1. Back Up Your Bookmarks First

Deleting large numbers of bookmarks can be tough. What if you need some obscure web page you bookmarked three years ago?

To avoid this stress, back up your bookmarks first. Your browser can export your bookmarks to an HTML file. If you ever need some bookmarks you deleted, you can view the HTML file in your browser—or even import it and get all your deleted bookmarks back.

It’s easy to start deleting large numbers of bookmarks if they’re backed up. You can always find them again if you need them—and there’s a good chance you won’t need them.

2. Here’s how to back up your bookmarks in all the big browsers:

• Google Chrome: Click menu > Bookmarks > Bookmark Manager. Click the menu button at the top right corner of the Bookmark Manager page and select “Export Bookmarks.”
• Mozilla Firefox: Click menu > Library > Bookmarks > Show All Bookmarks. In the Library window, click Import and Backup > Export Bookmarks to HTML.
• Apple Safari: Click File > Export Bookmarks. Give your file a name and choose a save location.
• Microsoft Edge: Click menu > Settings > General > Import or Export. Select “Favorites” and click the “Export to File” button.
• Internet Explorer: Click the Favorites (star) icon on the toolbar, click the down arrow to the right of Add to Favorites, and select “Import and Export.” Select “Export to a File,” click “Next,” select “Favorites,” click “Next,” select the main “Favorites” folder, click “Next,” choose a location for the file, and click “Export.”

Save your bookmarks somewhere safe, such as a Dropbox, Google Drive, or Microsoft OneDrive folder.

After you’re done, you can double-click the .html file to view its contents. You can open the file and use Ctrl+F to search for bookmarks, or use your browser’s bookmark import function to restore the bookmarks into your browser

3. Now you can start deleting bookmarks. It’s probably easier to do this in your web browser’s bookmarks manager. For example, to open it in Chrome, click menu > Bookmarks > Bookmark Manager.

You can right-click a bookmark or folder and select “Delete” to delete it, or left-click a bookmark and press the Delete key on your keyboard. To select multiple bookmarks, hold the Ctrl key down as you left-click them. To select a range of bookmarks, click one, hold the Shift key down, and then click another. You can hold the Ctrl key and click selected bookmarks to deselect them. Press the Command key instead of the Ctrl key on a Mac.

Assuming you’re syncing your browser data, this will also clean up your messy bookmarks on your phone. You can, of course, manage bookmarks on your phone or tablet instead. Those changes will sync to the browser on your PC or Mac4. If even this is too much for you, you can get them out of your sight. Press Ctrl+A to select all the visible bookmarks. On a Mac, press Command+A instead. You can then drag them into another folder—for example, you could drag them into the “Other Bookmarks” folder on Chrome, or even create another folder for them. Then you can place the ones you do want to use in the top level, and all the clutter will be hidden behind that folder.

This is a good compromise between immediately erasing those bookmarks and having them in your face all day. Place those bookmarks in a hidden folder and, if you ever use a bookmark, move it out of the folder. When you’re comfortable that you don’t need the bookmarks in the folder, you can delete the entire folder. After all, you still have that bookmark backup file, anyway.