Copying browsers and their bookmarks.

It's finally time for me to reinstall Windows11 on this machine.
The current state of affairs of this machine is
a) An incredible number of useless data files created by OneDrive
b) A copy of Google Drive that has, on its own, decided to chew away over 8GB (and continuing) and can't be eradicated from the drive.
c) Horrible memories of Windows11, OneDrive, and Google Drive gone wild.
d) My latest Outlook.pst file. It's not clean, but without this I will lose all my contacts, emails, calendar events, etc. I'm only hoping Outlook 2010 (pre-365) will be able to read and use this .pst file.
e) The Microsoft Office 365 slew of applications. I'm hope Outlook 2010 will open Office365 data files. In other words, I'm hoping MSOffice365 data files are backwards Compatible.
I have copied off this machine my Folder/File-based 'database' of files, Internet shortcuts, etc. relating to practically everything I own and software I've installed or need to repair.

The problem I'm worried about now are my three most useful browsers:
1) Firefox (and the 3000+ tabs its extension (the best browser tab extension I have ever experienced!!) Bookmark search plus 2.
2) Chrome with its ability to create multiple tab/folder Profiles (I'm productively using 16 of them)
3) Edge with its ability to quickly create, edit, search and selectively re-open Internet/history pages.
(note: for me, passwords related to browser issues are not a problem the Internet sites I look at anyone's free to see)

b e c a u s e these days it seems you can no longer simply EXPORT and then IMPORT your treasured bookmarks from/into these three browsers.
Instead (and I hope I'm wrong, but I've not found any information to the contrary) it seems computer software designers see to think their users are so one-dimensional and myopic that the developers cannot imagine that they would want to have anything other than completely synchronized bookmarks, over all their browsers. (How this is accomplished I can not imagine. After syncing all my Firefox tabs would I have to tab through a couple mile long stream of letters to get from one end of my tabs to the other?)

Questions:
- RE: Firefox: Will placing my current C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox directory in my new C:\Program Files directory solve the Firefox problem.
- Within C:\Program Files\ there is a Google Directory . Within that is Chrome: then etc...
Google/Data File Stream looks like this:

2) RE: Chrome (and Data File Stream): Will replacing the new Google directory with my current one carry with it, intact, my current "Chrome and all its Profile apps"
3) Are the MSOffice365 apps backward compatible enough to read/convert/edit under MSOffice 2010?

@jro11

In Firefox, for book marks...
Bookmarks > Manage Bookmarks > Import and Backup > Export Bookmarks to HTML

And then on the new install...
Bookmarks > Manage Bookmarks > Import and Backup > Import Bookmarks from HTML


That's the only browser I use, and I don't use extensions.


Firefox also stores a lot of stuff in the...
C:\Users\ <account name> \AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default-release folder.

Ghot said:

Firefox also stores a lot of stuff in the...

Click to expand...

Quick question. I have a tab open to this 'page' on both Edge and Chrome (the Chrome Profile devoted to Win10 Win11 forums. When I close this program (Edge) or Chrome without closing the tab, OR when I switch to another tab without closing this tab and you go to this page do you see Jro11 as a User who is viewing this thread?

All 3 browsers have sync ability. If you turn on sync within each browser in old installation, once you clean install and reinstall the browsers and turn on sync in the new installation, all your bookmarks will automatically show up. Syncs all bookmarks, history and add-ons.

Or for just your bookmarks, you can manually export and import as Ghot said.

Thank you both. Ghot, I'd forgotten that importing bookmarks was a process that employed Importing the .html version of bookmarks that had been Exported (rather than .json, for example).

https://www.tomsguide.com/how-to/how-to-export-chrome-bookmarks#:~:text=How to export Chrome bookmarks to Firefox and,browser and choose Bookmarks, then ... More items , seems an excellent article (most Tom's Guide articles are) about how bookmarks can be passed around among browsers through the sync process. Besides not wanting my bookmarks in one browser invading another browser (I use each browser for a specific reason relevant to most of the bookmarks stored on that browser.) I would never want to be dealing with all my personal bookmarks, work bookmarks, research bookmarks, etc., etc., etc budding in on each other. (not to mention having to contend with a single browser not to mention having a task manager using up all computer memory because of a plethora's plethora worth of the critters.

Since reality has changed and now every browser either wants to have every other browsers bookmarks, or they each want to give away their bookmarks to any other browser, I still don't have the answer I need. However, I'm now thinking the answer might lie in simply exporting bookmarks as .html and later importing them back into the browser from whence they came. Still would like to talk to someone who has gone through this process with Chrome Profiles (not the single Chrome Browser but the Chrome browser that can be split into individual Chrome Profiles.

You're missing the point I think. Browsers do not sync with other browsers. Browsers work independently of each other.They sync with the same browser across multiple devices/browser installations. If you do not understand how it works, then the old export/import method is what you should use. I don't use Chrome so can't help you there but do have a couple of profiles in Edge with each profile synced. Browser settings, bookmarks, history, extensions, everything is always exactly the same when I switch devices

glasskuter said:

You're missing the point I think. Browsers do not sync with other browsers. Browsers work independently of each other.They sync with the same browser across multiple devices/browser installations. If you do not understand how it works, then the old export/import method is what you should use. I don't use Chrome so can't help you there but do have a couple of profiles in Edge with each profile synced. Browser settings, bookmarks, history, extensions, everything is always exactly the same when I switch devices

Click to expand...

Really?? (I have to walk the dog now but will check on myself when I return.) I'm seeing claims (in Chrome areas, since Chrome is my concern at the moment) that I can sync Chrome bookmarks with the other major (Firefox, Edge) browsers, and vice versa.

the old export/import method is what you should use

Click to expand...

though most Browsers do allow you to export (most importable format is .html), Chrome, despite claiming to have an export function see: Move or export bookmarks to another browser no longer does. I'm going to post this as a separate thread.

the old export/import method is what you should use

Click to expand...

though most Browsers do allow you to export (most importable format is .html), Chrome, despite claiming to have an export function see: Move or export bookmarks to another browser no longer does. I'm going to post this as a separate thread.

I'm wrong on this. Please disregard

I also have, repeatedly, misread what I believed to be claims for being able to smoothly sync bookmarks across multiple browsers.
There are however apps, xBrowserSync and Eversync, that claim to make browser-to-another browser syncing a smoother process.
How to Sync Bookmarks Across Multiple Browsers

sorry.

jro11 said:

It's finally time for me to reinstall Windows11 on this machine.

Click to expand...

If you are going to re-install Windows, to clean things up... don't sync anything.
You'll just be syncing any problems as well.

Install everything... fresh. Make some temp backups (during the process), as well.