Is there a way to Backup Extensions?

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Hi all

So I am loving Brave currently. It is a fantastic browser, minimalist, secure, safe, with a very good interface which is highly compatible with dark mode. Really good.

There is one query that I have, and that is: does Brave have a function that can be used to backup all extensions? When backing up bookmarks, it is very easy, just go to the bookmark extension and there is an option to export bookmarks. Very simple. Is there a similar function for extensions?

I have attempted to “load unpacked extensions” but that had no consequence.

There is an option to pack extensions, but it strikes me that I need to go to the root of every extension in order to “pack” it into a file which is quite time consuming as I have several extensions. Ideally I just want to be able to backup all extensions once a month so I know what I’ve got, etc.

Appreciate any insight.
Tom

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It’s not something built in to Brave, but my regular zipped backups of
C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave- Browser\User Data
incidentally include all the extensions and their data.

I recommend making zipped backups of user data on general principles for disaster recovery, but it would also seem to serve your purpose.

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Understood. I get the principle of what you are saying, I tried to replicate it however there is no “AppData” folder. When I tried copying that address into the bar. If I go to all programms and look for Brave, there are some files in that, however I dont see a file named “User Data”.

Are there any other file/folder titles that may contain the Extension data?

There is one file I found called “external_extensions.json”. Would this be the file that contains all the extensions?
Tom

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You may have to turn on “Show Hidden Files and Folders” in Windows File Explorer settings.

1 Like
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You have a user data file somewhere if you have Brave installed.
Path might be different from the default.
Turn on show hidden, and then search for it.

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I’ve been able to find it, as you guys said, enable hidden files to be seen.

Within your Brave userdata, which file would be related to the browser extensions?

Just to clarify, would this directly contain all the root files for all the extensions? If my computer broke, and I had to install brave onto a new PC, then transferring that file would reinstall all extensions?

Thanks

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It includes everything to do with the extensions. You don’t need to worry about the particular internals of any given extension.

Also the browser cache, so I recommend clearing it before making the zipped backup.

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Understood, thanks again.

So just so I can manage expectations - if I had to install Brave etc onto a new device, would I just copy and paste the userdata into the new root folder of that Brave installation, and that should automatically re-install all Browser extensions to that Brave installment?

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  1. Default install.
  2. Delete User Data folder
  3. Unzip backup in place.

I have done this after a major system crash and it worked fine.
I have done the last 2 steps (no new install) to back out after messing around.

Note: I do not use the sync function nor use stored passwords, so I can’t vouch for what happens there.

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