Chromium Blog: Bookmarks Here, Bookmarks There, Bookmarks Everywhere

Bookmarks Here, Bookmarks There, Bookmarks Everywhere

Monday, August 17, 2009

As of today's dev channel build, we're adding a brand new feature to Google Chrome: bookmark sync. Many users have several machines, one at home and one at work for example. This new feature makes it easy to keep the same set of bookmarks on all your machines, and stores them alongside your Google Docs for easy web access.

To activate this feature, launch Google Chrome with the --enable-sync command-line flag. Once you set up sync from the Tools menu, Chrome will then upload and store your bookmarks in your Google Account. Anytime you add or change a bookmark, your changes will be sent to the cloud and immediately broadcast to all other computers for which you've activated bookmark sync (using the same XMPP technology as Google Talk).

For more information on this, please see this email to chromium-dev.

Happy syncing!

Posted by Tim Steele, Software Engineer

177 comments:

zy said...: wonderful features！; August 17, 2009 6:06 PM
Kor¥ Blinn said...: So where does this leave the old "Google bookmarks" that are already saved to the web?; August 17, 2009 6:16 PM
Jim Cummins said...: Freaking awesome. This is the feature that kept me from migrating completely to Chrome. Consider me sold.; August 17, 2009 6:30 PM
Steve said...: I have used the Google Toolbar for bookmarks for a significantly long time now. It allows me access to my bookmarks across multiple browsers and also without the toolbar by using the website.

Why create yet another bookmark service? Would it not be useful to integrate with the existing Google Bookmarks application and share with the Toolbar?; August 17, 2009 6:31 PM
Jim Cummins said...: Steve I think the idea is that if you have Chrome, you have your bookmarks, no need to download or extend it in any way.

Also, I've found that bookmarking via the website is annoying and time consuming.

I'm assuming the new bookmarks will be merged into your existing bookmarks at some point. I see for the moment they are not, probably since it is still in dev.; August 17, 2009 6:36 PM
Steve said...: @Jim, yes, bookmarking via the Google Bookmarks website is annoying. However, they are also what power the bookmarks feature of the Google Toolbar. Thus, any browser which uses the Google Toolbar has immediate access to the bookmarks from the toolbar rather than requiring the website. And if you don't have the toolbar, you can still access them via the Google Bookmarks website. They are sync'd to any Google Toolbar you login to with your Google account and easily managed.

So the bookmarking and sychronising infrastructure is already in place. Why not use this existing infrastruction to sync Chrome to the Google Bookmarks service rather than create yet another service. My own "My Account" page is considerably full of the services I already use. Why add another that is effectively duplicating the feature set of an existing service?; August 17, 2009 6:42 PM
Aaron said...: @steve While there might be some technical or legal reason that you'll never know of, but I'd put my money on internal politics. Google is a very large company full of alpha nerds.; August 17, 2009 7:17 PM
_L said...: I agree that this should somehow integrate with the existing Google Bookmarks functionality. It's nice to look at my web history and see what websites I clicked through to, and then further more, what I bookmarked.

Also, sometimes my browser crashes or I accidentally close it, but I can at least quickly go to Google Web History and just star the page I want to save in my bookmarks.

It's just a more informative solution if it's integrated with the Web History. If the standard Chrome bookmarks would include such integration AND an import utility I'd be sold.; August 17, 2009 7:27 PM
The Human Resource said...: How do I enable this and extensions at the same time?; August 17, 2009 7:43 PM
Andrew Charlton said...: This is a much more efficient implementation than the old Google Bookmarks. Being built on XMPP means it's "push" so they won't have millions of browsers constantly polling for updates.

Less polling on the internet is a good thing (See PubSubHubbub), as it's all just wasted bandwidth.; August 17, 2009 7:46 PM
Dwight (Monty) Stegall said...: I don't see this as a good thing. What happenes when the server is down? I realize Google probably has about the best uptime in the world. But even it goes down occsasionally. What about hackers snooping into your account?

I export my bookmarks regularly on a Flash drive. When I need to move to another computer I open a portable version of Chrome with these bookmarks installed.

This way I ALWAYS have access to them and no one can snoop. I have no bookmarks I couldn't show to my mother. But what if I did?

I have total control of my bookmarks and Google has no clue what they are.; August 17, 2009 7:58 PM
Christopher said...: The Google Toolbar for Firefox and IE got me hooked on Google Bookmarks. In fact, the main thing I do not like about Chrome is that it does not have a button to access my Google Bookmarks.

I have worked around this by adding the Google Bookmark gadget to my iGoogle page but this is a poor workaround and its the reason several people I know won't try Chrome.

Google Bookmarks already supports several browsers so you need to integrate it somehow in Chrome. Please add this capability.
Thank you.; August 17, 2009 8:09 PM
Tim said...: @Kor¥ Blinn - They're still in the same place :) You can import them to Google Chrome by selecting 'Import bookmarks and settings' from the wrench menu, and then 'Google Toolbar' from the dropdown.

@The Human Resource - You can specify multiple command line flags to enable both features. --enable-sync for sync, and --enable-extensions (from http://dev.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/extensions/howto); August 17, 2009 8:27 PM
alaskareport said...: The bookmarks now are located in Google Notebook (which is supposed to be phased out down the road?)

How do we sync the old with the new over at Google Docs?; August 17, 2009 8:36 PM
Sean said...: I think that the sync is working quite well. I am a bit surprised that there is still no sign of a tagging feature in Chrome. Looks like simple folders are here to stay. More so than integration with the existing gBookmarks I would like the option to tag bookmarks.; August 17, 2009 9:16 PM
Zak said...: This is amazing. I've been waiting for a while on this, and finally here it is. HELLZ YEAH; August 17, 2009 9:32 PM
seo said...: I agree that this should somehow integrate with the existing Google Bookmarks functionality. It's nice to look at my web history.http://www.szxdpospaper.com; August 17, 2009 10:28 PM
droopanu said...: from the google forum by Tim Steele:
"
The doc says:
> - Provide a web interface to access stored / synced bookmarks, likely
> via the docs.google.com doclist.
> What about google.com/bookmarks? Shouldn't be difficult -- toolbar syncs
> to there currently.

It's more difficult than you'd think. Chrome's different data model, among
other things, make it a lot like the "square peg in a round hole" problem.
But it's something we're looking into. For the first release, we've just
focused on getting sync to work between Chrome instances.
"; August 17, 2009 10:46 PM
Erik said...: Will this feature also work on Chromium?; August 17, 2009 10:49 PM
Eugene van der Merwe said...: You guys rock!; August 17, 2009 10:55 PM
Ryan said...: I'd love to see this feature implemented in to Android. That way I can take my bookmarks with me on my phone. This seems like a perfect use of the new sync.; August 17, 2009 10:56 PM
Mike Sheridan said...: how is this and extensions both enabled? doesn't make sense to me.; August 17, 2009 10:57 PM
Olaf Lederer said...: yes right there is not need for a bookmark sync feature. Just use the web based google bookmark list. I hate all this offline bookmarks; August 17, 2009 11:07 PM
Lucleonhart said...: Hey there. Nice to see a bookmark sync feature, but i will wait for an xmarks plugin for chrome, cause i wanna sync with my Firefox Bookmarks, too.

But there is a bug, too. The settings window is a bit messy cause not all options fit in the window anymore. (In the german version!); August 17, 2009 11:10 PM
HyperV said...: Sheesh, it's just released, and everyone moaning it doesn't do thisor that already? Let it mature some, I bet the devs know what they're doing...; August 17, 2009 11:27 PM
sanjay said...: i observed a very interesting thing with Bookmarks Sync. When you initiate the synchronization, all your bookmarks appear in History tab as if i have accessed all these websites. I am not sure if it is a known issue but bookmarks should appear in browser history.; August 17, 2009 11:28 PM
sanjay said...: i have reported it in Issue 19576 (http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=19576); August 17, 2009 11:32 PM
Martin Dolphin said...: Does anyone know if it's possible to enable browser sync on OSX? Adding command line switches is fairly obvious on Windows, but not sure how on OSX; August 17, 2009 11:50 PM
Salis said...: Martin: It would be the following terminal command for OS X:

open -a Google\ Chrome --args --enable-sync

Alas, it didn't make any change to the Mac Chromium Dev build.; August 18, 2009 12:14 AM
James Wheeler said...: Why doesn't Chrome just tap into Google's existing bookmarks feature? I have the bookmarks widget on my iGoogle page.

Rather than reinvent the wheel couldn't Chrome just fetch your bookmarks from that?; August 18, 2009 1:21 AM
Jim said...: This post has been removed by the author.; August 18, 2009 2:07 AM
Jim said...: Tutorial Chrome bookmark; August 18, 2009 2:09 AM
THE 1 LEGACY said...: I am using it and find it great. I hope they can integrate anti-virus in stealth mode. I love the surfing experience as a total package.

http://the1legacy.blogspot.com/; August 18, 2009 2:49 AM
Tomáš said...: This is what I has been waiting for!!! Great job!!!; August 18, 2009 3:04 AM
matobe said...: I use xmarks add-on for firefox.I am waiting for adblock for chrome to migrate completely.; August 18, 2009 3:34 AM
Crowbo said...: Doesn't appear to work with Google Apps? I'm assuming its sync'ed in to my 'standalone' Google account, rather than my apps one - like a lot of Google services there doesn't appear to be consistency here.

If it did sync to Google Apps, what would be great would be the ability to share bookmarks throughout the domain (if you were an admin), as well as having your own.; August 18, 2009 4:17 AM
planetf1 said...: The killer feature for me would be integration with google toolbar's bookmarks (for integration with IE, firefox) and also potentially making it easier to aggregate bookmarks from multiple backend sites (ie del.icio.us or intranet as well as google); August 18, 2009 4:34 AM
planetf1 said...: Can we also have a

--enableeverythinganddontaskmetoaddanotherflagagain

option for tech geeks? ;-); August 18, 2009 4:35 AM
Quack of Dawn said...: HOW do I launch Google Chrome with the --enable-sync command-line flag?; August 18, 2009 4:43 AM
gandalf said...: Synchronizing bookmarks between my computers was a total nightmare. This is a much welcome feature. It still misses some of the functionalities that comes with Firefox Weave service though (may be for future releases). Anyway once again thumbs up for Google.; August 18, 2009 4:44 AM
psaijai said...: This is one reason why I still use Opera and not Chrome. Opera can syncronise bookmarks and default page settings with Opera account. When this option can be done with Chrome I'll change browser. It is really usefull when can use bookmarks with every computer and not need install extra tools or something.; August 18, 2009 4:55 AM
Loïc PIEAU said...: tagged bookmarks in the next version please!; August 18, 2009 5:35 AM
Jeroen said...: How would this work on public computers ?

If you remove your bookmarks from the bookmark folder before "stop Synch" you might loose all your bookmarks everywhere.

I think that the use of profiles and Issue 2614 (http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=2614&q=profiles&sort=area%20-modified&colspec=ID%20Stars%20Pri%20Area%20Type%20Status%20Summary%20Modified%20Owner%20Mstone)

becomes now even more actual.; August 18, 2009 5:47 AM
Darryl Drury said...: After syncing across Home, Work and my Laptop, I have duplicate bookmarks and noticed some deadlinks and others that I no longer need, So I thought I'll delete them in my Google Docs folder, then empty my Booksmarks in Chrome, the re-sync.
Oh, Err... How do I delete bookmarks in Google Docs?

=|)arryl=; August 18, 2009 6:10 AM
G FoRcE said...: where is "--enable-sync command-line flag. "; August 18, 2009 7:54 AM
Avinash Agrawal said...: Looks good. On XP, one has to do Start->Run-> "Chrome --args --enable-sync". Would have been good if someone had clarified that to save time; August 18, 2009 8:45 AM
Dan Atkinson said...: Is there the possibility of profiling bookmarks (Home/Work/Global)? There are at least two instances where syncing may be 'inconvenient'.

First would be my circumstance where I have a lot of work-based IP addresses as bookmarks, that can't be accessed outside my work network.

Then there is the instance where you have bookmarks on your home machine (porn, for those who wonder!) that you really don't want on your work machine.

The first example is just an inconvenience, but I would imagine that the second could possibly be a problem from an employers POV.; August 18, 2009 8:48 AM
Dan Atkinson said...: @G FoRcE: Right click on your Chrome shortcut. In the 'Target' textbox, add --enable-sync after the quotes end.; August 18, 2009 8:50 AM
Rob Atticus said...: The reason they are "reinventing the wheel" is because bookmarks is likely only the first thing being synchronized. Later on they probably plan to sync other settings and features (perhaps extensions?) across all your chrome instances so they need a different infrastructure than the original Google Bookmarks. I'm going to guess they plan to have this new infrastructure sync with Google Bookmarks, and vice versa, eventually as well.; August 18, 2009 8:52 AM
Crowbo said...: @Dan Atkinson - agreed, having different sets of profiles would be useful, but thinking about it would you not 'sign-in to Chrome' with a different profile ID, e.g. for work profile sign in with dan@work.com, and for home sign in with dan@home.com - if we could 'share' bookmarks with other users, that would give you a way of managing 'common' bookmarks between the profiles.; August 18, 2009 8:55 AM
Dan Atkinson said...: @Crowbo I don't want to get bogged down with multiple accounts. I'd rather tag them with something that keeps them unique to my office.; August 18, 2009 9:00 AM
G FoRcE said...: @Dan Atkinson - thanks for your help! I already do that, but i see no changes on google docs site...; August 18, 2009 9:01 AM
Crowbo said...: @Dan Atkinson - so taking that further, Single Sign On, that allows you to tag a 'profile' to a bookmark. Let's extend that to allow you to associate the profile with an IP (so it is selected by default when you sign in from a specific location)...? The profiles could also work with more than just your bookmarks - you could have a theme for a profile, the new tab shortcuts could be associated with it as well. Anything else (and that's a genuine request, rather than being facetious)?; August 18, 2009 9:21 AM
kael said...: This is a nice feature.

Wondering, is the XMPP sync used with a Pubsub server ?

Do you plan to release a XEP to document the XMPP extension ?

Also, is there any tool to use ProtoBuff with XPCOM so that it can be used in a Firefox extension ?; August 18, 2009 9:26 AM
Sunil Khatri said...: @ Dan At - HELP
All right guys
I have d/w dev version 4 of chrome. I am not able to enable sync by adding in target box or running it from start>run..

Please HELP; August 18, 2009 10:01 AM
Daniel said...: There used to be profiles in Chrome. How come they removed it?; August 18, 2009 10:52 AM
Znuff said...: @Dwight (Monty) Stegall: No offence but your mother should have her own user account on that computer, and on Google, if you're so concerned about pricavy.

@Andrew Charlton: So why not just "upgrade" Google Bookmarks to support the same protocol (XMPP) in paralel with the "old" protocol that is used by the google toolbar so *other* browsers can access the same bookmarks?

--enableeverythinganddontaskmetoaddanotherflagagain

I'd also love that. I don't always start my browser using my favourite shortcut, I sometimes click a link from somewhere and I find my browsing experience be rather strange because I don't have extensions and userscripts enabled o.O

And I'd also love tags ^^; August 18, 2009 11:20 AM
a said...: hi guys can you explain to me how activate this feature i am not experienced and did not see any where on the chrome wrench the --enable-sync
thanks; August 18, 2009 11:48 AM
Znuff said...: You right click on the Google Chrome icon, go to Properties where you'll find something like:

"C:\Users\your username\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe"

or something very similar (if you're using XP) and then just add:

"--enable-sync"

After the .exe (without the quotes) so it looks like

"bla bla bla\chrome.exe" --enable-sync; August 18, 2009 12:07 PM
jeden-z-wielu said...: People are not sure whether they should trust google - you are gathering too many informations. If the bookmarks are to be saved online then you should probably think about some optional encryption... And you already know what people are looking on the internet so there is no profit for Chromium in keeping the bookmarks.; August 18, 2009 1:46 PM
triviasquad said...: なぜGoogle ブックマークを介在させないんでしょうか。; August 18, 2009 3:26 PM
Mustafa said...: How about passwords, cookies, something else?; August 18, 2009 4:46 PM
G.Y Fei said...: A great feature I was expecting...The miss of this feature also stopped me using chrome months ago. It seems it's the time to pick it up! Thanks guys!; August 18, 2009 5:06 PM
Du said...: Grreeaaaatttt!!! Yeah! Now Chrome is my default browser!!!; August 18, 2009 5:17 PM
Cliff Hammer said...: How secure is having all of our bookmarks on someone else's computer (server)?; August 18, 2009 8:05 PM
BlackWingCat said...: I installed Windows 2000. :)
I try to do benchmark some browsers.
It's fastest browser.

I installed chrome 4.0 in windows 2000; August 18, 2009 8:55 PM
Madis said...: It would be great, if Opera Link would make it's server public (if not already) and I could set that server in Chrome. Then I could have same bookmarks in both browsers everywhere.

Anyway, this article shows once again who really has the original ideas and guts to push these to public as the first one. OPERA.

Point is, copying good features is always a good idea.; August 19, 2009 12:47 AM
Dan Atkinson said...: @Madis, The Opera Link with bookmark sync was released at the end of Q3 2007. Before that, there was the now-defunct Google Browser Sync, and FoxMarks (now XMarks).

If anyone 'copied' it would be Opera! :); August 19, 2009 1:29 AM
FreeMachines said...: This is the only feature I miss leaving firefox.
GREAT!; August 19, 2009 1:59 AM
Jeroen said...: What about on a shared or public computer (Internet Café) with one single profile ?

User A :
-Imports his Google bookmarks (Google toolbar)
-Add / Removes some Bookmarks
-Syncs to Google docs
-And logs out (stop syncing)

Then User B Arrives :

- Imports his Google Bookmarks

These bookmarks are then local in Chrome added to the Bookmarks of User A isn't it ?

- Add some bookmarks

- Syncs with his Google Doc account

Then User B has the bookmarks of User A and User B sync-ed to his Google Doc account isn't it ?

Shouldn't there be an extra option, that after disconnecting for syncing (in the wrench menu) that the local imported bookmarks will dissapear ?

Something as mail messages do when connecting via IMAP to a mail server ?

What are your thoughts ?; August 19, 2009 2:59 AM
m said...: Please, please, please add bookmark sidebar to Chrome. It is the only feature that keeps me with Firefox.; August 19, 2009 6:37 AM
Bruce said...: Two issues:
1) How do I merge my Google Bookmarks into the sync'd bookmarks?
2) How do I get it to store my new sync'd bookmarks in my google apps account?

Help!?; August 19, 2009 7:05 AM
Otto said...: Oh FFS, Google...

I don't want synced bookmarks. I want to use my Google Bookmarks. I've been using them in the Google Toolbar for bloody ages now, they're already "synced" across all my machines.

Just give me a friggin' dropdown to let me access them. That's all I need. Chrome is bloody useless without that functionality.; August 19, 2009 1:06 PM
GB said...: I agree completely, please add the google toolbar to Chrome and i am a user for life.; August 20, 2009 4:27 AM
Matt said...: I can't say that I use Google Bookmarks much at all, but at least a Google Toolbar port for Chromium would be useful.; August 20, 2009 9:07 AM
Frank said...: i think the googleReader usage has obviated bookmark usage (ofcourse this goes for any other ReaderRig being used)

ciao; August 20, 2009 9:53 AM
Audiofeeline said...: A great new feature!; August 20, 2009 8:54 PM
Net said...: Nice, worth to try. B U T it's Google clouds based ! What with ppls who want use his own server (home) or companies which do not allow anything to be shared with other companies ? Should be more open, not tied to any central company... And real roaming is still missing... browser settings, mail accounts, ... Netscape 4 in '90 had it. Aren't we in XXI century ???; August 21, 2009 10:14 PM
JooHwee said...: bookmarks can be found in:
Google Docs -> My folders -> Google Chrome; August 22, 2009 12:37 AM
Shiroi Hane said...: Seems to be a bit temperamental where subfolders are concerned? Mine aren't showing in Google Docs. Except just now when one did appear but danced up and down the list then disappeared again.
Oh, and now I have another subfolder showing but with most of the contents missing.
It says it is "synced" on the new tab page.; August 22, 2009 8:36 AM
Pedro Lopes said...: Is syncing available worldwide, it´s not working for me, are you deploying it to limited markets first?; August 22, 2009 3:11 PM
kenl said...: This post has been removed by the author.; August 24, 2009 3:53 PM
kenl said...: ok for those of you who cant get it to work, you will need the dev version 4 and upwards, if you have downloaded yours via chromium those nightly built will not work even though the features is showing.

download the dev version from http://dev.chromium.org/getting-involved/dev-channel; August 25, 2009 10:12 PM
KindOfNuDo said...: all we need now are TAGS for bookmarks; August 25, 2009 11:41 PM
Aziz said...: I also miss Google Bookmarks on Chrome! I keep having to change browser just to use the Google toolbar on IE or firefox...; August 27, 2009 3:34 AM
Bosko Ivanisevic said...: I really like Chrome but I, as many others, do not need synchronizing bookmarks. Instead easy access to existing Google Bookmarks would be awesome.

I'm using Google Bookmarks through Google Toolbar for a long time and that was one of the best features on Google.

Just give us access to existing Google Bookmarks like it is in Google Toolbar.; August 28, 2009 12:48 AM
Sisyphus said...: Please, please, please...

Right-click menu... View Selection Source...

Web developers can't use Chrome without it!

Thanks; August 28, 2009 10:44 AM
william said...: ITSolusenz departments manage all components web application, software development including, Application Development Company, software development company india, Software Development Services.; August 30, 2009 9:38 PM
Damon said...: I'm very disappointed to see that developer time was spent on this approach. I've been a huge Chrome fan from day one and I've expected for a long time that Google bookmarks support, the one missing feature, was just around the corner. It looks to me like not invented here syndrome has sprung up between the Google Bookmarks team and the Google Chrome team. Whats with that?; August 31, 2009 5:06 PM
Petr Buben said...: Have Bookmarks integrated as a social bookmarking - microblog - blog - email posting.
Open a Bookmark dialog box with checkboxes as options to post to GReader, Google Bookmarks, Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr, Live, and or other social bookmarks/aggregators ...... Orkut, mySpace. sharethis, adthis, addtoany.

Multiple accounts support preferable. /ie Twitter/

Integrate better Google Bookmarks, Chrome Bookmarks, GReader ... are not, or should not, the first 2 be actually the same?

thanks
http://friendfeed.com/petrbuben - http://friendfeed.com/google24 - http://friendfeed.com/chrome24

ps
I'd like this suggestion to be able to post to my Friendfeed, etc .. etc .... Google Reader ... :]; September 1, 2009 11:01 AM
Pat said...: why sync to google docs? What happened to google bookmarks?; September 2, 2009 2:49 AM
omattos said...: bookmark sync is good, but when can I sync the whole browser?

I'd like to sync history, cookies, saved passwords, recently closed tabs, etc.

Effectively, when I close a tab on my laptop, I'd like to be able to re-open that exact tab, with all it's history and form fields already filled as they were before on my desktop PC.; September 2, 2009 10:45 AM
varun said...: What is SMO and how we are use it.We want to know what is the tricks.; September 3, 2009 1:45 AM
Ben said...: linux chromium doesn't get this? =(; September 3, 2009 6:23 AM
Leakysandwich said...: AWESOME! :)
i've been waiting for this for some time.
I always used firefox with the Xmarks addon to sync my bookmarks on all my locations.
The other feature that was missing was to "undo close tab".
Since that and the bookmark sync, im now sold on Chrome!
Great job!; September 4, 2009 8:05 AM
mecenassampaio said...: When Chromium for linux will have this?; September 6, 2009 7:12 AM
Carlos A said...: i'm sorry but i still don't see this. i have both Chromium & Chrome & used "--enable-sync" in the command line. i've checked everywhere in the Tools menu. what can i be doing wrong?; September 6, 2009 1:01 PM
luismmontielg said...: I still dont see the option too...
Im using 4.0.207.0 on linux, and --enable-sync..

thanks; September 7, 2009 8:33 AM
Gnana said...: Hi

When I click on the Other bookmarks, it is shuffled and I have no options to have the list sorted which consists of both folders and links. Appreciate the Chrome team could help

Thanks Gnanse; September 9, 2009 12:12 AM
M Henri Day said...: When, o when are we Linux users going to be able to «--enable-sync» ?...

Henri; September 10, 2009 2:22 PM
Shukri said...: I can't figure it out. Where are tools, command line? I'd like to sync, but need help.; September 11, 2009 10:18 AM
Linda Su said...: After download the dev branches, I can't set up the bookmarks sync.

I have checked "chrome.exe" is v.4.0.206.1

Why?; September 11, 2009 8:14 PM
Carlos A said...: are the Dev channel builds with the option to sync the bookmarks only avail in Windows?
could this be why i'm unable to see the sync option in Ubuntu Linux?; September 12, 2009 8:16 AM
Smiley Lauf said...: Hi, Is "--enable-sync" switch only for Google Chrome browser and not for Chromium Browser? Bec I tried it in chromium, the sync bookmark is visible, but when you click it the account window does not open up, like it does in Google Chrome.

Any thoughts on this?? PS: I am using the latest builds of Chromium; September 12, 2009 10:15 PM
Smiley Lauf said...: @ Linda Su and Shukri, I used these instructions (links are on the website) to get it to work [b]http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/08/17/google-chrome-bookmark-sync/ [/b]. Remember you will have to use the dev version of Google Chrome (not beta or stable).; September 12, 2009 10:20 PM
Charlene said...: This post has been removed by the author.; September 19, 2009 7:25 AM
Charlene said...: The only thing that works for me is the Google Toolbar, so I can't use Chrome until that's implemented. I routinely use 4 different computers, and on each I have IE configured for business use and Firefox configured for personal stuff, but on all 4 of my computers I use Google Toolbar in both IE and Firefox (using, of course, my business email for the IE installs and my personal email for the Firefox installs). I've looked at all the workarounds to Google Toolbar for Chrome, and none of them come even close to providing me with the very efficient flexibility I need to set up both business and personal access on 4 different computers. And I can't believe I'm the only Google user out there that has set up this type of usage configuration.; September 19, 2009 7:27 AM
quit smoking said...: http://www.quitsmokinghome.info/how can i quit smoking? it is not easy for me to quit smoking before an operation who can help me?; September 23, 2009 1:53 PM
Martina said...: Hi,
The bookmark feature of the firefox and opera is really nice and easy.I like it also in Google Chrome.There many options provided for bookmarking in the GC.

audiokabel; September 24, 2009 5:00 AM
Trent said...: I prefer GBX - Google Bookmarks Extension for Chrome which does sync with google toolbar bookmarks; October 3, 2009 9:53 AM
kalahari said...: I have found Google Bookmarks to be unsatisfactory. All I'm looking for is the equivalent of Firefox Sidebar for Bookmarks --- a panel with folders that I can navigate the bookmark that I want AND for the panel to stay open on that selection.

I cannot understand why Google Chrome does not have this BASIC functionality?; October 3, 2009 5:20 PM
Pharrisee said...: I'm missing my bookmarks sidebar more than I ever thought I would.

Any chance of getting it back?; October 6, 2009 5:57 AM
kalahari said...: I just tried GBX for bookmarks. Doesn't seem to add anything that Chrome doesn't already have in terms of bookmarks. Still no sidebar!

Chrome is successfully synced to my Google Bookmarks (according to Chrome and my Gmail account). It is also supposedly synching successfully regularly. IT HAS NEVER SYNCHED MY BOOKMARKS! Google Bookmarks has ONE bookmark, that I added manually, while Chrome has hundreds. So that Chrome / Google Bookmarks functionality is not even working!

Google, just give us the bookmark sidebar please! And if it can sync to Google Bookmarks, that would be even better...; October 6, 2009 8:17 AM
ellectu said...: Google Chrome could not sync your bookmarks because it could not connect to the sync server
What's the deal?; October 12, 2009 3:53 AM
Kk said...: Hi. I'm using the beta chrome for mac and i've been desperately trying to find somewhere to report the 5 bugs i've found, i think maybe i'm using an old version because i cannot believe no one else has found these before.

Firstly you cannot have blank bookmarks, useful for the bookmarks bar when the pages have images.

Secondly the bookmarks bar floats weirdly when you use the resizing from the bottom right hand corner.

Thirdly i hit the bookmark button, save it in the folder I want and it seems to work - except that when i try to find the bookmark again i have no luck.

Fourthly I can't open the bookmarks manager.

Lastly I can't use the "Report Bug" feature - an ironic bug to say the least, I click on "Report Bug or Broken Website" and nothing happens.

Please help, I've just switched to mac and so miss chrome!; October 12, 2009 9:32 AM
MRIS said...: This post has been removed by the author.; October 13, 2009 1:06 AM
MRIS said...: Those people having trouble setting up sync, the pop-up window that prompts you for your gmail account and password during setup has buttons at the bottom that are not shown by default because the pop-up window is too small. Making this window bigger will allow you to see and click on the buttons. Click on "Merge and Sync" to make it work. These buttons are there AFTER you have already submitted the username and password.; October 13, 2009 1:09 AM
Lionel said...: Bookmark Sync Error! Google Chrome could not sync your bookmarks because it could not connect to the sync server. Retrying...
Chrome 4.0.206.1; October 19, 2009 2:21 AM
Darryl Drury said...: I'm getting the same Sync Error, I've had to email my bookmarks to myself, to bypass the problem.

I added a new bookmark at home, eg. Wave Inbox:= https://wave.google.com/wave/#minimized:nav,minimized:contact

But it wasn't there at work.
I don't know if the error could because I'm using the Dev Channel at home and the Public Build at work.
Ho Hum!
=|)arryl=; October 19, 2009 3:21 AM
Eric said...: Hey there everyone!

I'm not a developer and very new to this whole open source revolution. From what I am seeing, I really like where Google is taking open source. Anyhow, I have been using Google Chrome for about a year now and just discovered the ChromePlus and Chromium of course. I have got everything where I want it except the Twitter feed IE bookmarks don't work. When I click on it, they just show the code for the page.

Another issue I am having is how do I import my bookmarks from Chrome into Chromium....I don't use Google bookmarks.; October 22, 2009 12:10 PM
Glenn said...: Eric, about importing your bookmarks from Chrome into Chromium...I just opened both Chrome and Chromium and brought up both Bookmark Managers and cut and pasted. Yes it's time consuming but at least I have my bookmarks in Chromium.; October 23, 2009 12:51 AM
stars2man said...: no luck with this?
Hit start>run>
"C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe--enable-sync"

no luck?

"C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe --enable-sync"

still NOT?; October 23, 2009 8:12 AM
Eric said...: Glenn and Stars2Man,

Thank you for helping me out. I actually tried your way first Stars2Man as I want to save doing it the long way unless I absolutely have to. I hit Start>Run and then tried both ways and always got the message (even after trying

....chrome.exe--enable-sync"
and
....chrome.exe --enable-sync"

Still not luck. This is the error message I got everytime:
Windows cannot find .....chrome.exe--enable-sync'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again.

I did actually hit the Browse button rather than type it all in to find the chrome.exe file so I know I did that right. So what do you think?; October 23, 2009 11:36 AM
Eric said...: Not 2 seconds later after the post I just put up, I got it to work! I just took the quotes out and Google Chrome popped up. I went into Chromium and thought it would be under the Sync my Bookmarks and went to the Import Data button on the Under the Hood tab and Chrome was not on the drop down list. Still Internet Explorer and Google Bookmarks. What do I do next?; October 23, 2009 11:41 AM
Farrel said...: I love the feature but alas I am getting preposterous massive duplication of bookmarks (analogous to breeding rabbits). It only seems to be happening to some bookmarks. I cannot find anyone else with this problem. Where do I go to report it or figure out what to do about it?; October 26, 2009 3:23 PM
Xorial said...: I find this totally useless, as I am not a programmer & am totally clueless in what is meant by this fix. Why not just have the Google Toolbar bookmarks integrated into Chrome?; October 30, 2009 8:20 AM
Charlene said...: "Why not just have the Google Toolbar bookmarks integrated into Chrome?"
I agree wholeheartedly.; October 30, 2009 12:00 PM
木山石 said...: what a bad idea ! sync with google docs ! google has google bookmarks too !; November 5, 2009 11:26 AM
Charlene said...: This post has been removed by the author.; November 6, 2009 1:16 PM
Charlene said...: Google has solved the problem with Chrome Beta (ver 4), and without using command line arguments. Chrome Beta has a "sync" function (under "Tools") that uses Google Docs as a base to sync Chrome bookmarks across all your computers running Chrome with the sync function turned on. Just import your Google Toolbar bookmarks into Chrome in the "Other bookmarks" folder on 1 computer; set all other Chrome installations to "sync". Then any change made to "Other bookmarks" on 1 computer is picked up by all other computers. I have this successfully running on 4 computers. This has allowed me to totally switch to Chrome on all computers and I have uninstalled Firefox which I wanted to do because Chrome has superior performance.; November 6, 2009 1:24 PM
paf.goncalves said...: Ok, finally "Sync my bookmarks" appears in the menu of the Linux dev build, but it's disabled ?!?!
Even with --enable-sync option on the command line.
Someone knows how to make it work ?; November 7, 2009 7:14 AM
Jason said...: From the Linux source:

ProfileSyncService* ProfileImpl::GetProfileSyncService() {
#if !defined(OS_POSIX)
if (!CommandLine::ForCurrentProcess()->HasSwitch(switches::kDisableSync)) {
if (!sync_service_.get())
InitSyncService();
return sync_service_.get();
}
#endif
return NULL;
}

So basically, it's disabled on Linux.

Why? What's the deal?; November 9, 2009 2:23 AM
Ian said...: It's been three months now and still nothing for the linux version, what's the problem?; November 13, 2009 11:47 AM
DT said...: as a linux user, I am waiting this option,too. Why is it taking so long for linux?; November 16, 2009 10:48 AM
Firefly said...: This post has been removed by the author.; November 16, 2009 9:37 PM
Firefly said...: It works on Linux after latest update! Just add --enable-sync to shortcut, and menu will be active! :); November 16, 2009 9:41 PM
Clases de Mr. Courel. said...: I like a lot Chrome but I am to get up because I can not integrate my Google bookmarks and other stuff into Chrome. With other browser, i would access them anywhere, anytime. So, I am sorry I have to let it go.; November 18, 2009 12:52 PM
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Mat said...: This is the feature I have been waiting for.

How many computers have I had down the years? How many re-installs? How many browsers have I used? Do you think I can be bothered to keep exporting my bookmarks to a file and re-importing them? Or backing them up regularly? Or using Google Bookmarks (which I have done with Chrome for about a year now) - what a drag.

Bookmark sync is literally the best thing to happen to Chrome. It may seem simple or inconsequential to some people, but it's a massive bonus for people like me who want to be able to keep a permanent, searchable record of sites I find useful.

Brilliant.
Bravo.; November 19, 2009 4:05 PM
Mat said...: @Clases de Mr. Courel

I think you missed the point. Google Bookmark Sync means you now *can* integrate your Google bookmarks into Chrome.

That's the whole point of this blog post!

Go into Google bookmarks, export your bookmarks, then import them to Chrome and sync with your Google account - and see what happens!

You can access these from any browser, still. (Google Docs); November 19, 2009 4:09 PM
Mat said...: ... and all you weirdos asking for "Google Toolbar for Chrome": WHY?!

The whole point of Google Toolbar is to provide an interface with Google services directly from non-Google browsers.

So, what's the point in doing this if they can build the functionality in to Chrome itself?

Which is precisely what Google Bookmark Sync does: it's a way to build bookmarks into the browser AND have them online.; November 19, 2009 4:13 PM
RickRussellTX said...: So I installed Chrome Beta on the promise of bookmark synchronization, only to find -- it can only sync bookmarks with Chrome.

Umm, no. I have to work in many places where installing Chrome is not an option. Google Toolbar works perfectly, and it's ludicrous that the bookmarks in Chrome are not synchronized with it.

Time to uninstall Chrome *again*.; November 20, 2009 3:44 PM
RickRussellTX said...: "Go into Google bookmarks, export your bookmarks, then import them to Chrome and sync with your Google account "

Periodic one-way manual export is not the same as synchronization. I'd prefer to use Chrome at home, but I am proscribed from using it at work. If I can't have the bookmarks synchronized, then it's easier to use Firefox and IE where the bookmarks synchronize perfectly.; November 20, 2009 3:47 PM
Mat said...: @RickRussellTX: Okay, I hear your point. I am sold on Chrome for its speed of use and browsing, and its minimalism of functionality and I don't need to sync bookmarks across different browsers. Being able to sync bookmarks with an online service from within Chrome is therefore a bonus for me.

But regarding sync across different browsers, it's hardly Chrome's fault you can't do that - at least not any more than it it the fault of IE or Firefox, is it?; November 21, 2009 3:31 AM
RickRussellTX said...: "it's hardly Chrome's fault you can't do that"

It's not an issue of "fault". I can't use Chrome as a result.

Google makes Chrome. Google makes Google Toolbar. All I'm saying is the bookmark sync between the two is a prerequisite for me to use Chrome, because many systems I use have security restrictions that prevent the installation of Chrome.

Or, I guess they could fix Google Updater to work across authenticated proxies, which would also address my problem since I'd be able to install Chrome where I need it. But the clean solution is to use a unified back-end for bookmark storage.; November 21, 2009 6:14 AM
spicetrader said...: Why doesn't the ShareThis bookmark work with Chrome? Chrome on my Windows Vista machine seems to loop when I click it. Is there something amiss with the javascript for the bookmark? Seems to work with IE. Here's the javascript I have for the ShareThis bookmark:
------cut here ----javascript:var%20e=document.createElement('script');e.setAttribute('type','text/javascript');e.setAttribute('src','http://wd.sharethis.com/button/toolbar');document.body.appendChild(e);void(0);
-------------------
Is there a way to tweak the javascript so it works?; November 22, 2009 7:59 AM
MrLoya said...: Bookmarks are syncing fine in Chromium 4.0.254.0 (Ubuntu build 32609)...saved in the cloud. :); November 22, 2009 6:50 PM
iron2000 said...: Any chance of a bookmark sidebar soon?; November 24, 2009 9:46 PM
JTGD said...: I SO wish this worked. When it does I can give up Opera.

I have the latest version at work (XP) and at home (Ubuntu). Both say they have synced "just now". I even exited and restarted each.

My "Other Bookmarks" are completely different in the two Chromes, and on the Google Docs page it says Other Bookmarks has NO bookmarks.

This simply does not work for me. Is there a fix?; December 1, 2009 9:47 PM
kaname said...: Recently they enabled Chrome's bookmarks sync in Ubuntu. I tried between computers (both Ubuntu) and worked perfectly.

About using Google Bookmarks, I think they are planning to add that later, as it is stated here:

"While it's currently not possible to automatically sync these two sets of bookmarks ..."

http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=100215

As someone said, they are still testing it and I think they don't want to mess with already existing bookmarks!; December 2, 2009 5:27 PM
Twintterviewer said...: This post has been removed by the author.; December 3, 2009 8:07 AM
Christina said...: Using Ubuntu net book remix. Bookmark sync is not working at all. It works fine on my Windows machine.; December 4, 2009 6:38 AM
Wei Sun Ding said...: I am using the beta V4.0.249.25 on two different XP, it dose not sync and merge my two computer's bookmarks.; December 7, 2009 1:12 AM
Rick said...: How about syncing my G1's bookmarks with my Chrome? I like having my two laptops synced with my Google account, but my G1 is lacking in the love.; December 9, 2009 10:00 AM
Александр said...: Does Chrome store my Gmail password somewhere to do sync? It is suspicious because syncing works even when I'm logged off from Gmail/Docs accounts. If it does store the password it could be a huge security hole because it is so easy to grab that locally stored password.; December 13, 2009 3:50 PM
Bio & Discography said...: So with this feature, it means that there is no really need to download an extension such as Xmarks right? Also can Google Chrome clean up duplicated folders and links in bookmarks? Would be nice to see an extension or a feature integrated in chrome.; December 13, 2009 7:15 PM
Paweł said...: Syncing between machines is irrelevant for me, I just need to access my Google Bookmarks that are already THERE, online! Available cross-platform, hassle free. Why Chrome cannot put this simple functionality of accessing and managing them (as it is done in Google toolbar) is beyond me. And don't make me start on those "workarounds" with bookmarklets etc. They are useless in the long run.; December 20, 2009 2:43 AM
CorraBlog said...: I love this feature! I am, however, facing an issue on Beta version 4.0.249.43: It seems it does not allow importing bookmarks neither from IE nor from Firefox (Bookmark Manager -> Tools -> Import Bookmarks only allows importing Chrome generated HTML bookmark files).

Work around is importing bookmarks using the latest stable version and then installing the Beta version on top.

Am I missing something?; December 22, 2009 9:22 PM
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mezped said...: Coming from google it's strange that in the back end it doesnt use google bookmarks.; January 10, 2010 12:29 AM
JTGD said...: Most browsers use a completely different paradigm for bookmarks. They use hierarchical folders. GBM uses multiple tags (superior IMO). There is no easy way to translate between them. If you look in Google Notebook at your GBMs, ones with multiple tags appears duplicated in each "folder". I would like to export my regular BMs to GBM, but the other way would be difficult.; January 10, 2010 12:52 AM
Paul Andrew Anderson said...: This post has been removed by the author.; January 15, 2010 11:14 AM
Paul Andrew Anderson said...: The "Achilles Heel" for Chrome (is, and) will be bookmarks! Indeed; when you type in "accessing bookmarks" in Google search, it auto-completes with "in Chrome"! I was protesting this issue at the beginning of Chrome's development, and was ignored. I'm not sure why, after hearing from so many, that this issue will not be addressed, leads me to believe that these particular developers are more interested in standing out than looking too much like the Firefox crew! Gmarks is Google bookmarks; I suggested they center the Chrome platform around this; instead, they have selected the sync feature, which some will love and others will hate. You need an account w/sync, and a fast internet connection; easier to backup Gmarks in html (which is a simple notepad file)!; January 15, 2010 11:15 AM
Segreteria said...: Chrome bookmarks are FAR BEHIND competitors.

The first missing feature compared to other browsers are BOOKMARK SEPARATORS "---------"

I would like to see menu bookmarks organized in a proper way, with separators that can be syncronized as well, like Firefox cad do using XMarks

Also, a feature to better edit bookmarks with import-export would be a great thing.

Import bookmark is broken, if you import the same file twice (from IE as example) ALL BOOKMARKS WILL BE DUPLICATED. Please implement a "differential" import, where only new bookmarks are really imported without dupe.

Please forward this to developers, kindly; January 21, 2010 6:38 AM
Stu said...: Sorry for the naive question, but how do I "To activate this feature, launch Google Chrome with the --enable-sync command-line flag."?

I'm wanting to switch from Firefox to Chrome, but I need to figure out how to replace Foxmarks.; January 21, 2010 11:40 AM
JTGD said...: Stu: Depends on the platform (Linux? Windows? Mac?) But basically the shortcut you launch from can be edited and where the actual command appears you just add that to the end.; January 21, 2010 12:05 PM
Charlene said...: If you install Chrome 4.0 Beta then sync is a setup option...and you don't have to run it from the command line. In Chrome 4.0 Beta, upper right of the window, select {the button that looks like a wrench}/Options/Personal Stuff/Bookmark Sync.; January 21, 2010 12:08 PM
Александр said...: This post has been removed by the author.; January 24, 2010 2:45 PM
Александр said...: Chinese water problem; January 24, 2010 2:46 PM
Cassandra said...: I simply want to be able to access my bookmarks without signing in to gmail. Used to be able to, I think....; January 28, 2010 4:43 PM
JTGD said...: I don't see how you could get to bookmarks without signing in (to your Google account). Those are *your* bookmarks, so it has to know who you are.; January 28, 2010 5:03 PM
Andrew said...: Bookmark Sync is not good enough. I have been using Firefox with the Xmarks addon but wanted to drop this in favour of Chrome & Bookmark Sync for performance reasons. But my experience of using Bookmark Sync is disapointing as yes it syncs all my bookmarks into one place to download on another computer but any changes made through bookmark manager are not re-synced back to Google Docs. And editing your bookmarks within Google Docs also seems to be impossible - as they are all Read-Only? Anyone else finding the same difficulties out there? It is really stalling my move from Firefox to Chrome - I definitely dont want to install the Xmarks extension into Chrome either.; January 31, 2010 11:58 AM
RickRussellTX said...: I think it's fair to say that the Chrome developers completely misunderstand the importance and application of this feature.

The goal isn't to have all my bookmarks synchronized across a few supported versions of Chrome.

The goal is to have all my bookmarks available in any Web browser that I use, anywhere, either via an internal menu/plugin or via a reasonably flexible web page. They should be available via RSS. They should be editable from anywhere, with nested categories and tags of my choosing. They should be integrated into my Google searches when I'm logged in.

The service should be so ubiquitous, and the API open, that any new browser technology would be insane not to include native support for it.

I should be able to select from the same bookmarks in Google Wave, or to include them in e-mails in Gmail, or easily add them to Google Docs.

I should have one bookmark list that follows me until I die, just as Gmail has given me one e-mail account that I will use for the rest of my personal and professional life.

Think of what bibliographic tools like EndNote have done for the academic community. Now expand that ability to track references to every Web platform, everywhere. That's the service Google needs to design, and that's the service that's going to fulfill the mission of creating a healthy, vibrant Internet environment where Google users stay in Google services.

This would be a great opportunity for Chrome to "lead the pack", yet this feature seems to elude them. They need to sit down with the Google Toolbar folks, work out a good API, and support it across all Google products.; January 31, 2010 12:41 PM
RickRussellTX said...: @JTGD

It should be possible for me to mark a bookmark as "public" or "private" when I add it. Public bookmarks would be viewable to anybody with the right URL.

Look at what Yahoo has done with Pipes, for example.; January 31, 2010 12:42 PM
davidsonj said...: Ok, very frustrating, where oh where have my bookmarks gone! I have followed instructions, and all the bookmarks that were there a few days ago have vanished. I thought that by signing on to Google, my bookmarks would reappear, but no, can anyone help.
Thanks; February 5, 2010 1:22 AM

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