When it comes to the internet, history is an important element. The websites we visit, the videos we watch, and the articles we read all contribute to who we are as people. That’s why it’s so important to keep track of our browser history.
Chrome is one of the most popular web browsers in the world. Millions of people use it to browse the internet every day. Chrome stores a lot of information about your browsing history, and sometimes you may need to export this data for Chrome backup or other reasons.
In this blog post, we will show you how to export your Chrome history so that you can access it whenever you need it!
Table of Contents
What are the advantages of Exporting the Chrome History?
There are several advantages of exporting the Chrome history:
- If you decide to leave Chrome and opt for any other browser, exporting the Chrome history will help you revisit the web pages on the new browser.
- If you accidentally delete your browsing history, you can always retrieve it by exporting the data.
- It is a good idea to export the Chrome history periodically so that you have a backup in case something goes wrong.
- When you switch to a new device, the exported Chrome history can be imported into it so that you don’t require to begin from the starting.
How to Export Chrome History?
On Google Chrome, there is no direct option to export the history. However, there are other ways to export Chrome History.
Export Chrome History from Chrome Profile Folder
You can easily export the history manually by reaching the Chrome Profile Folder. This folder is present on every operating system, and the location of this folder is different for each OS.
- On computers running Windows 7 and above: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
- Computers running Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
- macOS X devices: Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default
- Linux machines: Linux: /home/<username>/.config/google-chrome/default
Here are the steps to export Chrome history manually from the Chrome profile folder:
- First, you have to show hidden files. For that, open any folder, click on the View tab in the top menu, hover your mouse to the Show option, and choose the box labeled Hidden Items.
- After enabling to show hidden items, you’ll need to find your Chrome profile folder that is stored locally on your device. Just navigate to the folder location mentioned above.
- If you’re only using one user profile, the History will be in the Default folder.
- It’s a little more complex if you have multiple profiles. Every profile after your first is placed in a folder named ProfileX, where “X” represents a number that rises with each additional profile. As a result, the second profile folder will be called Profile1, the third will be Profile2, and so on.
- Open the profile folder from which you want to export the history.
- Look for the History file and copy it somewhere safe or upload it on Cloud.
That’s it the Chrome history associated with that particular Chrome Profile will be backed up.
To import this Chrome history on another device, just copy the History file and paste it into the same folder on your other device.
How to Export Chrome History to JSON?
If you want to export your Chrome history in JSON format, then there is an extension available on the Chrome store called Export History/Bookmarks.
Follow these steps to export your Chrome history using this extension:
- First, navigate to the Export History/Bookmarks extension page
- Click on the Add to Chrome button.
- On the pop-up, click on Add extension button.
- Now click on the extension icon and select chrome history.json
- The JSON file of the Chrome history will be downloaded.
- Save the file at a safe location or upload it to the cloud.
Summing Up
Exporting the Chrome history is a good idea as it helps you to have a backup of your browsing data. It also comes in handy when you accidentally delete your browsing history or switch to a new device. In this post, we have explained two methods to export Chrome history. First, we showed you how to do it manually by reaching the Chrome profile folder and copying the History file. Second, we showed you how to use an extension to export your Chrome history in JSON format. Choose the method that works best for you and start exporting your Chrome history today!
There is no set time period for exporting your Chrome history. You can do it as frequently or infrequently as you like.
No, currently there is no way to export your Chrome history to CSV. JSON is the only format supported by the Export History/Bookmarks extension.
If you delete your Chrome history, it will simply be deleted from your local device. If you have exported your Chrome history to JSON or copied it to another location, it will still be available in those places. Otherwise, it will be permanently deleted.
No, you don’t need to export your Chrome history if you’re switching devices. Your Chrome history will automatically sync to your new device if you’re signed in with the same Google account.