Moved a bookmark, then came back and it was gone .... Using El Capitan 10.11.6

[3000]

Hello: newbie here .. I have a macbook pro. Have been using MacBooks since 2008 so familiar with basic routines. I lost a particular bookmark after moving it. Next day it was gone and no longer on the bookmark shelf. I do not use iCloud so I searched for help via duck duck go and all the possible remedies do not work. For example many tell you to go through various steps via launching Finder while holding down the 'option key' at the same time ..... this does nothing .... but while holding down option key then I am told to to select 'Go' then ' Library ' only trouble is I have no Go or Library that appears or is in my favorites sidebar. I did fumble somehow and got to a library file but there is no Safari listed anywhere but under my applications and if clicked it only displays the Safari version logo etc. Therefore I cannot find the file ' Bookmarks.plist' file anywhere as is suppose to be there following these steps. Apparently this file is suppose have all Safari bookmarks. ... I cannot get this far and if I could then you are to directed to select Time Machine, tap back and hit 'Restore' ... etc. I have a Time Machine backup and can access it directly but it only shows the various 'Finder' pages from my past backups ... but afraid to click anything and do an Irish and loose stuff.

So if anyone would care to hold my hand and direct me in getting my bookmark back it would be appreciated

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

Here is a nice article that may help:

How to Restore Deleted Safari Bookmarks on Mac

Let us know if that helps,

C

 

[3000]

Thanks for your input .... but unfortunately, you are Parroting preciously the same article I critiqued above that simply stated does not work for me .

So here is what I have:

I have Safari & I have Bookmarks in Safari. I have a file in Applications that is Safari that if clicked does nothing but display a banner detailing what version of Safari I have. But I do not have or cannot find a 'Go' link in Finder or a 'Bookmarks.plist file' when following the instructions step by step, ie. via going to Finder then following this 'Fix' step by step. In addition: Even if I could get to this last step as referred to in this Fix Article, although I do have Time Machine but however cannot manipulate it to function as detailed in the Fix article as it only shows repetitive images of my Finder Page of Favorites, which unfortunately does not enlist any of the needed items detailed in the Fix Article. Furthermore, I am uncertain on how to add items to the Finder's favorite list. - Thanks in advance

 

[Cory Cooper]

OK, understood.

Here are the same instructions, with a little more explanation:

Make sure that Safari is not running.

Step #1. Launch Finder on your Mac.
-Click the Desktop itself and you will see Finder in the upper left of the screen in the menu bar.

Step #2. This is a crucial step: hold down your ‘option key’ for some time.
-Keep holding the Option key and perform Step 3

Step #3. Select “Go” and then “Library.” (The library option will not appear unless you hold down the ‘Option’ key.)
-In the menu bar, you will see the word Go, click on it, and halfway down you will see the word Library, right under Home (where the red arrow is pointing below. Click it.

Step #4. Once you see the library, tap open “Safari” folder.

Step #5. There will be a file called ‘Bookmarks.plist’ that has all Safari bookmarks.

Step #6. Next, click and open your Time machine and select “Enter Time Machine.”

Step #7. Time Machine will run in your Safari window. Therefore, you just have to navigate back to the time when you accidentally deleted the bookmarks.

-Navigate to a day/time before you deleted the bookmark, and click it once to highlight it.

Step #8. Tap “Restore” after you have reached the exact day and time.

Step #9. You will be given an option to either keeping original (which replaces the current file) or having both.

-Choose Replace.

Let me know if that works for you,

C

 

[3000]

Thanks C : (Long Version Needed ) ... Something strange is beginning to occur on my system when I cut / move / paste a single bookmark and/or even a block of bookmarks grouped into a single move to a new position within the bookmark side bar. As it happened again today. It has never happened before as I reposition bookmarks around all the time with no problems. I discover the loss by chance when I choose to click and bookmark a site I am currently browsing on. I then discover the previously moved bookmark(s) or block of bookmarks I had just moved just moments before are not listed. Puzzled by this, I then specifically open bookmarks and sure enough the previously moved bookmark or block of bookmarks completely gone from bookmarks bar like they were never there in the first place .... Strange ? . (Note: I did not accidentally delete them, I accurately cut / pasted to relocate them to a new position within bookmarks )

The first occurrence of this was just recently on a single bookmark move that prompted me to originally ask for help here on the forum. I then received your response with instructions on how to get access to bookmarks.plist and time machine to recover. Thank you very much. I did not however have time to do it at that time until today but not before I had again moved a block of bookmarks referred above and lost all of them as well in the exact same fashion. I thought the previous single bookmark loss was an isolated incidence and when i got around to following your instructions I could easily recover it. But today after moving a block of related bookmarks they too disappeared in the same fashion. .... So this is a key clue as to something is going wrong here.

O.K. so I now just followed your instructions to the letter. When I opened Time Machine it listed only todays session but only to when I started todays session. It did however list all my backups on the right hand side bar. I take it I have to have my backup drive plugged in to go back further an access those dates via the backup drive ? I was able to recover my current previous moved block of bookmarks I had just moved today but had no access to my original single bookmark lost about a week ago. I will plug in my backup drive and repeat the same steps to see if I can recover that one.

Any ideas as to what is happening because for now I am not going to move around bookmarks until I find out what is causing this strange phenomenon. Thanks in advance for the detailed instructions as that is what I needed ..... DG

 

[3000]

O.K. ... it happened again. All bookmarks were reinstated and accounted for as reported yesterday. Turned off computer for the night. Came back today and this same chunk of bookmarks are missing again ... just like before. Repeated the same steps but the lost disappearing bookmarks did not come back this time around. Tried with my backup drive plugged in and with that in Time Machine could go back further to last week all before this disappearing act started, clicked restore, kept both files, closed time machine just like before and bang ... no restored lost bookmarks. So what heck is happening here .... Anyone ?