If you lost bookmarks, browsing history, saved passwords, or synced settings in Brave, you can get a lot of it back quickly — and in many cases, recover the rest from a backup or from another device where Brave is still signed in. By the end of this guide, you’ll know how to restore your Brave data, verify that it’s intact, and bring it back onto the device you’re using now. What this covers Your Brave profile data on desktop, including bookmarks, history, extensions, passwords, and settings stored in your local Brave profile folder Brave Sync data tied to your Brave Sync chain, including bookmarks, history, passwords, open tabs, and settings shared between signed-in devices Saved site data such as cookies and logged-in sessions, which live in the browser profile What is not included: files stored outside Brave, downloads that were deleted from your computer, and cloud accounts that Brave never stored locally What is not included: private browsing tabs, because Brave does not save normal private-window activity to your profile How to back it up Check your current Brave profile first Open Brave and go to brave://bookmarks to confirm your bookmarks are present, then open brave://history to confirm recent browsing data is there. If you use Sync, open brave://settings/braveSync and confirm your device is connected to the same Sync chain before you save anything. Check your current Brave profile first Open Brave and go to brave://bookmarks to confirm your bookmarks are present, then open brave://history to confirm recent browsing data is there. If you use Sync, open brave://settings/braveSync and confirm your device is connected to the same Sync chain before you save anything. Export your bookmarks In Brave, open the menu and go to Bookmarks > Bookmark manager . In the Bookmark Manager, click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner and choose Export bookmarks . Save the HTML file somewhere safe, such as Documents or an external drive. This gives you a portable copy you can import later. Export your bookmarks In Brave, open the menu and go to Bookmarks > Bookmark manager . In the Bookmark Manager, click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner and choose Export bookmarks . Save the HTML file somewhere safe, such as Documents or an external drive. This gives you a portable copy you can import later. Back up your passwords Open brave://password-manager/passwords in Brave. Next to Saved passwords , click the three-dot menu and choose Export passwords . Save the CSV file in a secure location, then move it to encrypted storage or a password-protected backup. This file is sensitive because it contains login data in a readable format. Back up your passwords Open brave://password-manager/passwords in Brave. Next to Saved passwords , click the three-dot menu and choose Export passwords . Save the CSV file in a secure location, then move it to encrypted storage or a password-protected backup. This file is sensitive because it contains login data in a readable format. Copy your Brave profile folder Quit Brave completely before you copy anything. On Windows, open File Explorer and go to %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\ . On macOS, open Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder , and enter ~/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/ . On Linux, open your file manager and go to ~/.config/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/ . Copy the Default folder and any other profile folders you use to an external drive or backup location. Copy your Brave profile folder Quit Brave completely before you copy anything. On Windows, open File Explorer and go to %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\ . On macOS, open Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder , and enter ~/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/ . On Linux, open your file manager and go to ~/.config/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/ . Copy the Default folder and any other profile folders you use to an external drive or backup location. Save your Brave Sync setup details In Brave, go to brave://settings/braveSync . Write down which devices are on the Sync chain and keep access to the device that still has the correct data. Sync is one of the fastest ways to restore data onto a new device, but it only works if the chain is still active and at least one healthy device remains connected. Save your Brave Sync setup details In Brave, go to brave://settings/braveSync . Write down which devices are on the Sync chain and keep access to the device that still has the correct data. Sync is one of the fastest ways to restore data onto a new device, but it only works if the chain is still active and at least one healthy device remains connected. Back up the full browser data if you need everything If you want the closest thing to a full restore, back up the whole User Data folder from the profile path above, not just the Default folder. That folder contains profile settings, local state, and other data Brave uses to rebuild your browser exactly as it was. Back up the full browser data if you need everything If you want the closest thing to a full restore, back up the whole User Data folder from the profile path above, not just the Default folder. That folder contains profile settings, local state, and other data Brave uses to rebuild your browser exactly as it was. How to check the backup is good Open the bookmark export in a browser or text editor and confirm it contains your actual bookmark titles and folders, not an empty page. Check the password CSV for a recent modified date and a file size that is larger than a tiny placeholder file. For a profile-folder backup, make sure the copied folders are present and contain many files, not just a few kilobytes. The best test is a small restore: import the bookmark HTML into a separate Brave profile or another browser, then confirm one bookmark appears in the right folder and opens correctly. How to restore it Restore Brave from Sync first Install Brave on the device, then open brave://settings/braveSync . Join the same Sync chain from a device that still has your data. Once the device connects, give Sync time to repopulate bookmarks, history, passwords, and settings across the browser.

Restore Brave from Sync first Install Brave on the device, then open brave://settings/braveSync . Join the same Sync chain from a device that still has your data. Once the device connects, give Sync time to repopulate bookmarks, history, passwords, and settings across the browser. Import your bookmarks Open Bookmarks > Bookmark manager , then click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner and choose Import bookmarks . Select the HTML file you saved earlier. Brave places the imported bookmarks into the Bookmarks bar or the Imported folder, where you can move them into place afterward. Import your bookmarks Open Bookmarks > Bookmark manager , then click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner and choose Import bookmarks . Select the HTML file you saved earlier. Brave places the imported bookmarks into the Bookmarks bar or the Imported folder, where you can move them into place afterward. Import saved passwords Go to brave://password-manager/passwords , click the three-dot menu next to Saved passwords , and choose Import passwords . Select the CSV file you exported. After the import finishes, open a site you recognize and confirm Brave fills in the login correctly. Import saved passwords Go to brave://password-manager/passwords , click the three-dot menu next to Saved passwords , and choose Import passwords . Select the CSV file you exported. After the import finishes, open a site you recognize and confirm Brave fills in the login correctly. Restore the full profile folder on the same device Quit Brave. Replace the current profile data with the backed-up folder from %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\ on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/ on macOS, or ~/.config/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/ on Linux. Put your saved Default folder back in the same location, or restore the full User Data folder if you backed up everything. Then reopen Brave and check that your extensions, bookmarks, and settings returned. Restore the full profile folder on the same device Quit Brave. Replace the current profile data with the backed-up folder from %LOCALAPPDATA%\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\ on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/ on macOS, or ~/.config/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/ on Linux. Put your saved Default folder back in the same location, or restore the full User Data folder if you backed up everything. Then reopen Brave and check that your extensions, bookmarks, and settings returned. Move the restored data to a new device Install Brave on the new computer, sign in to the same Sync chain in brave://settings/braveSync , and then import the bookmark and password files if Sync did not bring everything over. If you restored a profile folder, keep the old device offline until you confirm the new one opens correctly and the data is present. Move the restored data to a new device Install Brave on the new computer, sign in to the same Sync chain in brave://settings/braveSync , and then import the bookmark and password files if Sync did not bring everything over. If you restored a profile folder, keep the old device offline until you confirm the new one opens correctly and the data is present. Confirm the restored items are usable Open brave://bookmarks , brave://history , and brave://password-manager/passwords to confirm your data is there. Launch a bookmark, sign in to one saved account, and check that your extensions and preferences are back in the toolbar and settings pages. If something is missing, return to the backup files and import again before making changes. Confirm the restored items are usable Open brave://bookmarks , brave://history , and brave://password-manager/passwords to confirm your data is there. Launch a bookmark, sign in to one saved account, and check that your extensions and preferences are back in the toolbar and settings pages. If something is missing, return to the backup files and import again before making changes. If you didn’t back up Start with Brave’s own recovery paths: check brave://history and the bookmarks manager for items that are still present, and inspect the browser’s internal trash-like recovery paths by reopening closed tabs from the menu or using Sync on another device that still has the data. After that, use operating system recovery such as File History on Windows or Time Machine on macOS to restore the Brave profile folder from a previous copy. If the files are gone everywhere, your last options are reputable file-recovery tools on the drive that held the Brave profile or Brave Support for account and Sync troubleshooting. How to avoid losing it again Turn on Brave Sync and keep at least one other device in the same Sync chain so your bookmarks, passwords, history, and settings stay mirrored across devices. In addition, back up the Brave profile folder on a regular schedule and export bookmarks and passwords after major changes, then store those files in encrypted backup storage so you can restore them cleanly the next time something goes wrong. Will restoring Brave data overwrite what’s already on my device? Yes. A full profile-folder restore replaces the current Brave profile with the backed-up one, so any newer local changes can be lost. Sync and file imports add data back without fully replacing the browser profile, but you should still check for duplicates and confirm which copy has the most complete bookmarks, passwords, and settings before you restore. Can I restore Brave data onto a different device? Yes. You can restore on a new computer by joining the same Brave Sync chain and then importing bookmark and password files if needed. If you backed up the full profile folder, copy it onto the new device in the correct Brave profile location and keep the old device offline until the new one opens correctly. What Brave data does Sync restore? Brave Sync restores the data tied to your Sync chain, including bookmarks, history, passwords, open tabs, and shared settings. It does not restore files stored outside Brave or anything Brave never saved locally. If your goal is a full browser rebuild, pair Sync with a profile-folder backup for the most complete result. How can you tell if a Brave backup is corrupted? Check the backup before you rely on it. A bookmark export should open and show real folder names and titles, not an empty file. A password CSV should have a meaningful file size and recent modified date. For a profile backup, the folders should contain many files, and a test import should restore at least one item correctly. What should you do if Brave data is gone and you have no backup? Start with Brave’s own recovery paths: reopen closed tabs, check brave://history , and look in the bookmarks manager. If another device is still on the same Sync chain, use it to repopulate the missing data. If that fails, recover an older Brave profile folder with File History or Time Machine, then restore it into Brave.