The bookmark bar appears below the address bar and holds your most-used website links
Chrome's bookmark bar is a row of clickable links that sits between your address bar and the web page itself. It stores shortcuts to websites you visit often — documentation, testing tools, design resources, whatever you need to reach quickly without typing or searching. The bar is hidden by default, but turning it on takes one click.
Once visible, you can drag websites onto it, organize them into folders, and delete links you no longer need. The bar syncs across all your devices if you sign into Chrome with the same account, so your bookmarks follow you from your laptop to your work computer.
Key Takeaways
- Press Ctrl+Shift+B on Windows or Command+Shift+B on Mac to show or hide the bookmark bar when ready.
- You can also turn the bar on through Chrome's menu: click the three-dot icon, select Settings, then toggle "Show bookmarks bar" under Appearance.
- Drag any open website onto the bookmark bar to save it as a quick link, or right-click the page and choose "Bookmark this page".
- Create folders within the bookmark bar to group related links — right-click the bar itself and select "Add folder".
- The bookmark bar syncs automatically across devices when you sign into Chrome with your Google account.
Show the bookmark bar with a keyboard shortcut
The fastest way to toggle the bookmark bar on and off is a keyboard shortcut. On Windows, press Ctrl+Shift+B. On Mac, press Command+Shift+B. The bar will appear or disappear when ready below your address bar.
This shortcut works the same way every time — press it once to show the bar, press it again to hide it. If you use the bookmark bar only sometimes, this shortcut lets you reclaim screen space when you do not need it.
Turn on the bookmark bar through Chrome's settings
If you prefer to use the menu instead of a keyboard shortcut, click the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner of Chrome. Select Settings from the dropdown.
On the left side of the Settings page, click Appearance. Look for the toggle next to "Show bookmarks bar" and click it to turn the bar on. The bar will appear below your address bar when ready, and this setting will stay on until you turn it off again.
Add a website to the bookmark bar
Once the bookmark bar is visible, you can add websites to it in two ways. The simplest is to drag: navigate to any website, then drag the favicon (the small icon next to the URL in the address bar) down onto the bookmark bar. Release it, and the site is saved.
The second method works if dragging feels awkward. Right-click anywhere on the page and select Bookmark this page. A small dialog box opens. Change the name if you want something shorter than the page title, make sure "Bookmarks bar" is selected in the folder dropdown, then click Save.
Either way, the link now appears on your bookmark bar. Click it anytime to jump to that website when ready.
Organize bookmarks into folders
If you add many bookmarks, the bar gets crowded. Create folders to group related links together. Right-click on an empty space in the bookmark bar and select Add folder. Type a name — "Testing Tools", "Design Resources", "Documentation" — and press Enter.
Now drag bookmarks into that folder. Click the folder to see all the links inside. You can also right-click a bookmark and select Edit to move it to a different folder, or drag it between folders directly.
Folders collapse when you are not using them, so they take up minimal space on the bar while keeping your links organized.
Edit or remove bookmarks from the bar
Right-click any bookmark on the bar to see your options. Select Edit to change its name or move it to a different folder. Select Delete to remove it from the bookmark bar entirely — this does not delete the bookmark from Chrome, just removes the shortcut from the bar.
You can also drag bookmarks around to reorder them. Click and hold a bookmark, then drag it left or right to a new position on the bar.
Sync bookmarks across devices
If you sign into Chrome with a Google account, your bookmarks sync automatically to every device where you sign in with that same account. Your bookmark bar on your laptop will match your bookmark bar on your work computer.
To check that sync is on, click the three-dot menu, go to Settings, then click Sync and Google services on the left. Make sure "Sync everything" is selected, or at minimum that "Bookmarks" is checked. Sync happens in the background whenever you add, edit, or delete a bookmark.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I have different bookmarks on different devices?
Not if you are signed into the same Google account on both devices — sync keeps them identical. If you want device-specific bookmarks, sign into Chrome with different accounts on each device, or turn off sync for bookmarks in Settings.
What if I accidentally delete a bookmark from the bar?
The bookmark still exists in Chrome's full bookmark library. Press Ctrl+Shift+B (or Command+Shift+B on Mac) to open the bookmark manager, find the bookmark in the list, and drag it back onto the bar. Or right-click it and select "Add to bookmarks bar".
Can I rename a bookmark to make it shorter?
Yes. Right-click the bookmark on the bar and select Edit. Change the name to anything you want — shorter names take up less space on the bar. Click Save when you are done.
Does the bookmark bar work the same way on Chrome mobile?
Chrome on phones and tablets does not display a bookmark bar by default. You can access your bookmarks by tapping the three-dot menu and selecting Bookmarks. The bookmarks themselves sync across devices, but the bar interface is desktop-only.