Where apps hide your files

Finding Chrome's profile folder

Updated 2026-10-28 · 7 min read

Chrome stores everything about you in one folder inside your hidden Library. This post gives the path, names the files in it, and shows how to export, back up or shrink it without breaking anything.

Where Chrome keeps your data

~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/

Each Chrome profile is a subfolder of that. Your first profile is always called Default. Further profiles are Profile 1, Profile 2 and so on, and the numbers can have gaps if you deleted a profile once. Bookmarks, history, saved logins and extension data sit inside the profile folder:

~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Bookmarks
~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/History

To see which folder the profile you are using right now maps to, type chrome://version in the address bar and read the Profile Path line. To open the folder, choose Go > Go to Folder in Finder (⇧⌘G) and paste the path, or run this in Terminal:

open ~/Library/Application\ Support/Google/Chrome

What the files in a profile folder are

All of these were present in the Default profile of Chrome 156, checked on a Mac running macOS 15 Sequoia:

File or folder	What it holds
Bookmarks	Your bookmarks as one JSON file with no extension
Bookmarks.bak	The previous version of the bookmarks, kept beside it
EncryptedBookmarks2	A companion copy that recent Chrome versions write alongside Bookmarks. Leave it where it is
History	Visited pages and downloads list (a SQLite database)
Login Data	Saved passwords, encrypted with a key held in your Keychain
Cookies, Web Data, Favicons, Top Sites	Cookies, autofill data, site icons, new-tab tiles
Preferences	Per-profile settings, as JSON
Extensions	Installed extensions, one folder per extension ID
Local Extension Settings, IndexedDB, Local Storage, Service Worker	Data that sites and extensions keep for themselves
Sessions	What lets Chrome restore your tabs

Beside the profile folders, the top level Chrome folder holds Local State, which maps folder names to the names you see in the profile menu (for example "Profile 4" to "Work"). You do not need to open it: chrome://version gives the same answer for whichever profile you are in.

Exporting the supported way

Copying files is the fallback. Chrome's own routes are better:

1. Bookmarks: open the Bookmark Manager (⌥⌘B), use the three-dot menu, and choose Export bookmarks. You get an HTML file any browser can import.
2. Passwords: open Google Password Manager from Chrome's settings, go to its own settings and choose Export passwords. The file is plain text, so delete it the moment you have imported it elsewhere.
3. History: Chrome has no built-in history export. Sign in and sync, or request your data from Google Takeout.
4. Everything: sign in to a Google account and turn on sync. A new Mac gets bookmarks, passwords and extensions back without touching these folders.

Where the space goes

On the Mac this post was checked on, the Chrome folder came to about 3.3 GB, and the biggest part was the Default profile at roughly 2 GB. A second, separate cache folder was bigger still:

~/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome/

That is the disk cache and compiled code cache, split per profile (Default, Profile 13, and so on). It is safe to clear: quit Chrome with ⌘Q, then in Finder drag the contents of a profile's Cache and Code Cache folders to the Trash. Chrome rebuilds them, and the only cost is some slower page loads for a while. The easiest supported route is Delete browsing data in Chrome's privacy settings (older versions call it Clear browsing data), with Cached images and files ticked.

In the profile folder itself, Service Worker, IndexedDB and Extensions can be large. Clear site data from Chrome's settings rather than deleting those by hand, because some of it belongs to extensions you still use.

Do not delete Bookmarks, Login Data, Preferences or Local State unless you intend to start that profile from scratch. If a profile is broken, quit Chrome and move the whole profile folder out to your Desktop rather than deleting it, so you can move it back.

Moving or backing up a profile

Quit Chrome first, because the databases are open and locked while it runs. Then copy the whole profile folder, not single files, so the databases and their -journal files stay together. Time Machine backs the folder up too, but if Chrome was open at the time, its databases may have been caught mid-write, so a manual copy with Chrome quit is the cleaner backup.

To move a profile to another Mac, install Chrome there, quit it, and put the folder under the same Chrome path. Saved passwords will not decrypt on a different Mac or user account, because the key lives in the original Keychain. Sync is the reliable way to carry passwords across.

Why search does not show any of this

Spotlight skips ~/Library, so searching for "Bookmarks" or "History" finds nothing useful. Finder search is no better here, and the folder names include spaces and numbers that are easy to mistype.

Folders that are not your profiles

Beside Default and the numbered profiles you will see Guest Profile and System Profile. Chrome uses them for guest windows and its own profile picker; they hold none of your bookmarks and are not yours to move or delete. Do not open Preferences or Local State in an editor to tell profiles apart either, since both can hold account details. chrome://version is the safe way.

When you remove a profile from Chrome's profile menu, Chrome deletes that folder for you. Removing the folder by hand while Chrome still lists the profile can leave a profile that opens empty, so use the menu.

Finding the folder next time

Everywhere lists names in the places Spotlight skips, so typing Login Data or Local State jumps straight to those files in any Chrome profile, and typing Profile 13 shows which numbered folders exist. Press ⌘↵ on a result to reveal it in Finder. It matches file names only, not the text inside your bookmarks, and it has a free trial.

Common questions

Where is the Chrome bookmarks file on a Mac?

In ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Bookmarks for your first profile, or the same filename inside Profile 1, Profile 2 and so on for others. It is a JSON file with no extension.

How do I find which Chrome profile folder is which?

Type chrome://version and read the Profile Path line while you are in that profile. The names you see in the profile menu are mapped to folder names in the Local State file.

Is it safe to delete Chrome's cache folder?

Yes, after quitting Chrome. The cache lives in ~/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome/ and Chrome rebuilds it; Delete browsing data with Cached images and files ticked does the same from inside Chrome. Do not delete the profile folder under Application Support unless you mean to reset that profile.

Can I copy a Chrome profile to another Mac?

Yes, with Chrome quit, copy the profile folder to the same path on the other Mac. Saved passwords will not decrypt there, so use Chrome sync for those.