How to organize your Chrome bookmarks

Start with a simple plan

Bookmarks pile up because saving one takes a second while sorting it never happens. Before you move anything, decide on a structure that you can keep up with:

• Bookmarks bar: only the 5 to 15 sites you open every day.
• A handful of top-level folders by area of life, such as Work, Finance, Shopping, Learning and Travel. Five to eight folders are easier to scan than twenty.
• An “Inbox” or “To read” folder for things you save in a hurry, which you empty once a week.

Keep folders no more than two or three levels deep. If you have to open four folders to reach a site, you'll stop using it.

Open the bookmark manager

Chrome's bookmark manager is the fastest place to reorganize, because it shows every folder at once.

• Press Ctrl + Shift + O on Windows or Chromebook, or ⌘ + Option + B on a Mac.
• Or click ⋮ → Bookmarks and lists → Bookmark manager.

In the manager you can:

• Create folders with the ⋮ menu at the top right → Add new folder.
• Select several bookmarks with Ctrl or Shift (⌘ on a Mac) and drag them into a folder in one go.
• Sort a folder alphabetically with Sort by name in the same menu.
• Use the search box at the top to find every bookmark from one site, for example by typing its domain.

Make the bookmarks bar work for you

Show or hide the bookmarks bar with Ctrl + Shift + B (⌘ + Shift + B on a Mac). A few tricks fit far more on it:

• Shorten names: right-click a bookmark → Edit and rename “Inbox (1,204) – Mail” to just “Mail”.
• Icons only: clear the name completely and only the site icon is shown.
• Folders on the bar: a “Daily” or “Tools” folder on the bar works like a drop-down menu.
• Order by habit: drag the sites you open most to the left.

Remove duplicates and dead links

Chrome doesn't have a built-in duplicate finder, but a quick manual pass goes a long way:

1. Back up first: in the bookmark manager, choose ⋮ → Export bookmarks to save an HTML file. If you delete too much, you can import it again.
2. Sort by name in each folder so duplicates sit next to each other, then delete the extras.
3. Search by domain for sites you've saved many times and keep only the page you really return to.
4. Check old bookmarks: open links you haven't used in a year. Delete the ones that show errors or no longer matter.

Ten minutes once a month keeps the list under control much better than one big cleanup a year.

Habits that keep bookmarks tidy

• When you save a bookmark with Ctrl + D (⌘ + D), choose the folder right away instead of leaving it in the default one.
• Use consistent names: start with the service name (“Bank – Savings”, “Bank – Card”) so related sites sort together.
• Don't bookmark what you can search for in a second. Keep bookmarks for pages that are hard to find again.
• Turn on sync with your browser account so your organized list isn't lost if your computer breaks.

Keep favorites on a start page with WebDeck

Once your bookmarks are in shape, you can bring them into WebDeck and use them from any browser and device:

1. Export your bookmarks from Chrome as an HTML file (see above).
2. Sign in to WebDeck and open Settings → Import browser bookmarks. Your folders come in as they are, and folders with the same name are merged. Files from Edge, Safari and Firefox work too.
3. Open the bookmark bar from the tab on the edge of the screen. You can keep up to 1,000 bookmarks and folders, nested up to 5 levels, and reorder them by dragging.

For the handful of sites you use every day, add them as shortcuts on the WebDeck start page instead. Shortcuts are big, easy-to-tap tiles that you can sort into groups and find by name. The Help page explains every option.