Default Folder Missing in Chrome? How to Fix?

Where is the default folder in Chrome?

“The default folder is missing containing all my bookmarks after a Chrome update. I have lost all my bookmarks and hoping there is a way to get them back.”

Chrome saves your browser settings, bookmarks, extensions, apps, and saved passwords in your profile. Your profile is saved in a separate folder on your computer. If Chrome has some problems, your profile data can be intact. So where are Google Chrome bookmarks saved? 

If you have any problems with Chrome, creating a new profile can solve them. Alternatively, you can locate the default folder in Chrome to find your files. The default location varies by the operating system.

Usually, the default path is %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data on Windows computers. For macOS, the default location is ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome.

Why is the default folder missing in Chrome?

A new feature has been added to Google Chrome in a recent upgrade that prompts users to keep their local browsing data on this Chrome profile or create a new Chrome profile. When users choose the latter option, their bookmarks and data are deleted.

Therefore, if you find the default folder missing in Chrome or Chrome bookmarks are lost, it is probably because of the Chrome update. Your default folder is not really deleted, and the administrators do not have access to your sensitive data, like Chrome bookmarks, history, or passwords. Accidental deletion can be another main reason for the default folder missing in Chrome.                                                                                                                   

How to find the Chrome profile folder?

After knowing the default folder location from above, it’s easy to find the Chrome profile folder. You can edit the fault folder path with your name. Replace the username with the name of your user folder.

Windows7/8/10/11:

C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default

Mac OS X/El/Capitan:

Users//Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default

Linux:

/home//.config/google-chrome/default

If you want to edit one of your other profiles, you can switch the profiles you want and then enter chrome://version in the search bar, and press Enter to check your profile path. You can copy the path and paste it into Windows File Explorer or Finder on macOS to edit the files in this folder.

How to fix Google Chrome bookmarks disappeared?

Many users may find Google Chrome bookmarks disappeared when they newly update Chrome or Windows OS. If Chrome bookmarks or favorites are not in the default folder in Chrome, you can find effective methods to recover lost bookmarks.

Method 1. Change Google profile

If you choose to create a new profile when updating Chrome, it seems your bookmarks and browsing history are deleted from your computer. If you want to recover Google Chrome bookmarks after that, you can follow the steps below to fix this issue.

Step 1. Click the profile icon in the upper corner of Chrome, and then click the gear icon to open the Profile Picker.

Step 2. You can choose your profile if you want. Or you can delete the newly created profile by clicking the three dots and then clicking Delete.

Step 3. Sign in to your previous Google profile, and your bookmarks & browsing history will be there again.

Method 2. Recover lost Chrome bookmarks directly

The default folder missing in Chrome means the backup of bookmarks is disappeared together. If you still can’t find your Google bookmarks after changing your Google profile, you can try the reliable data recovery software-MyRecover. It is a professional tool to recover deleted, formatted, and lost data from different storage devices on Windows 11/10/8/7.

MyRecover is a powerful file recovery program to restore permanently deleted files easily. Except for Google bookmarks, it can retrieve more than 200 types of files.

✔Recover Microsoft word documents, images, videos, audio, webpages, zip files, etc.

✔Support most of the Windows operating systems, Windows 7/8/10/11, and Windows Server.

✔Perform permanent deletion recovery, disk formatting recovery, emptied Recycle Bin recovery, etc.

✔Keep the original format, filename, and path of the recovered files.

Download this freeware to recover lost Chrome bookmarks.

Step 1. Hover the mouse over the partition where the default folder locates and click Scan.

Step 2. The program will scan the partition quickly and deeply. You don’t need to wait for the scanning process to finish if you find the files you want.

Step 3. You can check the scanning list to find lost Chrome bookmarks, or you could use the Filter and Search functions to find deleted or lost files quickly.

FAQ about Chrome recovery

Why did all my bookmarks disappear on Chrome Mac?

Usually, it is because of accidental deletion in Finder. Bookmarks.bak is the backup file of Chrome. If you delete or remove Bookmarks.bak from the default folder, all of your Google bookmarks will disappear.

How do I set a default profile in Chrome?

You can follow the steps below to set the default profile in Chrome. Open your Google Chrome and go to Google.com. In the top-right corner of the screen, click the profile icon. Then, choose “Sigh out of all accounts” and set a default account.

Why did my Chrome settings disappear?

If you encounter this problem, it means your Chrome may have some problems. To fix them, you can uninstall Chrome and then download Chrome and reinstall it from Google.com/chrome.

Conclusion

Hopefully, you can solve the “default folder missing in Chrome” from the methods above. If you can’t find Chrome bookmarks in the default folder, you can restore lost bookmarks via MyRecover. Of course, the best way to avoid data loss is a regular backup. It’s recommended to use freeware-AOMEI Backupper to copy important files.