Why don't Chrome profiles share bookmarks?

Profiles are designed to keep things apart. Google's help describes them as the way to keep bookmarks, history, passwords and settings separate. When a profile is signed in with sync on, Chrome saves its bookmarks to that profile's Google account. A work profile and a personal profile signed in to different accounts therefore sync to different places.

Signing both profiles in to Chrome with one Google account is not an option either. Chrome refuses to use an account that another profile on the computer already uses, and offers to switch to that profile instead.

How do I copy bookmarks with an HTML file?

This is the method in Google's Chrome help. It copies every bookmark in one go, and the first profile keeps its own.

1. Open a Chrome window in the profile that has the bookmarks. You can switch profiles from the profile icon at the top right.
2. Open the More menu (⋮), then Bookmarks and lists, then Bookmark Manager.
3. At the top of the Bookmark Manager, open More and choose Export Bookmarks. Save the HTML file.
4. Switch to the other profile.
5. Open the More menu, then Bookmarks and lists, then Import bookmarks and settings.
6. In the list of sources, choose Bookmarks HTML File. The list often starts on another browser, such as Safari or Edge, so check this before going on.
7. Select Choose file, pick the HTML file and select Open, then Done.

Chrome exports every bookmark in the profile and has no option to export a single folder. If the second profile's bookmarks bar is empty, the first profile's bar goes straight onto it, and its other bookmarks go into a folder named Imported. If the bar already has bookmarks, Chrome adds a new folder named Imported at the end of the bar, and nothing is replaced. Google's help calls this folder Other bookmarks, but Chrome itself names it Imported.

To keep only one folder, delete the rest after importing. Importing the file a second time adds a second set rather than updating the first. The HTML file lists every bookmark in plain text, so delete it once the import is done.

Can I copy and paste bookmarks between profiles?

For a handful of bookmarks or one folder, copying and pasting between two Bookmark Manager windows is quicker than a file.

1. Open a window in each profile. In each window, press Ctrl+Shift+O to open that profile's Bookmark Manager. On a Mac, press Command-Option-B.
2. In the first window, open the folder that holds what you want, so it shows in the main list. Select the bookmarks or folders there and press Ctrl+C (Command-C on a Mac).
3. In the second window, open the folder you want them in and press Ctrl+V (Command-V).

How do I keep two profiles connected for free?

Install Neatlink in both profiles and connect both to the same Google Drive. Each profile keeps its own Chrome bookmarks, and sees the other's inside Neatlink, ready to open, search or copy in. Only the profile that owns a bookmark can change it, so tidying one profile never moves or deletes anything in the other.

What you get

• Free, automatic sync. Save a bookmark in your personal profile, and after the next sync it shows in the work profile's Neatlink folder. Each profile syncs about once a minute while it is open in Chrome.
• Your bookmarks bar stays yours. Nothing from the other profile lands in Chrome's own bookmarks until you copy it.
• Copy any folder across. Copy to Local turns a folder from the other profile into ordinary bookmarks in this one.
• No Neatlink account. You sign in with Google, and Neatlink runs no storage for your synced bookmarks. They live in your own Google Drive.
• Encrypted on your device. Synced bookmarks are encrypted with AES-GCM-256 before upload. Neatlink's backups beside them are plain HTML, so any browser can import them.
• More than two profiles. Add Neatlink to a third profile, another computer, Edge or Firefox, and its bookmarks appear inside Neatlink too. Safari joins through the Neatlink Mac app.

Set it up

1. Add Neatlink to Chrome in both profiles. Chrome warns that it can read and change data on all websites. Neatlink uses that access to fetch the icons of sites you bookmark and to spot Neatlink share links, and it reads and writes its own settings on neatlink.app. The security page lists every permission and what it is for.
2. In each profile, turn on Google Drive Sync on the welcome page that opens after installing, and continue to Google's sign-in. To find the switch later, click the Settings button at the top of Neatlink's popup to open the options page, then click Settings there.
3. Sign in with the same Google account in both profiles. It can be a different account from the one Chrome is signed in to. On Google's sign-in screen, check that it is the same account in both profiles.

After the next sync, the other profile's bookmarks appear as a read-only folder with a cloud icon, in Neatlink's popup, side panel and options page. Neatlink names it after the operating system and browser, such as Mac - Chrome. This profile's own bookmarks have no cloud icon and are labelled This Browser - Mac Chrome in the options page, and Mac Chrome in the popup.

To bring a folder into this profile's own bookmarks:

1. In Neatlink's options page, open the other profile's cloud folder and click Info on the folder you want.
2. Open Copy to Local.
3. Under Where to?, choose a folder in this profile.
4. Click Copy Folder.

The copy becomes ordinary Chrome bookmarks, on the bookmarks bar or wherever you put it. It is a one-time copy that you can edit freely, and the original stays as it is in the other profile. The copy then syncs with this profile's bookmarks, so the other profile sees it inside this profile's folder. If Chrome sync is on in this profile, the copy also goes to its Google account, which for a work profile is usually your employer's.

Copy to Local works on whole folders, subfolders included. To bring one bookmark across, copy the folder it is in. Copying the same folder twice gives you two copies.

Why Google Drive?

Neatlink needs a Google account, since Google Drive is its storage for now. Each profile can browse all of the other's bookmarks, and the backups in your Drive list both. If your employer manages the work profile, it may block extensions there, or sign-in with a Google account outside the company. If its rules keep work bookmarks out of personal storage, use the one-time HTML copy from the personal profile into the work one instead.

Add Neatlink to Chrome in each profile. It is free, and there is no Neatlink account to create.

What other extensions connect two profiles?

Floccus and BookmarkHub take a different approach. In their usual two-way setup, they merge what they sync from both profiles into one shared set of bookmarks. That suits you if you want both profiles to show identical bookmarks, or need storage other than Google Drive (checked October 18, 2026):

• Floccus is free and syncs through a Nextcloud, Linkwarden, KaraKeep, Git or WebDAV server, or through Google Drive or Dropbox. It can sync a single folder, such as one shared project folder.
• BookmarkHub stores bookmarks in GitHub, a Gist, Gitee, GitLab, WebDAV, Google Drive, OneDrive or S3-compatible storage. Its free plan syncs when you start a sync yourself, and automatic sync comes with Pro, at $3.99 a month or less paid yearly, or with a one-time $59.99 Lifetime plan (pricing).

Which should you use?

For more tools side by side, see our comparison page.

Does this work with Edge, Brave and Firefox profiles?

Yes. Each profile in these browsers has its own extensions, so Neatlink goes into each profile, connected to the same Google Drive. It is on Edge Add-ons, the Chrome Web Store for Brave, and Firefox Add-ons. The HTML export and import exist in these browsers too, under their own menus.

For two different browsers, see how to sync bookmarks between Safari and Chrome.

Why don't Safari and Chrome sync?

Chrome syncs to Chrome through your Google account, and Safari syncs to Safari through iCloud. On a Mac, neither carries the other's bookmarks. Safari also gives extensions no access to bookmarks, because its extension system has no bookmarks API (MDN compatibility data). Syncing Safari therefore needs a Mac app, which is how Neatlink does it.

How do I keep Safari and Chrome in sync for free?

Install Neatlink's Mac app for Safari and its extension in Chrome, then connect both to the same Google Drive.

What you get

• Free, automatic sync. Changes travel about once a minute, with nothing to click.
• More than two browsers, and more than one computer. The same extension works in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi, as well as any other Chromium browser on macOS, Windows, and Linux.
• No Neatlink account. You sign in with Google, and your bookmarks live in your own Google Drive. No extra sign up, and Neatlink runs no storage for your synced bookmarks.
• Encrypted on your device. Bookmarks are encrypted with AES-GCM-256 before they are uploaded. The security page lists what is stored where.
• Neatlink keeps bookmarks organized by which browser they came from. It also allows copying other browsers' bookmark trees to the one you're working in.
• Every bookmark one keystroke away. On the Mac, press Control-Y to search the bookmarks from all your browsers in the menu-bar app.
• Universal backups. Backups go to a Neatlink Backups folder in your Google Drive as plain HTML, so any browser can import them.

Set it up

1. Download the Neatlink Mac app, drag it to Applications and open it - the menu bar item will appear.
2. Click it, and if prompted, allow Full Disk Access to let it read Safari bookmarks.
3. Add Neatlink to Chrome from the Chrome Web Store.
4. In each browser, open Neatlink's Settings and turn on Google Drive Sync, with the same Google account in both.

After the next sync, Chrome's bookmarks appear inside the Neatlink menu bar app on the Mac, as well as in the Safari extension, and vice versa - Safari bookmarks will show up in Neatlink for Chrome.

To copy a folder into Safari or Chrome, open it in Neatlink's options page, click Info, and use "Copy to Local". It copies once, and any folder (with all of its subfolders and bookmarks) becomes available locally on the browser you copied it to.

How do I sync Safari on a Mac with Chrome on a Windows or Linux PC?

On desktop computers, Neatlink is OS and browser-agnostic. Set up the Mac app on the Mac as above, then add Neatlink to Chrome on the PC and turn on Google Drive Sync with the same Google account. The PC's bookmarks then appear in Neatlink on the Mac, and the Mac's Safari bookmarks appear in Neatlink in Chrome on the PC.

How do I copy bookmarks between Safari and Chrome once?

If you are switching browsers for good, the one-time import is free and built in.

Chrome to Safari

1. In Safari, choose File > Import From Browser > Google Chrome. Chrome must be installed. In Safari 17, the menu is File > Import From > Google Chrome.
2. Select the items you want, then click Import.

Apple says imported bookmarks appear after your existing ones.

Safari to Chrome

1. In Safari, choose File > Export Browsing Data to File, select Bookmarks, click Download, then Save. Open the .zip file it saves to find Bookmarks.html. In Safari 17, choose File > Export > Bookmarks, which saves the HTML file directly.
2. In Chrome, choose More (⋮) > Bookmarks and lists > Import bookmarks and settings. In the list of sources, choose Bookmarks HTML File, since it may start on another browser. Click Choose file, pick the file, then Open > Done.

If Chrome's bookmarks bar is empty, the imported bookmarks go straight onto it. Otherwise Chrome adds a folder named "Imported" at the end of the bar. Apple warns that the export is not encrypted, so delete it afterwards.

What other Mac apps sync Safari?

A few Mac apps take a different approach and merge the browsers into one set of bookmarks. They write each browser's changes into Safari's own bookmarks, which suits you if you want an identical bookmarks bar everywhere. Neatlink instead doesn't merge the browsers, and writes into Safari only what you ask it to. Each of these apps is paid or sells a subscription (checked October 18, 2026):

• BookMacster ($24.95) and Synkmark ($18.95), from Sheep Systems.
• BrowSync, free for manual sync between two browsers, with automatic sync in Pro at $1.99 a month, $9.99 a year or $17.99 once.
• One Bookmark 2, at $19.99 a month, $29.99 a year or $39.99 for a lifetime licence.
• UniSync, which syncs through its own cloud and account, at $2.99 a month or $24.99 a year for Safari.

Does this work with Firefox or Edge?

Yes. Neatlink's extension works in Firefox and Edge the same way as in Chrome, alongside the Mac app for Safari.

For a one-time move, Safari imports from Firefox directly with File > Import From Browser > Firefox. Edge's bookmarks need an exported HTML file: in Edge, go to edge://favorites, click More options (…) and choose Export favorites. Open the file in Safari with File > Import Browsing Data from File or Folder.

What about iPhone and iPad?

With Safari turned on in iCloud, Safari's own bookmarks sync between your Mac, iPhone and iPad (Apple). Chrome on an iPhone gets Chrome's bookmarks through Chrome's own sync.

Standalone iOS and Android apps for Neatlink are on the roadmap.

Why does Neatlink need Full Disk Access?

Safari keeps its bookmarks in a file in your Library folder that macOS shields from other apps by default. Full Disk Access, in System Settings > Privacy & Security, lets the Neatlink Mac app read and write that file. BookMacster and Synkmark ask for the same permission, and so do Chrome, Edge, Brave and Firefox when they import from Safari directly. Switching it off for Neatlink stops Safari sync.

For two Chrome profiles, see how to copy bookmarks between Chrome profiles, and more sync tools are set side by side on our comparison page.