What happened to Google Bookmarks
Google Bookmarks was a separate, browser-independent bookmarking service — not the same thing as the bookmarks bar in Chrome. Google shut it down on September 30, 2021, after Chrome's built-in sync made a standalone bookmarking service redundant.
Google Bookmarks vs. Chrome bookmarks
These were two different products that shared a confusing amount of branding. Google Bookmarks was a web page at google.com/bookmarks where you saved links from any browser, signed into any Google account. Chrome bookmarks are the star icon and bookmarks bar built into the browser itself, synced through your Google account but stored and managed entirely differently.
- Google Bookmarks: a standalone site, browser-independent, discontinued in 2021
- Chrome bookmarks: built into the browser, still active, synced via your Google account
- If you're looking for saved links today, you almost certainly want Chrome's bookmarks, not the old service
If you had a Google Bookmarks account
The export window closed with the shutdown, so there's no official way to recover an old Google Bookmarks library today. If you exported a copy before September 2021, it's a bookmarks.html file, which imports into Chrome, Firefox, Safari or a dedicated manager the same as any other bookmark export.
What replaced it
Chrome's own bookmark sync — signed into your Google account, your bookmarks follow you across every device automatically. It's simpler than the old two-system setup, but it's still just a flat bar with title-only search once your library grows past a few dozen links.
Getting real search and structure back
Linkbry picks up where Chrome sync's flat list runs out: nested folders, multiple tags per link, full-text search across URLs, titles and your own notes, and a Chrome extension for one-click saving. Bulk import brings your current Chrome bookmarks across with their folder structure intact.
Frequently asked questions
No. Google Bookmarks was a separate, standalone service at google.com/bookmarks, discontinued in September 2021. Chrome bookmarks are the browser's built-in bookmarking feature, and they're still active today.
Not through Google — the service and its export tool are both gone. If you exported your bookmarks as an HTML file before the shutdown, that file still works and can be imported into any browser or bookmark manager.
Google said the feature had been superseded by Chrome's built-in bookmark sync, which covers the same job — saving and syncing links across devices — without a separate service.
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