Bookmarks Sync still a problem
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operalinknx1 last edited by
Deleted bookmarks keep reappearing no matter how many times you delete them.
Reset sync data by going to
https://sync.opera.com
does not workHow to reproduce :
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Have 2 or more devices (Windows and Android)
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Have quite a large number of bookmarks ready to Delete
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Delete bookmarks from first Windows device
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Start the second Windows device, and book marks from that device will sync back to the first device regardless of whether they were already deleted or not.
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Delete bookmarks off the first device again
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Go to https://sync.opera.com and reset sync.
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Log out, close Opera on both devices, and restart first device, then Log In to begin Syncronization
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Start Second, or third, or both 2nd and 3rd devices
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All of those deleted bookmarks will be back regardless of the time they were deleted.
The Sync is not acting as a Sync feature, its acting as a Backup feature, and if that is the case, then its not keeping snapshots allowing users to have a snap shot of their bookmarks rather than forcibly re-adding deleted bookmarks back onto their devices.
If you play around with a few combinations of the steps above, you will notice that bookmark Sync feature is broken and that can be a really frustrating experience once you have set up your Main 1 or 2 devices, and later you fire up your Android version from your box or from a phone you have not used in a while, all of the old book marks start populating back into your new Setup.
Not good, please fix your Syncing, and if it is a backup feature, then please seperate the two into Sync or snapshot. As a "main" browser, this is very crucial to workflow and when bookmarks are out of order, or old deleted bookmarks start to show and get in the way, it becomes very frustrating, specially for those who are constantly doing research and information gathering for their work or school projects.
Also, this is not a new problem, its been happening for a year.
Thanks and hope this can be seen by developers.
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operalinknx1 last edited by
Yes I clean up the trash folder immediately so all trashes are clean on all devices.
Also I believe there is a device page somewhere where I can delete and re-add a device but I can't seem to find that page. -
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operalinknx1 last edited by
There is most definitely an issue with Sync and its not a new problem I have been seeing very odd behaviour over the last few months.
Symptoms such as
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Devices not syncing upon book mark updating
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Synchronization logged in, but not updating
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Old deleted bookmarks being re-introduced into cleaned up folders
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Multiple devices listed in "Other Speed Dials" section of bookmarks without any date on which one is the most up to date
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Newly created Bookmark folder on 1 device with bookmarks copied from another folder either one original device, or from another device, not showing up on second PC or Tablet.
There are some really glaring issues in Bookmark management and they should be addressed before they cause a serious problem for someone.
Right now it appears that the bookmark system is more of an "Backup" than a Sync. If this is the case there should be a seperate backup system.
Sync feature should provide a date by which is the latest because it is very difficult to tell when you have hte same Device listed multiple times in "Other Speed Dials"
Please fix these problems as Opera is my main browser.
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burnout426 Volunteer last edited by
Might not solve all your problems (or any), but to make sure things are in tip-top shape, I would:
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Delete the bookmarks you need to on your Windows Opera and empty the trash.
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Export your bookmarks on
opera://bookmarks. -
Delete all your bookmarks on all other devices and make sure to empty the trash.
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Close down Opera and delete the Bookmarks and Bookmarks Extra files and the Sync Data folder in the profile folder. See
opera://aboutfor the path. (You'll customized thumbnails for your speed dials.)
Also, where possible on other devices, kill Opera and delete the actual bookmark files and sync files.
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Goto sync.opera.com in another browser and reset your sync data.
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Start Opera, log into sync if not already logged in, goto
opera://bookmarksand import your bookmarks html file that you exported. Then, let that sync to all your other devices.
That should at least take care of currently-deleted bookmarks.
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operalinknx1 last edited by
Thanks for the step by step, however I am hoping the devs look into this issue as it appears every few months. It is a pain to fix because Duplicates or renamed bookmarks start appearing from somewhere even though Sync data was cleared out.
These bookmarks are somehow appearing from other devices which instead of downloading bookmarks from the most current PC, uploads them from lesser used PCs and distributes them to every device.This really needs a timestamp based fix, an actual sync not just an image feature which if its there should act more as a backup image and not propagate into the main bookmarks.
Thanks again
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burnout426 Volunteer last edited by burnout426
In testing with desktop Operas:
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Resetting your sync data at sync.opera.com doesn't wipe out all the bookmarks that are on each device. If you sign out (restart of Opera might be required) and sign back in with an Opera, that Opera will reupload all its bookmarks to the server so that all other devices get those bookmarks again. If you have multiple devices and they all sign into sync again, they're all going to reupload their bookmarks. But, doing so won't produce duplicates.
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Moving a bookmark to the bookmark trash will do the same in all other Operas. Emptying those bookmarks from the trash will then do the same for all other Operas.
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Renaming a bookmark (or changing its URL) in one Opera will rename it ( or change its URL) in all other Opera's too. It won't produce a duplicate.
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Moving a bookmark from one folder to another in one Opera will move it in all other Operas too. It won't produce a copy or duplicate.
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Speed Dial handling is a little weird (intentionally so you can have separate Speed Dials per device). Speed Dials from each of the other Operas won't show in the Speed Dial folder. They'll show in the "Other Speed Dial" folder under a device folder. Messing with the Speed Dial in the device folder will also sync the action for the device in question. And, if you have 2 Operas using sync on the same computer, the might both show the same device name in each Opera, but they'll be referring to the other Opera. In cases where you want to add a speed dial from another Opera to the Opera in question, you'll need to select it from the "other speed dials" device folder, copy it and then paste it into the "Speed Dial" folder. If you cut or drag it, it'll remove it off the other Opera. Removing a speed dial device folder will remove speed dials on that device. But, it gets a little hairy as then Opera might create a blank "Speed Dial" folder under "Other Speed Dials" in addition to creating a new device folder. It gets a little hairy, but that's the way it is.
So, it's working as expected in my case. Perhaps Android Opera syncs funny and causes bugs. If so, it might have something to do with Android Opera using your Google account for sync if it does where its connected to your Opera account as seen on https://auth.opera.com/account/edit-profile. Not sure.
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operalinknx1 last edited by
Again, thank you so much for taking you time to provide detailed and helpful responses. I am definitely bookmarking your reply for future reference. Hope you have a good weekend, Cheers!
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operalinknx1 last edited by
I forgot to ask you if there is a "Device" page where each specific device can be removed until Bookmarks there are fixed before Loging into so that they won't upload 'junk' bookmarks back onto the server? So far I have not been able to find this option, but if it exists it would make things a lot easier to remove the problem device temporarily and help for resetting Sync data on server.
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burnout426 Volunteer last edited by
@operalinknx1 There's just the device category at sync.opera.com. Nothing where you can edit thing or control things for each device, unfortunately.
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operalinknx1 last edited by
@burnout426 Sorry about the late reply. Ok I figured that out. Is there anyway to make a suggestion to Developers so that we can Remove and Resync per device?
For example:
Device 1: You use this daily, your bookmarks etc are always upto date.
Device 2: You use this maybe once a day, or for very short periods per day.
Device 3: You use this device once a month, and Here is where the problems starts. This device contains out dated bookmarks and information, which then gets Resynced back to the Opera server, and from there, this information makes its way back onto your Device 1 and 2.
This is a very time consuming challenge to sort out and it would be nice to please contact the developers and let them know we are facing such issues. Maybe they could let us control Per Device settings, and use Sync by time in mirror or backup mode?
Let me know if you can pass this along. Thanks again, and Happy Holidays!
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burnout426 Volunteer last edited by
@operalinknx1 said in Bookmarks Sync still a problem:
Device 3: You use this device once a month, and Here is where the problems starts. This device contains out dated bookmarks and information, which then gets Resynced back to the Opera server, and from there, this information makes its way back onto your Device 1 and 2.
That really just sounds like a bug and shouldn't happen. When you open Opera on #3, it should sync changes from other Opera and remove/edit bookmarks as necessary.
You can file a bug here. But, you're going to need lots of details for each Opera and what system each Opera is running on. You're also going to need exact details on what bookmarks fail to get removed/edited where the server acts like "Hey, I haven't seen these before. They're newly-added and I need to sync them to all other devices". Otherwise, no one will probably be able to reproduce the bug.
Is there anyway to make a suggestion to Developers so that we can Remove and Resync per device?
You can post in https://forums.opera.com/category/15/suggestions-and-feature-requests to make a suggestion and a developer might see it and or someone can FYI a developer about it.
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operalinknx1 last edited by
@burnout426 Hello there!
All of what you are saying sounds reasonable, I just don't have the time to go through all of that. But yes, that is a bug and I have gone through it many times. The old book marks would not get deleted, and make their way back.
Right now, the easiest and fastest method I have come up with is,
on Device 3: I deleted /Appdata/Local/Opera Software and /Appdata/Roaming/Opera Software
I copied /Roaming/Opera Software from the device where everything works properly, To the device from which the out dated bookmarks kept syncing back.
So far it is all good, but yes Opera Sync has bugs and I am sure the developers know about it. It may not happen to everyone, or may not even be reported. But I don't have the time to become a beta tester at this point.
Thank you again, and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you good sir.
