Update deleted everything: profile, bookmarks, extensions, settings

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1

Description of the issue: This morning, my Windows 11 computer updated to Brave 1.79.119. It now looks exactly like a new installation.

How can this issue be reproduced?

  1. Update Brave.

Expected result: Updated browser should present user with continuity

Brave Version( check About Brave): 1.79.119

Additional Information:
1.) Please give me the steps to recover my bookmarks, extensions, and settings.

2.) On the Brave browser toolbar, in the upper-right corner, clicking the Profile button and then Manage Brave Profiles does not show my old profile.

3.) There is no Bookmarks folder at C:\Users[USER]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default\.

At ā€¦Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 2, there is a file named Bookmarks that seems to be my current bookmarks, dated yesterday. Thereā€™s also a Bookmarks.bak and a BookmarkMergedSurfaceOrdering file. However, in the Brave browserā€™s Settings page, for importing bookmarks, itā€™s not clear to me how I should get it to import from the Brave folder ā€“ should I just choose to import from ā€˜Bookmarks HTML Fileā€™?

Iā€™d really prefer to have all my settings go back at once, rather than redo every piece individually. If possible.

4.) Would like to know if this is the usual experience for Brave updates, and if there are any steps I can take to prevent it in the future.

1 Like
3

@AnotherUserName thanks for reporting. Iā€™m sorry that this happened. Can you confirm, do you have Sync enabled on this machine?

4

No, I do not have Sync enabled. I only use Brave on this one computer.

5

@AnotherUserName thanks, reviewing.

6

No ā€“ this is not typical of normal browser updates or Windows/system updates. Iā€™m wondering if anything discussed in this article might also apply to you?
https://support.brave.com/hc/en-us/articles/29808985123085-Sensitive-data-storage

7

I saw the same question asked of another person with the same issue. Itā€™s a bit difficult for me to parse the linked document with regards to my issue, but I think you are asking if I copied my Brave browser profile from another computer? No, I did not. I only use Brave on this one computer, did not try to move anything or even get an update. Turned off my computer last night, and this morning found I that Brave could no longer find my profile.

All my profile files seem to be still on my computer, in a Profiles 2 folder, but I donā€™t know how to get Brave to recognize that folder again - a folder it created.

Confusingly, several hours ago I was able to see my profile files (background pictures, bookmarks, etc.) in a subfolder named Profile 2. Between then and now, Brave stopped responding so I rebooted my computer. Now, the Profile 2 folder is gone, and I have a Profile 3 folder instead, which does not have a bookmarks file in it. Sounds nuts, but there it is. I canā€™t find any file named Bookmarks in the entire ā€¦AppData\Local\BraveSoftware folder.

On the browserā€™s About Brave page, it now shows this error as well:

An error occurred while checking for updates: Update check failed to start (error code 4: 0XA0430817 ā€“ system level).

Learn more

Brave 1.79.119 (Official Build) (64-bit)

Chromium: 137.0.7151.68

8

@steeven and @Mattches, when do you think you will have an update?

9

I know you said that Prof 3 doesnā€™t have any of your data in it but can you please try testing the following?

  1. Right-click the Brave shortcut on your desktop, then click Properties
  2. In the Target path, please add the line --profile-directory="Profile 3" (after the closing quotation)
  3. Click Apply then OK
  4. Double-click the shortcut to launch Brave

Does the browser launch as profile 3? Is there any data contained here?

10

When I change the target path to open Profile 3 and then launch it, it looks exactly like a fresh installation of Brave. It has default settings and no bookmarks.

When I submitted this issue yesterday, my version was 1.79.119. It is now 1.79.123. I did nothing to update the version.

And now, thereā€™s this:

  • ...Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 1 and Profile 2: Do not exist
  • ...Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 3: This has many folders, none named Bookmarks, and no file named Bookmarks or Bookmarks.bak
  • ...Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 4: Only has a readme file data May 17, 2025, that just says this: ā€˜Brave settings and storage represent user-selected preferences and information and MUST not be extracted, overwritten or modified except through Brave defined APIs.ā€™

My profile before the update had bookmarks and also several .png files for backgrounds, so Iā€™ve searched with Windows Explorer for them elsewhere:

  • Searched ...Local\BraveSoftware for .png files or Bookmarks or Bookmarks.bak: Not found
  • Looked in Recycle bin: No Brave-related files
  • Searched entire c: drive for Bookmarks.bak, and found:
    • One from a 2024 installation of Opera
    • One from Google Chrome with yesterdayā€™s date because I reverted to using it
    • Nothing from Brave
11

@steeven @Mattches With the additional information I provided yesterday, when do you think youā€™ll have a solution? At a minimum, I would like my bookmarks restored.

12

Unfortunately I do not have a solution at this time. The information you provided is helpful and I have escalated the issue to some of our engineers for review.

As sad as it makes me to say it Iā€™m not sure there is any way to recover that data. Do you by chance have a Windows OS restore/recovery point that you can revert to?

13

I like Brave, but losing bookmarks doesnā€™t work with my needs. Is there a way to NOT get updates, or to force Brave to get my permission before updating? That way, I can only do updates after I have made a copy of all the Brave system files.

The only other solution I can think of, is to keep my bookmarks in an html file on my computerā€™s desktop, but I feel that should be unnecessary in 2025ā€¦! Can you think of any other solutions, for ensuring I donā€™t have a similar loss in the future, if I canā€™t refuse or schedule the updates?

14

I think keeping a copy of your bookmarks and/or passwords exported is a good safety net. Additionally, itā€™s not entirely clear whether or not the fact that the browser updated wiped the data. I suspect that it would have to have been a combination of something(s) along with the update.

I will keep this thread open and reply back here when I have additional information and/or suggestions from our devs.

15

Other browsers use profiles but updates do not overwrite the profile folder. Even while this thread has been going on, my Brave browser updated versions and deleted profiles (Profile 1 and 2). Is there a way to lock my profile folder so that updates will not overwrite it?

Iā€™m trying to think of other ways to safely use Brave without losing my files, and Iā€™m unlikely to add the ā€œworkā€ of making daily backups of the bookmark file, nor create an html file to use instead of Braveā€™s bookmark feature.

Perhaps is there a Windows setting you know of, to prevent updates from Brave?

16

As I was saying before, Brave updates do not overwrite your profile(s)/browsing data. This is what I mean when I said that there has to be something else at play here.

Can you tell me how long have you been using Brave on this particular PC?

17

Since about October 2024.

18

@Mattches I did have a Windows restore point on the ...Brave-Browser\User Data folder from June 9. If any of the files or information in the restored folder would help you fix this bug, please let me know. Iā€™m not running Brave again until you respond, in hopes that it wonā€™t update again and overwrite my restore.

19

So you were able to restore your files and your User Data folder from prior to the update? If so, can you confirm that you see the correct browsing data within?

20

Yes, when I open Brave now after rolling back to the June 9 restore point, Brave shows it is at v 1.79.123. My bookmarks, at least from as of a week ago, are there, my home page looks correct and shows normal numbers for trackers blocked, etc., my extensions are there although all have been turned off, and the photo I set for my background page displays.

Does that help you discover what happened, so we can prevent it in the future?

21

It does not. Again, I am not convinced that simply updating the browser is what caused this. Here is what I suggest:

  1. First, ensure that you keep that restore point saved so that in the event this occurs again in step three below, you can retrieve all the data
  2. Make a safe copy of your User data folder as it is now so that you have access to all that data even outside of the restore point.
  3. Launch Brave and update the browser
  4. Check and see if your data remains intact after updating