With features like an integrated ad blocker, free VPN service and built-in Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp integration, or the anti-Bitcoin mining tool introduced in version 50, the Opera browser offers a range of attractive features that make it a real alternative to perennial favorites like Chrome and Firefox. But there’s one thing that can be really annoying when you switch to a new Internet browser: The bookmarks library you’ve worked so hard to put together is suddenly no longer available.

However, like many other solutions, Opera allows you to import bookmarks from other browsers so you don’t have to recreate your library by transferring each link at a time. You can also use this option if you’ve been using Opera for a long time and want to use it to browse the web on another device.

How to import Opera bookmarks

Opera has a sync feature that eliminates the need to export your favourites first. If you want to import bookmarks from browsers for which Opera does not provide this import option, use the HTML document import feature.

The function that allows you to import Opera bookmarks is located in your browser’s bookmark manager, where you can also make general settings for bookmarked websites. To open this menu, click the star icon in the left sidebar of the browser.

The bookmark manager now lists your saved favourites and gives you different options such as the ability to create bookmarks to organise your bookmarks according to your needs. However, the most important menu option for importing new Opera bookmarks is Import/Export, which appears at the bottom of the sidebar window. Click on it and select the Import bookmarks option:

Alternatively, you can get to this pop-up by clicking the Settings icon and typing “import” in the search bar.

This opens the Import dialogue box, where you can specify the source of the bookmarks you’re importing. If you select the browser directly, Opera will automatically import all the items that you’ve selected in the tick boxes below the browser. You can also transfer the following items along with favourites or bookmarks:

• Passwords
• Browsing history
• Cookies

Once you’ve selected these items, click Import to start importing the bookmarks and all other information. A drop-down menu displays all the supported browsers currently installed on your computer. Select the source browser containing the items you wish to import.

However, if you’ve saved the favourites to an HTML file and want to import them via this file, choose the Bookmarks HTML File option and click the Choose File button. Make sure that “Favourites/Bookmarks” are selected as import items:

Now go to the File Explorer and click the folder where the bookmarks file is saved. When you click Open, Opera will begin importing the bookmarks:

If the import process was successful, Opera will display a success message. In this window, you can also specify whether you want to display the bookmarks bar by toggling to the right or not to display by toggling to the left.

Export Opera bookmarks via add-on

The fact that not all versions of Opera have a built-in feature for exporting bookmarks is not uncommon in the browser world. The developers of Opera have also taken this route and included a built-in bookmark export function in more recent versions of the browser.

If you’re still using an older version of Opera or if your current version doesn’t have the export feature, you have to use third-party add-ons to export your Opera bookmarks.

First, load and install the desired bookmark extension via your browser’s extensions manager. To do this, open the extensions manager by typing about:extensions in the address bar and selecting Get more extensions:

Then type “V7 Bookmarks” in the search bar and press Enter to confirm. In the list of results, click “V7 Bookmarks”. Finally, click the Add to Opera button. Opera will automatically download and install the add-on:

After a few seconds, the add-on is installed, and the V7 Bookmarks settings open automatically. You can make a range of settings here because the add-on is not designed exclusively for exporting Opera bookmarks. It also offers a variety of other features for managing bookmarks.

If the window did not open, or if you want to open it later, you can choose the star icon that was added when the add-on was installed. This icon appears on the sidebar of the browser.. Simply right-click the V7 bookmarks option and choose Options.

Now scroll down in the settings until you see the “Export Opera Bookmarks tree” option. Finally, click the Export to HTML button under this option:

Opera will then export your bookmarks to an HTML document and place this file in your personal Downloads folder.

How to export Opera bookmarks using the built-in function

Because add-ons like V7 Bookmarks offer so many useful features, you can also use these types of extensions if you’ve installed a new version of Opera that already has a built-in export function. You can easily check whether you have this feature:

First, open the Bookmarks Manager by choosing the small heart icon on the left sidebar:

If the feature is already available in your Opera browser, you’ll see the Import/Export button in the lower left corner. Click this button to display the Export bookmarks option for starting the Opera bookmarks export process:

For Opera to back up your bookmarks, all you need to do is select a location for the bookmark file and choose Save:

Store the HTML bookmark file in a safe place if you are using it as a backup. While browsers have cloud-syncing solutions that synchronize your favorites between computers, most browsers don’t have a “roll back” option. If you ever accidentally delete bookmarks on one computer or the sync service makes a mistake, you could lose your bookmarks. A backup HTML file will allow you to get them back.

How to save and restore bookmarks if Opera won’t start?

There are cases when Opera just won’t start and you might get stuck on what to do. How can we save bookmarks? Where do we find the file where Opera keeps bookmarks?

Opera keeps bookmarks in a file named bookmarks.adr or .bak. The file location and extension depends on your operating system and the type of Opera browser you have.

The easiest way to find this file is by using Windows search, just copy bookmarks into the search field and wait for the system to locate it. Then right-click on the file and select “Open file location.”

A folder will open where you will be able to copy this file and use it to replace another after reinstallation of the operating system or the browser.

To see where Opera keeps bookmarks, passwords and so on, open the Opera Browser, then press “Help” and “About Opera,” and a window like the one below will open up:

Conclusion

With a plenitude of browsers now available to choose from, it is all the more important that we remain in sync with all of them.

In this regard, the easiest way is to import your favorite sites and pages across all the browsers that you are in touch with. Manually doing so would take ages and calls for a lot of effort as well.

However, thanks to Opera’s handy import/export functionality, doing so is just a few clicks away.