Bookmarks Not Imported

stevenjcee

stevenjcee

I recently did a whole reset with Opera, and it's now working as it should. However, when I did the Import Bookmarks from Firefox, I can only find a handful, when I have hundreds in my Firefox. Why? And where did it take what few showed from?
Also, even though I did nothing to import them from Safari, I do have a folder "From Safari", that is chock full of bookmarks. However, they appear to be incomplete, and are missing many of the newer ones. Again, I wonder where these came from, as I didn't import them, and they obviously aren't my current, up-to-date ones.

How do I import my current bookmarks from Firefox or Safari. And when I do, will importing them create lots of duplicates, as well? Thanks for any help...

stevenjcee

stevenjcee @stevenjcee

@stevenjcee Now, I've since tried importing them again, from Firefox, and each time, Opera stalls out. The first time, my Mac OS forced a restart, the next time, I manually forced quit Opera. What's going on, can it actually import bookmarks, or no?

stevenjcee

stevenjcee @stevenjcee

@stevenjcee Nobody has a solution? What's the point of posting any questions, if there are no responses?

burnout426

burnout426 Volunteer

In Safari and Firefox, export your bookmarks to an HTML file. Then, at the URL opera://settings/importData in Opera, select "Bookmarks HTML File" in the drop-down and import the HTML file for Safari, and then repeat for Firefox if you want.

When imported, the bookmarks should appear in an "Imported" folder where you can then review them and move them to the folders you want (via the opera://bookmarks page).

As for duplicates, I think Opera will indeed import any duplicates. You'll then have to move any duplicates to the bookmarks trash and empty the trash. Or, at least for duplicates in the same folder, you can wait. Opera every once in a while will run a dedupe function to get rid of duplicates. You can even trigger the dedupe yourself. Goto the URL opera://about, take note of the "profile" path, close Opera, and edit the "Preferences" file in the profile folder with a JSON editor or text editor. There, you can change the root/opera/deduplication_last_successful_run timestamp (to 0 might trigger it). Or, you can try an extension.

As for missing bookmarks and bookmark folders, view the exported bookmark HTML files in a text editor to confirm that the missing ones are actually there. If so, perhaps you could submit the HTML file in a bug report explaining the situation and what items Opera's not importing or freezing at, and post the bug number here.

Another thing you could try is to delete the "Bookmarks" and "BookmarksExtras" files in Opera's profile folder (while Opera is closed). Maybe they're corrupted. Then, you can try importing from the HTML files to see if there's any difference. You could instead just rename your Opera profile folder to test with a new one and delete the new profile folder and rename the old one back when you're done testing.

If you're using Opera Sync, there could be an issue with it and the syncing of bookmarks. Logging out of sync, starting with fresh bookmark files, importing from the HTML files, confirming everything is there, and then logging into Sync could determine if that's the case. It might be necessary to reset sync at https://sync.opera.com/ and start with fresh profiles on all your devices to truly fix things in some cases.

I do have a folder "From Safari", that is chock full of bookmarks. However, they appear to be incomplete, and are missing many of the newer ones. Again, I wonder where these came from, as I didn't import them

On Windows at least, by default, when you install Opera, it'll import bookmarks from the default browser. In the installer, you have to click "options" and uncheck the import option to prevent it. Could be the same way on Mac.

stevenjcee

stevenjcee @burnout426

@burnout426 Tried it again, had it import the selected HTML document of my Safari Bookmarks, and it Immediately stopped responding, and ran out all my RAM & CPU!!!! This is ridiculous, I want to use Opera but it's 100% Dysfunctional! Can't import bookmarks, can't sync, and it constantly must be force quit!!

burnout426

burnout426 Volunteer @stevenjcee

@stevenjcee If you want to email me the HTML file (my address is on my user page), I can see if Opera freezes for me and if so, see if I can figure out what in the file Opera has a problem with.

stevenjcee

stevenjcee @burnout426

@burnout426 Thanks, but I'm afraid it likely won't work. I've also tried importing Firefox bookmarks, and when I hit the import button, it doesn't even function, only a half circular arrow, and it freezes, immediately. Then I have to force quit it, before it runs out all my memory & CPU, and freezes my entire computer!

For some reason, on both my laptop & iMac, for the past few years, Opera just doesn't want to work! With each new update, I try it again, & most times it just freezes up within two minutes, has to be force quit, and that's it, just won't work. This time it at least works, but wont import bookmarks, or sync... Can't figure out why, as both my computers are using completely different OS version, yet Opera won't work right, period... I'll just have to give up on it..

stevenjcee

stevenjcee @stevenjcee

@stevenjcee
Just updated to the newest Opera Verson 91.something, and yet again, the bookmarks won't import my Safari ones! Soon as I select the file and click to import them, this damn thing freezes up, and immediately, all 16 GBs of my RAM are gone! I try to upload a screenshot of this, and it reports an error! Does Anything work right with this browser? I know it used to, years ago, what happened?

stevenjcee

stevenjcee @burnout426

@burnout426 Nothing has worked, and I tried to delete the Opera bookmarks folder, and can't find a single folder labeled as Opera, anywhere on my computer! This is crazy. Each time I try to import, whether from the Safari bookmarks HTML file, or importing Firefox's, Opera immediately freezes, runs out all my RAM, and has to be force quit.... Never had these kinds of issues with any browser, ever...

burnout426

burnout426 Volunteer @stevenjcee

@stevenjcee Goto the URL opera://about, take note of the "profile" path, and close Opera. Then, rename the profile folder as a test so that when Opera starts up, it'll create a new profile folder. Then, test importing into that. When done testing, if you don't want to keep the new profile, close Opera, delete the new profile folder, and rename your old profile back.

If still no different, uninstall Opera and reinstall, and try a new profile again.

For your existing profile, the Bookmarks and BookmarksExtras files that you can delete are in the profile folder. You delete them while Opera is closed.

Really sounds like you have a corrupted profile and or corrupted Opera program files. If so, no update will ever fix those type of issues.

Also, what operating system to you have on your laptop, and what version? What version of MacOS do you have on your iMac? Is it an Intel iMac or an M1/ARM iMac? Or, are you using a really old iMac?

Are you talking a bout regular Opera or Opera GX? What version of Opera? 91 of regular Opera on both computers?

burnout426

burnout426 Volunteer @stevenjcee

@stevenjcee said in Bookmarks Not Imported:

Thanks, but I'm afraid it likely won't work. I've also tried importing Firefox bookmarks, and when I hit the import button, it doesn't even function, only a half circular arrow, and it freezes, immediately. Then I have to force quit it, before it runs out all my memory & CPU, and freezes my entire computer!

Still, providing a minimal bookmarks HTML file that others can try to import to see if they have the problem too or if it's just your Opera and your system would help. Haven't heard of anyone else having your issue.

stevenjcee

stevenjcee @burnout426

@burnout426 said in Bookmarks Not Imported:

Really sounds like you have a corrupted profile and or corrupted Opera program files. If so, no update will ever fix those type of issues.

OK, so if it is, and no update will fix it, what should I do?

burnout426

burnout426 Volunteer @stevenjcee

@stevenjcee Test with a new profile as mentioned above.

stevenjcee

stevenjcee @burnout426

@burnout426 I've already uninstalled & reinstalled Opera, to see if that would help, to no use. At least now Opera functions, through many versions, it wouldn't stay open for even five minutes before stalling out, running up all the CPU usage, and having to be force quit. At this time, it seems the primary issue is just the importing bookmarks function, which I can live without if need be.

The other issue I had was the inability to sync my iMac (OS11.7.1) and my Macbook Pro (OS High Sierra), as every time I tried to do it, nothing would happen, and each computer asked for the code of the other, trapping me in an endless loop. So I erased all that, and will once again try to sync them, from a fresh place, so that one will give me a code I can then input in the other...

Actually I just noticed, when I open Bookmarks, there is a folder with "imported from Firefox" with random folder names: Current Tabs, Reading List, and Unfiled. Under the Unfiled heading, there are thousands of bookmarks in folders marked New, Newer, Newest!
Not sure why or how they got put where they are, or how to somehow organize them better. Why might they have been imported, but without the folder hierarchy of how they were organized in my browser? Also, I don't know how recent the most recent are, as every time I've attempted to import from Firefox, it would stall out Opera,...
I wonder if I should simply delete everything in the Imported From Firefox folder (or remove the file & save on my HD), and try importing, without them being there. Perhaps, when I uninstalled Opera I saved the Bookmarks folder, so that is why it's so full, and won't import correctly?

burnout426

burnout426 Volunteer @stevenjcee

@stevenjcee said in Bookmarks Not Imported:

I've already uninstalled & reinstalled Opera,

Not sure about Mac, but uninstalling and reinstalling on Windows doesn't wipe out your data and cause you to start with a new profile unless you choose the option in the uninstaller to delete your data. You have not mentioned deleting your Opera data, so it sounds like you're still using your old Opera data (profile). If you have then never mind. If you haven't, then it would be something to try to rule out issues iwth your profile.

burnout426

burnout426 Volunteer @stevenjcee

@stevenjcee said in Bookmarks Not Imported:

Perhaps, when I uninstalled Opera I saved the Bookmarks folder, so that is why it's so full, and won't import correctly?

Yes. That's possible. As in, if you start with fresh "Bookmarks" and "BookmarksExtras" files in Opera's profile folder and then import, things might go better.

Actually I just noticed, when I open Bookmarks, there is a folder with "imported from Firefox" with random folder names: Current Tabs, Reading List, and Unfiled. Under the Unfiled heading, there are thousands of bookmarks in folders marked New, Newer, Newest!

If you have existing bookmarks, the importer puts imported bookmarks in an imported folder. So, that's normal. As for the folder names inside that, "unfiled" usually means "other bookmarks". As for the new, newer, newest folders, maybe that comes from Firefox's bookmarks.html you exported or from Firefox's palces.sqlitge bookmarks file if you directly imported from Firefox. I would goto opera://bookmarks, select all bookmarks and folders in the "unfiled" folder and drag them to Opera's "other bookmarks" folder. Then, for bookmarks and folders in New, newer, and newest that are now in Opera's "other bookmarks" folder, I would select all messages in each and drag them to the root of the "other bookmarks" folder and then delete the new, newer and newest folders. For the bookmarks bar, I would select and drag those to Opera's bookmarks bar.

Then, ass for the other bookmark categories from Firefox, I would drag what I wanted from them to "other bookmarks" and then delete the whole "imported from Firefox" folder.

Long story short, Chromium and Firefox bookmark hierarchies are different.

However, if another Chromium-based browser imports from Firefox in a better way, import from Firefox into that browser first. Then import into Opera.