to import bookmarks via html or .htm file

Check to make sure you have the latest updates for Win10. Then go to Settings - View Favorite Settings - Import. Import is currently the only option. Insider Builds currently have the Export option and should be available to all with the next Win10 Update in Mar/Apr.

Good morning. I'm having exactly the same problem. Is there a fix for it? Tnx

HI.

MariJMF said:

Hi Everyone...

I just found this forum in a search attempt to resolve this issue, so any input will be much appreciated. I have recently upgraded to a Windows 10 computer and transferred all my important data (docs, pictures, music, software) to this computer from an older Windows 7 machine. Everything has gone relatively well and is nearly complete expect for moving my 100+ bookmarks from one computer to the other. I know how to import/export bookmarks and have done it on prior versions of Windows, so I'm a bit surprised that of all possible issues with 10, this would be the one I'd run into.

As the title states, I have exported my bookmarks from Chrome (from the Win 7 computer), saved the html file, transferred the html file to the Win 10 computer, selected Organize and then Import in Chrome's bookmark manager. The import will appear successful as Chrome will show the green check mark with "Success!" below it. However, the folders in the Bookmark Manager always come up empty after this process. I have tried several times and several different ways to do this, too. I've transferred the exported file 2 different ways (USB HD and email attachment) to make sure the exported file wasn't corrupted. The file transferred bookmarks seamlessly across browsers on the Win 7 computer. So, once I knew the exported file wasn't the source of the problem, I tried installing Firefox on the new computer and importing the bookmarks from Firefox to Chrome, but still nothing appears in Chrome's Bookmark Manager. Then, I imported my bookmarks from Chrome to IE (on the original Win 7 computer), saved the htm file that IE creates, tried to move that to Firefox and then Chrome (on the new Win 10 computer) and yet, Chrome's BM continues to remain empty. I now have both an htm (IE) file and html (Chrome) saved to the Win 10 computer, but neither Import (or they're importing but not appearing viewable in Chrome or Firefox's BM) with Windows 10.

Upon further search for an answer, I found an old post on another forum that mentions this is a bug with bookmarks created and imported by/into Chrome. Some posters mentioned there is a workaround by removing <HR> tags, but I don't quite understand how to do that. The post I'm referring to is here: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chrome/x6MvnQUkAug;context-place=topicsearchin/chrome/authorid$3AAPn2wQdcQqUgJv3XLWa8rW_zp1TFTyzVh1ZrPTIJEoqDgjF15F_GWofj_w9UTa8dgtZauMRE2yLg%7Csort:date% 7Cspell:false

I don't know if it's permitted to bring posts from other forums here, but if not, please understand that I needed to for a reference point. In case anyone here can better explain how to edit the bookmarks file in the way that has been explained there, I thought it would be worth the try since all other attempts have failed. According that post and others, this is apparently a known bug with Chrome that has gone on for a while, and I can't believe it doesn't seem to have been properly addressed other than the workaround mentioned there. If anyone can explain how to do the workaround mentioned there or has any other ideas, I'd appreciate it as I want to continue using Chrome and need my bookmarks transferred. Sorry for such a long post and thanks in advance for any assistance!