Where to look for bookmarks in Xiaomi phone: a detailed guide for all models

Have you accidentally closed an important tab in your browser or can't find a previously saved bookmark on your Xiaomi? The problem is familiar to many users of smartphones of this brand. Unlike iPhone or devices on pure Android, MIUI firmware has its own peculiarities of bookmarking - they can "hide" in unexpected places depending on the browser used and the version of the system.

In this article, we’ll look at all the possible ways to access bookmarks on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO phones, from the standard Mi Browser browser to Google Chrome and Firefox. You’ll learn where saved pages are stored in the device’s memory, how to export or restore them after a reset, and why bookmarks sometimes disappear after a MIUI update. Particular attention will be paid to hidden folders of the system where MIUI reserves browser data – this information will come in handy if standard methods do not work.

1. Bookmarks in the standard Mi Browser browser

Mi Browser is Xiaomi's proprietary browser, preinstalled on all MIUI devices. It's bookmarks organized differently than in Chrome or Safari, so users often don't find them. The main menu with saved pages is hidden behind the "★" icon in the bottom bar.

To open the bookmarks in Mi Browser:

• 📱 Open your browser and tap the tabs** icon in the bottom menu.
• 📁 Select the Bookmark tab (sometimes called Favorites) and you'll see all the pages you've saved.
• 🔍 To find a specific bookmark, use the search bar at the top of the screen.
• 📤 To export bookmarks, click ⋮ → Export/Import → Export to file (not available on all versions of MIUI).

If bookmarks don't show up, check to see if they're hidden in the Archive folder (available in some browser versions). Also make sure you don't use guest mode - it doesn't save bookmarks.

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In Mi Browser, bookmarks sync with your Xiaomi account. If you are logged in to another account, the old bookmarks may not show up. Check your sync settings in Profile → Account Settings

2 Where Chrome bookmarks are stored on Xiaomi

Google Chrome is the most popular browser among Xiaomi users, but there are nuances here too: bookmarks can “disappear” after a system update or reset if sync with your Google account was not enabled.

To find bookmarks in Chrome:

1. Open your browser and tap on the three dots in the upper right corner.
2. Select Bookmarks (star icon) and all saved pages, including folders, will be displayed here.
3. If there are no bookmarks, check if synchronization is enabled: go to Settings → Your profile → Synchronization.

On Xiaomi with MIUI 12-14, there is sometimes a bug when Chrome bookmarks are not displayed, although sync is enabled.

• 🔄 Reboot the phone.
• 📥 Update Chrome to the latest version on Google Play.
• 🗑️ Clear the browser cache in Settings → Apps → Chrome → Memory → Clear the cache.

3. Search bookmarks through the file manager

If bookmarks are missing from the browser, you can try to find them manually through the file system. MIUI stores browser data in hidden folders, access to which requires the inclusion of the display of hidden files.

Instructions for finding Mi Browser bookmarks:

1. Open Files (the standard file manager of Xiaomi).
2. Go to the internal memory → miui → browser → app_browser.
3. Find the bookmarks.db file or bookmarks_backup.db is a bookmarked database.

For Google Chrome, the path is different:

/data/data/com.android.chrome/app_chrome/Default/Bookmarks

Please note: access to /data/data/ is only possible with root rights or through ADB. Without them, you will see only an empty folder.

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If you don’t plan on getting root rights, the only way to restore Chrome bookmarks is to use sync with your Google account or backup via MIUI.

4. Recovery of remote bookmarks

There are several ways to get it back on Xiaomi:

Method 1: Browser history

• 🕒 In the Mi Browser, open a History (the icon of the watch in the bottom menu) and find the page you want. A long click on URL will allow you to bookmark it back.
• 🔄 In Chrome, go to History → Show the full story and mark the page with an asterisk.

Method 2: Backup of MIUI

If you backed up through Settings → Additional → Backup, the bookmarks could be saved in the archive.

1. Go to Settings → Memory → Backup copies.
2. Select the last copy and click Restore.
3. Make sure that the Browser or Applications item is marked in the data list for recovery.

Make sure your phone has enough memory | Connect to Wi-Fi (recovery may take time) | Close all browsers before starting | Check that the backup contains browser data-->

Method 3: Synchronize with the cloud

If your bookmarks were synced with Xiaomi Cloud or Google Account, you can return them:

• 🌐 For Mi Browser: Go to Profile → Account Settings → Sync and enable the Browser option.
• 🔗 For Chrome: Sign in to your Google account and wait for automatic sync (can take up to 10 minutes).

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If the bookmarks haven't recovered from sync, try logging out and logging in again, sometimes resetting the sync cache.

5.Why bookmarks are missing and how to avoid it

Xiaomi users often face the problem of bookmarks disappearing.

• 🔄 Update MIUI: When you upgrade to a new firmware version, browser settings are sometimes reset.
• 🧹 Cache Clearing: If you manually cleared your browser data through Settings → Apps, bookmarks could be removed.
• 🔋 Reset to factory settings: Without backup, all local bookmarks will be lost.
• 👥 Change of account: Bookmarks are linked to a Xiaomi or Google profile, and when you log out, they disappear.

To avoid losing bookmarks:

⚠️ Warning: Never clear your browser data through Settings → Apps → Clear data. This will delete all bookmarks, history and saved passwords. Instead, use the Clear cache option - it's secure.

Conservation recommendations:

• ☁️ Enable bookmark sync with Xiaomi Cloud or Google Account.
• 📥 Regularly back up through Settings → Additional → Backup.
• 📌 Export bookmarks to the.html file (in Chrome this is done via ⋮ → Bookmarks → Bookmark Export).

6. Alternative ways to manage bookmarks

If standard methods are not satisfactory, consider alternative options:

Applications for bookmark management

• 📱 Bookmark Manager – allows you to import/export bookmarks between browsers.
• 🔗 Raindrop.io – cloud-based bookmark storage service with extensions for Chrome and Firefox.
• 📁 Pocket – saves pages to read later and syncs between devices.

Use of widgets

On Xiaomi, you can add a browser widget to the main screen for quick access to bookmarks:

1. Long press on the free place of the main screen.
2. Pick the Widgets.
3. Find the Mi Browser or Chrome widget and drag it to the screen.
4. In the widget settings, select the display of Bookmarks.

Voice search bookmarks

MIUI 13/14 has a voice control feature:

• Activate Google Assistant or Xiao AI (for Chinese firmware).
• Say, “Open bookmarks in Chrome” or “Show me my saved pages.”
• The assistant will open the browser with the bookmarks section or offer to select the desired page.

7. Frequent errors and their solutions

Let’s discuss the typical problems with bookmarks on Xiaomi and how to fix them.

Problem 1: Bookmarks are not synced with Xiaomi Cloud

• Check if synchronization is enabled in Settings → Xiaomi Account → Sync → Browser.
• Make sure you have the latest version of the Mi Browser installed on your phone.
• Restart the device and wait for automatic synchronization (can take up to 5 minutes).

Problem 2: Chrome has no bookmarks after resetting settings

⚠️ Warning: If you reset to factory settings without a backup, local Chrome bookmarks will be lost forever.The only way to get them back is if they were synced to your Google account before the reset. In which case, just log in to your account after you set up your phone.

Issue 3: Bookmarks are duplicated

This is a common problem when using multiple browsers or accounts to eliminate duplicates:

• In Mi Browser, go to Bookmarks → ⋮ → Remove duplicates.
• In Chrome, use the Bookmark Duplicates Cleaner extension.
• Turn off bookmark synchronization in one of the browsers if you use both.

Problem 4: Saved pages are not opened

If you click on the bookmark there is an error:

• Check your Internet connection.
• Update your browser to the latest version.
• Clear the browser cache in Settings → Apps → [Browser] → Memory → Clear the cache.
• If the page is deleted, try to find it through the Wayback Machine (archive.org).

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions