How to Export Arc Browser Bookmarks Before It Closes

You open Chrome or Safari to move over, look for the bookmarks import, and realise you don't have any bookmarks. You have pinned tabs, nested folders, five spaces and three years of habit. Arc never kept a bookmarks bar, so there's nothing obvious to export.

This guide shows how to export Arc browser bookmarks in the ways that actually work: the built-in Export Data, Copy All Links, and third-party converters. It also covers the route that needs no export at all. Time matters, because Arc is being sunset on 22 December 2026 (see our post on whether Arc is shutting down).

The short answer: Arc has no real bookmark export

Arc doesn't produce a standard bookmarks file. Its Help Center says there's no built-in export specifically for pinned or favorite tabs, and points you to Copy All Links instead. The newer Export Data feature gives you a Markdown list of links for your spaces and tabs, which is useful but isn't something Chrome or Firefox can import.

Sources disagree here. Some guides claim an HTML option exists. Arc's own Help Center and recent Yahoo coverage describe only the link list. Check your installed version before you count on HTML.

So what you do depends on where you're going.

How to export Arc browser bookmarks the easy way: skip the export

If you want to keep Arc's sidebar workflow, you can skip exporting. Cra is a free, open-source macOS browser built as a one-to-one replacement for Arc. On first launch it imports your spaces, pinned tabs, folders, favorites and archive straight from Arc's files on disk.

There's no export step. Arc doesn't even need to be running. And there's no deadline to import, so if you're reading this in November, you aren't racing anything. Later on you can run it again from the Cra menu → Import, or Settings → Advanced.

Here's the whole process:

1. Download: grab Cra from the download page. It needs an Apple silicon Mac on macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
2. Launch: open it and accept the import prompt on first run.
3. Check: your spaces, pinned tabs and folders should look the way you left them, with each space keeping its colour and emoji.

There's a walkthrough in the import help section. Cra also imports tabs, passwords and sign-ins from Dia, Chrome, Brave, Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, Helium, Firefox, Zen and Safari.

A fair caveat: Cra is young (version 0.1.x) and independent, with no affiliation to The Browser Company. Easels, Boosts, Peek and Notes aren't there yet, and there are no AI features. If you leaned on those, this isn't a perfect match. If you mostly lived in spaces, pinned tabs and the command bar, it's the closest thing there is. For a wider comparison, see the best Arc alternative in 2026.

Before you export anything, ask whether the browser you're moving to can read Arc's data directly. Exporting is the fallback, not the first move.

Method 1: Arc's built-in Export Data

Start here, whatever your destination. As Arc's Help Center describes it, Export Data pulls your spaces and tabs out in one go as a Markdown list of links.

On macOS:

1. Open Arc and go to Arc → Settings → Advanced.
2. Find Export Data and click it.
3. Save the file somewhere you'll find it again.

On Windows the path is Settings → Advanced → Export Spaces and tabs → Export Data.

Open the result in any text editor. You'll see your spaces as headings with links beneath. It's readable and complete enough to be a safety net. It's also not a bookmarks file, so no browser will import it for you. Treat it as a backup, and as raw material for the converters below.

My honest take: do this one today even if you've already picked a new browser. It takes 20 seconds and it's insurance.

Method 2: Copy All Links for a single folder

Got one folder you need right now? Right-click a pinned folder in the sidebar and choose Copy All Links. Paste into Notes, a text file or a spreadsheet. Done.

The catch, as Arc's Help Center notes, is that it doesn't preserve folder structure. Nested folders flatten into one list. For a folder with 15 research links, that's fine. For a sidebar with 200 pinned tabs across five spaces, it's miserable.

To get the links into Chrome or Firefox afterwards, you'd paste them into a document and open or bookmark them one by one, or use the browser's "bookmark all tabs" command after opening them together. Slow, but it works.

Method 3: Third-party converters

If you need a true HTML bookmarks file, a converter is the only way to get one. Two kinds exist.

Command-line scripts

The open-source arc-export script on GitHub is a Python 3 script that reads Arc's StorableSidebar.json (found in ~/Library/Application Support/Arc/) and writes an HTML bookmarks file. If the script can't find the file, copy it manually into the project folder and rerun. It's free, and you'll need to be comfortable in Terminal.

Browser-extension and web tools

ArcEscape advertises HTML export for spaces, pinned tabs and folders, and it's on the Chrome Web Store. Its own comparison of five export methods is worth a look, though remember it's written by a vendor. As of a March 2026 comparison, the paid tier costs $9.99 after a limited number of free exports.

Whatever you choose, you're handing over a file that lists every site you've pinned. Read what the tool does with it first.

Importing the exported bookmarks into your new browser

With an HTML file in hand, the import takes about a minute.

• Chrome: open the three-dot menu → Bookmarks and lists → Import bookmarks and settings, then pick "Bookmarks HTML file".
• Safari: File → Import From → Bookmarks HTML File.
• Firefox: Bookmarks → Manage Bookmarks → Import and Backup → Import Bookmarks from HTML.

If bookmarks aren't showing in Chrome, the usual cause is a malformed file or a script that wrote links without the expected folder wrappers. Try opening the HTML in a text editor; if it's empty or full of Markdown, that's your problem. Also check the Other bookmarks folder, where imports often land.

Moving to Dia

Dia reads Arc data directly. According to Arc's latest announcement, that includes bookmarks, extensions, history, spaces, Favorites, pinned tabs and folders, and The Browser Company recommends doing it before 22 December 2026. No file juggling needed.

Should you pick it? If you actually want an AI assistant built into every tab and you're happy with The Browser Company's direction, yes, Dia is the smoothest hop. If you picked Arc for the calm sidebar and don't want AI in the middle of your browsing, skip it. Dia is a different product from Arc, and you'll feel that in the first hour.

What about passwords and Safari?

Passwords don't come out with Export Data, so use a password manager. If your logins live in Chrome's password manager, open Chrome's password settings and use its export option to get a CSV. If you use 1Password or Bitwarden, your vault already holds them, and nothing needs exporting from Arc at all. Either way, sign in to the new browser's extension and you're done.

For Safari, the bookmarks route above works, but Arc's spaces and pinned structure won't carry over. Safari has no real equivalent.

A sensible plan for how to export Arc browser bookmarks this week

1. Run Export Data and save the Markdown file as a backup.
2. Download Cra and import. Check that your spaces came through.
3. If you're going to Chrome or Safari instead, run a converter and import the HTML.

Keep the Export Data file for a year. You'll forget a site you pinned in 2023 until the day you need it.

Do the Export Data backup before you close this tab. After 22 December 2026 Arc is gone, and anything you haven't saved or imported is on you to rebuild from memory.

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Cra is a free, MIT-licensed macOS browser that keeps Arc's spaces, pinned tabs, Favorites and command bar, and imports them straight from Arc's files with no export step. It has no account and no telemetry, and it's for Apple silicon Mac users who want Arc's sidebar workflow to outlive Arc.