Free Safari ⇄ Chrome Bookmark Converter

You can import Safari bookmarks to Chrome for free in three steps: export them from Safari, drop the export into the converter above, and import the bookmarks.html it gives you into Chrome. The converter also works in the other direction, from Chrome, Edge or Firefox into Safari, and it reads the zip that iPhone and iPad Safari now create. Everything happens in your browser tab, so your bookmarks never leave your device.

Moving bookmarks between Apple’s browser and everyone else’s used to mean one menu item on a Mac. Since Safari 18.2 the menus have changed, the iPhone got its own export button, and the files come in a zip with passwords and history alongside the bookmarks. This page explains every route as of September 2026, what the converter does that a plain import doesn’t, and what to do when an import goes wrong.

How do you import Safari bookmarks to Chrome for free?

Export your bookmarks from Safari to a file, then import that file into Chrome with ⋮ → Bookmarks and lists → Import bookmarks and settings → Bookmarks HTML file. Both steps are free and built into the browsers. The converter on this page sits between them and fixes the details a raw import gets wrong.

Here is what the converter changes when you move Safari bookmarks to Chrome:

• Favorites become the Bookmarks bar. Safari’s Favorites folder is marked as the toolbar folder, so Chrome treats it as the bookmarks bar instead of a random folder called “Favorites”.
• The Reading List is your call. Safari writes the Reading List into the bookmarks export. A plain import dumps it into Chrome as a folder, sometimes named com.apple.ReadingList. Here you can keep it as a tidy “Reading List” folder or drop it.
• Dead-end entries can go. Browser-internal addresses (place:, about:, edge://, chrome://) do nothing in another browser, and javascript: bookmarklets are optional. You can strip them.
• Empty folders disappear. Safari always exports a “Bookmarks Menu” folder, even when it’s empty.
• Old Safari files are read correctly. Safari’s older export writes top-level folders without the enclosing list that the Netscape format expects. Some importers only see the first folder. The converter repairs the structure before reading it.

If you only have a handful of bookmarks and don’t care where they land, a direct import is fine. If you have years of folders, use the converter so they arrive in the right places.

How do you export Safari bookmarks on a Mac, iPhone or iPad?

To export Safari bookmarks on a Mac, choose File → Export Browsing Data to File in Safari 18.2 or later. On iPhone and iPad, go to Settings → Apps → Safari → Export. Both produce a zip that contains a Bookmarks.html file. Older Mac versions use File → Export → Bookmarks and produce the HTML file directly.

Mac with Safari 18.2 or later (including Safari 26)

1. Open Safari and choose File → Export Browsing Data to File.
2. If you use Safari profiles, pick one profile or All Profiles.
3. Tick Bookmarks. Untick passwords and credit cards unless you really need them in the same file.
4. Choose a name and location, then click Save.

Apple’s guide to exporting Safari data on Mac warns that the exported file is not encrypted. Delete it once you’ve imported it.

Mac with an older Safari

On macOS Sonoma and earlier Safari versions, choose File → Export → Bookmarks. Safari saves a single Safari Bookmarks.html file. You can drop that file straight into the converter.

iPhone and iPad (iOS 18.2 or later)

1. Open Settings → Apps → Safari.
2. Scroll to History and Website Data and tap Export.
3. Tick Bookmarks and confirm with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
4. Safari saves a zip, named like Safari Export 2026-09-26.zip, to the Downloads folder in the Files app.

Apple documents this in Export Safari data to another browser on iPhone. You can AirDrop the zip to a Mac, save it to iCloud Drive, or open this page in Safari on the iPhone and choose the file from Downloads.

What’s inside a Safari export zip?

If you export several profiles, the zip can hold more than one bookmarks file. The converter reads each one and puts it in its own top-level folder named after the file.

Safari bookmarks to Chrome on a Mac: which route is best?

For a one-time move on a Mac, Chrome’s built-in import is quickest if you give Chrome Full Disk Access. The file route (export, convert, import) needs no special permissions and gives you control over folders. iCloud sync only helps on Windows.

Route 1: Chrome’s own Safari import

In Chrome, open ⋮ → Bookmarks and lists → Import bookmarks and settings. If “Safari” isn’t in the list, macOS is blocking Chrome from reading Safari’s data folder. To allow it, open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access, switch Google Chrome on, restart Chrome and try again. Quit Safari before importing so its files aren’t in use. You can turn Full Disk Access off again afterwards.

Route 2: The file route with this converter

Export from Safari as described above, drop the zip on the converter, keep Chrome, Edge, Brave selected and download bookmarks-for-chrome.html. Then in Chrome choose Import bookmarks and settings → Bookmarks HTML file → Choose file. Google’s help page on importing bookmarks into Chrome explains where the result appears: on the bookmarks bar if Chrome had no bookmarks, otherwise in a separate folder so nothing existing is touched.

For a wider guide covering Firefox, Edge and others, see how to transfer bookmarks to Chrome from any browser, and for the Chrome import dialog itself, how to import Chrome bookmarks step by step.

Route 3: Keep syncing instead of moving once

If you’ll keep using Safari on an iPhone and Chrome on a Windows PC, a one-time import goes stale. The iCloud Bookmarks option below keeps them in step.

How do you get Safari bookmarks into Chrome on iPhone?

In current Chrome for iPhone, open Chrome’s Settings, choose the Safari import option and select the zip you made in Settings → Apps → Safari → Export. Chrome shows a summary of what it found before importing and offers to delete the zip afterwards. Imported bookmarks go into an “Imported from Safari” folder, and Reading List items go into Chrome’s own reading list.

Two limits are worth knowing:

• Chrome for iPhone can’t open a bookmarks.html file. If you’ve converted a file here, import it into Chrome on a computer. Chrome sync then carries the bookmarks to your phone.
• Chrome for Android has no import at all. Do the import on a computer signed in to the same Google account and turn on sync.

Chrome on phones and tablets also has no extensions, so any browser extension that works inside desktop Chrome won’t run there.

How do you import bookmarks from Chrome to Safari?

To import bookmarks from Chrome to Safari on a Mac, choose File → Import From Browser → Google Chrome in Safari, or import an HTML export with File → Import Browsing Data from File or Folder. On iPhone, use Settings → Apps → Safari → Import and choose an HTML file or zip. Apple notes that imported bookmarks appear after your existing ones.

Chrome to Safari on a Mac

1. In Chrome, open ⋮ → Bookmarks and lists → Bookmark manager, open the ⋮ menu at the top right of the Bookmark manager and choose Export bookmarks. (There’s a detailed walkthrough in how to export Chrome bookmarks and back them up.)
2. Drop the file here and select Safari. The converter renames Chrome’s “Bookmarks bar” to “Favorites” and “Other bookmarks” to “Other Bookmarks”.
3. In Safari, choose File → Import Browsing Data from File or Folder (older versions: File → Import From → Bookmarks HTML File) and pick bookmarks-for-safari.html.
4. Open the bookmarks sidebar and drag the contents of the imported Favorites folder into Safari’s real Favorites if you want them on the Favorites bar.

Apple’s page on importing bookmarks directly from another browser covers the direct route.

Chrome to Safari on iPhone or iPad

1. Export or convert the bookmarks to an HTML file on any computer.
2. Save the file to iCloud Drive or AirDrop it so it appears in the Files app.
3. Open Settings → Apps → Safari, tap Import under History and Website Data, tap Choose File and pick the HTML file (or a zip containing it).
4. Delete the file from Files afterwards.

Apple’s import guide for iPhone lists HTML as the bookmarks format Safari accepts. If you use iCloud for Safari, the imported bookmarks then sync to your Mac as well.

Why does iCloud Bookmarks for Chrome exist only on Windows?

The iCloud Bookmarks extension exists so Windows users can see their iPhone and Mac Safari bookmarks in Chrome, Edge or Firefox. It depends on the iCloud for Windows app, so it does nothing on a Mac, Linux machine or Chromebook. As of September 2026 Apple still documents it in Set up iCloud Bookmarks on your Windows computer.

On a Mac, Apple’s answer is simply to use Safari, which syncs through iCloud natively. That’s why Mac users who prefer Chrome need a one-time move, either Chrome’s direct import or the file route above, and then Chrome sync from that point on.

If you use the extension on Windows and also import a Safari file, you’ll get two copies of everything. Pick one approach per computer.

How do Safari Favorites map to the Chrome bookmarks bar?

Safari’s Favorites folder, Chrome’s Bookmarks bar, Edge’s Favorites bar and Firefox’s Bookmarks Toolbar are the same thing: the strip of links under the address bar. In the HTML export format that role is marked with the PERSONAL_TOOLBAR_FOLDER="true" attribute on the folder heading. The converter finds the right folder in your file and sets that marker for the browser you pick.

After you drop a file, the tool shows this mapping for your actual folders so you can see exactly what will happen before you download.

A browser still decides for itself how to handle the toolbar folder during import. Chrome only places it straight on the bar in an empty profile. Safari adds everything after your existing bookmarks. So the marker gets you the correct names and structure, and in a busy profile you may still drag one folder into place.

Safari Reading List

Safari exports the Reading List as a folder whose heading has the id com.apple.ReadingList. Desktop browsers have no way to import an HTML folder into their own reading list, so it becomes a normal bookmarks folder. If your Reading List is a pile of articles you never got to, choosing Leave it out keeps your new Chrome bookmarks clean. If it’s valuable, keep it and read through it later.

Bookmarklets and browser-internal links

Bookmarks starting with javascript: are bookmarklets: small scripts saved as bookmarks. They work in every major browser, so the converter keeps them unless you tick the option to remove them. Entries starting with place: (Firefox smart folders such as “Most Visited”), about:, chrome:// or edge:// point at pages inside a specific browser and usually do nothing elsewhere, which is why that option is on by default.

How do you import favorites to Chrome from Edge or Internet Explorer?

To import favorites to Chrome on the same Windows PC, open Import bookmarks and settings in Chrome and pick Microsoft Edge from the list. From another computer, export Edge favorites to HTML and import the file. Internet Explorer favorites can be imported the same way where IE data still exists, or brought into Edge first.

To export from Edge: Settings and more (⋯) → Favorites → More options (⋯) → Export favorites. Microsoft’s page on importing favorites in Edge covers the reverse direction too. Edge’s export marks the Favorites bar with the toolbar attribute, so dropping it here with Chrome selected keeps it as the Bookmarks bar. If you’re going the other way, into Edge, use Settings and more → Favorites → Import → Favorites or bookmarks HTML file.

Internet Explorer was retired on most versions of Windows in 2022, and its favorites live as individual .url shortcut files in C:\Users\<you>\Favorites. Edge’s import dialog has offered Internet Explorer as a source on Windows, so the usual path is IE favorites → Edge → HTML export → Chrome. If that option is gone on your PC, copy the Favorites folder to a machine that still has it.

Firefox bookmarks JSON to HTML: what’s the difference?

Firefox makes two kinds of bookmark file. The JSON backup is Firefox’s own format and can only be restored into Firefox. The HTML export is the universal Netscape bookmark format that Chrome, Edge and Safari import. Converting Firefox bookmarks JSON to HTML is what lets you take a Firefox backup into another browser.

Mozilla’s page on restoring bookmarks from a backup explains the automatic JSON backups. Those automatic copies are compressed .jsonlz4 files, which only Firefox can open; restore one in Firefox first, then export to HTML or make a manual Backup…, which is plain JSON. Drop a .json backup here, pick Chrome or Safari, and the converter turns it into HTML with the Bookmarks Toolbar mapped to the right bar. Firefox’s smart folders (place: queries) are skipped because no other browser understands them.

Is a free bookmark converter safe to use?

A bookmark converter is safe when it doesn’t upload your file, and this one doesn’t: the conversion runs in JavaScript inside your browser tab. You can check by disconnecting from the internet after the page loads; the converter keeps working.

Being careful matters here because Safari’s export zip can contain much more than bookmarks. If you ticked Passwords or Credit Cards during export, those files sit in the same zip, unencrypted. This converter only decompresses files whose names look like bookmarks, so your passwords CSV is never read, but the file still exists on your disk. Delete the zip after you’ve imported what you need, as Apple and Chrome both advise.

Other things the converter doesn’t do: it doesn’t fetch the bookmarked pages, doesn’t keep a copy, doesn’t set cookies for your file, and doesn’t need an account.

What other bookmark converter options are there, and when are they better?

Built-in browser tools are the best choice when both browsers are on the same computer and you don’t care where folders land. Sync services are better for ongoing use across devices. This converter is best for files: iPhone exports, old backups, Firefox JSON, and moves where you want Favorites and the Reading List handled properly.

Moving to a new computer rather than a new browser? The free bookmark transfer tool merges several Bookmarks files from old profiles into one HTML file. To look inside an export before importing it, use the bookmarks HTML viewer.

Troubleshooting Safari and Chrome bookmark imports

Most import problems come from three causes: the wrong file, a browser that already has bookmarks, or an import done twice. Match your symptom below.

If the import worked but you’re not sure everything came across, count your bookmarks: the converter shows the total it wrote, and Chrome’s Bookmark Manager search shows how many you have after the import.

What this converter can’t do

This converter changes file formats; it doesn’t reach into any browser. Knowing its limits saves you time:

• It can’t read Safari’s live data. Bookmarks.plist and iCloud aren’t accessible to a web page. You need an export first.
• It can’t import for you. The last step is always the browser’s own import command.
• It doesn’t sync. It’s a one-time move. For ongoing sync, use Chrome sync, iCloud, or iCloud for Windows.
• It can’t recover deleted bookmarks. If a bookmark was deleted before the export, it isn’t in the file. For Chrome, the Chrome bookmarks recovery tool can sometimes restore bookmarks from the Bookmarks.bak file.
• It doesn’t move passwords, history, tabs or extensions. Use the browsers’ own password import and reinstall extensions from each store.
• It can’t read compressed Firefox .jsonlz4 backups. Use Firefox’s Export Bookmarks to HTML, or a manual backup, which is plain JSON.
• It doesn’t check whether links still work. A converted file carries dead links along with good ones.

After the move: are your old Safari bookmarks still alive?

Bookmarks collected in Safari over many years often include pages that no longer exist. Moving them into Chrome is a good moment to find out which ones.

The converted bookmarks.html this tool produces is exactly the file Bookmend imports, so you can bring your old Safari library into Bookmend as well as into Chrome, with its folders intact (up to 20,000 bookmarks per import). Bookmend is an AI-native bookmark manager for Chrome and the web: save it once, ask it anything. Its link health checks saved links in the background (at most once a day per bookmark), flags dead ones, and offers the Wayback Machine snapshot closest to when the page last worked as a replacement. When you save a page, its AI writes a short summary and suggests tags and a collection, and Ask your library answers plain-language questions from your saved pages with citations linking to the bookmarks. See the features and how it works, or run a quick bookmark rot check first.

Importing into Bookmend doesn’t touch Chrome’s own bookmarks; your Bookmend library lives in your Bookmend account and is the same in the extension and the web app. The extension runs in Chrome and Chromium browsers such as Brave, Edge, Arc and Opera, with Firefox coming soon; there’s no Safari extension. The free plan covers saving, collections, tags, search and import/export, while the AI features and link health are Premium and free for new accounts during early access. For a free one-off check without installing anything, the bookmark dead link checker tests a converted file in your browser.

Written by Nafiul Hasan, Founder, Bookmend. Last updatedSeptember 26, 2026.