Like many people I have experimented with different internet browsers on my Mac. Currently I use Safari as my main Internet browser but I also need to use Firefox and sometimes prefer to use it depending on what I'm doing. This however leaves me with a real dilemma... how do I keep my bookmarks in sync?

Sometimes I will find myself opening Safari only to find the site I bookmarked is only in my Firefox bookmarks. This means I have to go through the process of opening the site in Firefox and copying the URL in Safari and re-bookmarking the site. While this does work, it takes valuable time, and there are better ways of doing this. *Here are a few of those ways.

Option 1: The manual way

One way to keep your bookmarks up to date is by exporting the bookmarks from either browser and then importing them into other every time you switch browsers. This is a relatively simple process and is similar between all the major browsers.

I have included Safari and Firefox as examples but they will work for Chrome or Opera as well. (Please keep in mind that I am using the latest versions of these programs.)

Importing or Exporting your bookmarks to Safari

1. Importing

In Safari go to File>Import Bookmarks.



Find your saved bookmark file and click Import. The bookmark files will usually come in the form of an .html document which you can export from your other browser like I have outlined below.

2. Exporting

In Safari go to File>Export Bookmarks.



Select a location to store your bookmarks and hit Save. Safari will save a .html file with all your bookmarks in it for you to upload into another browser.

Importing or exporting bookmarks to Firefox

1. Importing

If you are using Firefox like I am they have a great importing tool which will automatically go through the process of not only importing bookmarks but also importing any settings or browser history from all the other major browsers. To use it head to File>Import and then follow the step-by-step process.

2. Exporting

Exporting in Firefox is more of an involved process then in Safari but it is still relatively easy.

To export first head to Bookmarks>Organize Bookmarks.



Click on the button with the star and click on Export Html.



Now choose a location to save the file and hit Save.



You now a file which can be uploaded into another browser like Safari.

Option 2: The automatic way

If you're like me even the manual process is a little bit tedious. I spent a long while thinking that there must be a better way to keep my bookmarks in sync... and there is. It's called Xmarks (www.xmarks.com).



Xmarks is a free program which automatically syncs your bookmarks from your browser to the Xmarks server on a regular basis. This means that all of your bookmarks can be stored in a safe location for you to access on any computer you have, whether it's running OSX, Windows, or Linux. You can even access your bookmarks through the online system on your iPhone or on say a work computer.

Xmarks for Safari

To install Xmarks for Safari go to the download page (http://download.xmarks.com/download/all)*and choose the version of OSX which you are running. Download the .dmg image file and install.

You will need to sign-up for a free account with Xmarks so that they can store a copy of your bookmarks on the server which you can access from anywhere.

Xmarks will add a small X icon to the taskbar once it's installed which you can use to manually synchronise your bookmarks if you need.

Xmarks for Firefox

Xmarks for Firefox comes in the form of an add-on. To install all you need to do is go to Tools>Add-ons, click on the Get Add-ons tab and search for Xmarks. You will get a couple of options, the one you want is Xmarks Bookmark and Password Sync.

You can also find this on the Firefox Add-ons website (https://addons.mozilla.org/).



Firefox will want to be restarted after you install the add-on. Once you have done this Xmarks will be installed and ready to use.

Keeping both Safari and Firefox in sync

If like me, you want to run both Safari and Firefox on the same system you will need to install Xmarks for both Safari and Firefox. First go through the process of setting up Xmarks in Safari, then go through the process in Firefox. Once you have both installed they will automatically stay in sync with the Xmarks server.