Where apps hide your files

Locating Brave's profile folders

Updated 2026-10-28 · 6 min read

Brave is built on Chromium, so its profile layout copies Chrome's under the BraveSoftware folder. Here is the path, how to confirm which folder is yours, and how to export or clear data safely.

The location

~/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/

Profiles are subfolders. The first profile, whatever it is called in Brave's profile menu, is stored in a folder named Default. Extra profiles are Profile 1, Profile 2 and so on. Your bookmarks file is:

~/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Default/Bookmarks

A previous version of the file is kept beside it as Bookmarks.bak, as in Chrome. Brave's own community answers describe this layout, and it matches the Chromium structure Brave is built on. Brave was not installed on the Mac used for checking, though a Brave-Browser folder still existed there, created by other apps that place extension helper files in every Chromium browser's folder. So confirm the path on your machine with the step below.

Confirm which folder is yours

Open Brave, type brave://version in the address bar, and read the Profile Path line. That shows the exact folder for the profile you are in, which matters if you have several. The folder number does not always match the number in the profile name, because the first profile is Default rather than Profile 1.

To open the folder, use Go > Go to Folder in Finder (⇧⌘G) and paste the path, or in Terminal:

open ~/Library/Application\ Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser

If you also run Brave Beta or Nightly, each has its own sibling folder inside BraveSoftware, so list it to see what you have:

ls ~/Library/Application\ Support/BraveSoftware

What to expect inside a profile

Chromium-based browsers share a file layout, so a Brave profile should contain the same kinds of items as a Chrome one:

File or folder	What it holds
Bookmarks	Bookmarks as JSON, no extension
History	Visited pages (SQLite)
Login Data	Saved passwords, encrypted with a key from your Keychain
Preferences	Profile settings
Extensions	Installed extensions
Cookies, Web Data, Favicons	Cookies, autofill, site icons

Brave adds its own folders for features like Shields and its wallet, and the names change between releases, so list your own profile folder rather than rely on this table for anything beyond those basics.

Getting data out the supported way

1. Bookmarks: type brave://bookmarks in the address bar to open the bookmarks manager, then use its three-dot menu to export bookmarks to an HTML file.
2. Between devices: Brave Sync uses a sync chain instead of an account. Start a chain on one device, then add others with the QR code or the 24-word sync code it shows, and bookmarks and passwords follow. Keep that code private.
3. Passwords: the password manager in Brave's settings has an export option. The file is unencrypted, so remove it once you have imported it.

Copy Bookmarks out of the folder directly only as a fallback, with Brave quit, because the browser rewrites it while running.

Space and safe cleanup

Chromium browsers keep caches in ~/Library/Caches rather than Application Support. Check with:

ls ~/Library/Caches | grep -i brave

If a BraveSoftware entry appears, its cache is safe to clear after quitting Brave (⌘Q). The supported route is in Settings > Privacy and security: the item is called Delete browsing data in recent Chromium-based builds and Clear browsing data in older ones. Tick cached images and files, and clear.

The profile folders can grow through Service Worker, IndexedDB and extension storage. Clear those through site settings rather than deleting folders by hand. Never delete Bookmarks, Login Data or Preferences unless you mean to reset the profile. A broken profile is best moved to the Desktop, not deleted, so it can be put back.

Moving or backing up a profile

Quit Brave, copy the whole profile folder, and place it under the same path on the new Mac after installing and running Brave once. Saved passwords tie to your Keychain and will not decrypt on a different Mac, so use Brave Sync for those. Time Machine and Migration Assistant both include the folder.

Why search misses it

Spotlight ignores ~/Library, and the double folder (BraveSoftware, then Brave-Browser) makes the path easy to get wrong.

Other Brave channels and leftovers

Besides the Release build, Brave offers Beta and Nightly builds, and each keeps a separate folder, such as Brave-Browser-Beta, inside BraveSoftware. They do not share bookmarks. Dragging the Brave app to the Trash does not remove these folders, so a Mac that once ran Brave can still hold every profile it ever had; du -sh on the folder shows how much. If you have uninstalled Brave for good and exported what you need, the folder can go to the Trash in Finder. Check that Brave is quit first, and empty the Trash only after you are sure. A quick way to judge what is worth keeping is to look at the Date Modified column: a profile folder not touched for years is usually safe to archive, while one changed this week is the live one.

Finding it again

Everywhere finds names in hidden and Library locations, so typing Brave-Browser jumps to the folder and typing Bookmarks.bak lists any backup copies in any browser's profile. It matches names, not what the bookmarks say, and has a free trial. Press ⌥Space to bring up the search from any app.

Common questions

Where does Brave store its profile on a Mac?

In ~/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/, with your first profile in the Default folder.

Where is the Brave bookmarks file?

~/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Default/Bookmarks, a JSON file with no extension, with a Bookmarks.bak copy beside it.

How do I know which Brave profile folder is mine?

Type brave://version in the address bar and read the Profile Path line.

Is it safe to clear the Brave cache?

Yes, after quitting Brave. Use Delete browsing data (Clear browsing data in older versions) under Privacy and security in settings, or the cache folder under ~/Library/Caches if one exists.