3 Best Ways to Fix Chrome Bookmarks Not Deleting Issue

Usually, deleting bookmarks and unwanted folders in Google Chrome is a relatively simple and convenient matter. To top things off, Chrome Sync will also remove them from other devices simultaneously. But what if the favorites that you already deleted days or weeks ago start to appear again after a while?

The most likely reason Chrome fails to permanently delete bookmarks is when Chrome Sync fails to save your changes. Instead of deleting your favorites on devices, there are some weird cases where Chrome Sync can re-import them. This causes the bookmarks to reappear on the device from which you originally deleted them.

Additionally, third-party bookmarks extensions, such as iCloud Favorites, may prevent you from deleting bookmarks in Chrome. So let’s see what you can do to fix this problem for good.

1. Reset Chrome sync

If you’re using a Google Account, Chrome lets you sync your bookmarks (including any changes you make to them) using Chrome sync with the rest of your devices. This can rarely happen. Instead, opening the browser on another device may cause deleted bookmarks to download and reappear everywhere. In this case, resetting Chrome Sync should help fix things.

A Chrome Sync reset deletes all synced data stored on Google servers. It also forcibly logs you out of the browser on all your devices. The procedure does not delete locally stored browsing data such as cookies, bookmarks, and passwords.

After the reset, delete the favorites that you could not delete before and sign in to your Google account again. This should prompt Chrome Sync to sync bookmarks across devices properly.

Step 1: Open the Chrome menu, and then click or tap Settings. Follow this by selecting the Sync and Google services option.

2nd step: Click Review your synchronized data.

On Android and iOS versions of Chrome, click Manage Sync, then click Chrome Sync Data.

Step 3: Click or tap Reset sync, and then click or tap OK to confirm. This will delete your browsing data on Google’s servers and log you out of Chrome on all your devices.

Step 4: Go to the Chrome bookmarks manager (Chrome menu> Bookmarks) and delete all unwanted bookmarks.

Step 5: Open the profile drop-down menu (click on the profile icon in the upper right corner of the screen), then select Enable sync.

On Android and iOS versions of Chrome, go to the Settings screen, tap Sign in to Chrome, select your Google account, and then click Yes, I’m there.

Step 6: Sign in to Chrome on the rest of your devices. This should prompt Chrome Sync to successfully sync changes made to your favorites.

Note: If you’re using a sync passphrase, you’ll need to add it after signing in to Chrome to start syncing your browsing data.

2. Disable bookmark extensions

Are you using third-party bookmark extensions in Chrome? These extensions can cause problems, especially if you use them to sync bookmarks between devices. For example, iCloud Favorites may end up resynchronizing deleted favorites from Safari to Chrome.

If you are using such an extension, try disabling it (go to Chrome menu> Tools> Extensions).

If you use iCloud Bookmarks on a Windows desktop, you can also prevent it from running through the iCloud Settings screen.

If the bookmark extension is critical to your workflow, try removing unwanted bookmarks from all of your devices manually. Then remove and reinstall the extension. This should prevent it from resyncing deleted bookmarks with Chrome.

3. Reset Google Chrome

Are you still having problems with reappearing deleted bookmarks in Chrome? Try to reset the browser. This should return Chrome to its default state and help resolve the issue.

While a Chrome reset keeps data like your bookmarks and passwords intact, it removes cached files and cookies, removes pinned tabs, disables all extensions, and logs you out of the browser. Check out our Chrome reset guide for more details before proceeding.

Note: You cannot reset Android and iOS versions of Google Chrome.

Step 1: Go to the Chrome settings screen. Expand the Advanced section, and then click Reset & Clean. Follow by clicking “Restore factory defaults”.

2nd step: Click Reset settings to reset Chrome.

Then try to delete the bookmarks. If you are using Chrome Sync, you must reconnect to the browser. You can also go to the Extensions screen (Chrome menu> Tools> Extensions) to reactivate your extensions.

Without clutter

Resetting Chrome sync or disabling third-party browser extensions should help resolve Chrome bookmarks not deleting issues. If that doesn’t apply to you, a Chrome reset should probably do the trick. While you’re at it, you can also update Chrome. Often the latest updates fix bugs and other common issues and minimize similar issues that occur in the future.