Wonderful!!!! Yay! I am over the moon as it turned out to be very simple, too. Thank you so much!

It's a little too late to suggest that, ya think?

It's a little too late to suggest that, ya think?

@leocg Every time there is a Windows update, it screws up my computer in some way (printer inoperable or unrecognized, Google wouldn't open & had to reinstall, and other issues). I am 72 years old and not computer savvy. I thought that by paying for tech support service that it would be helpful at my age so that I didn't have to bring it in for repairs all the time. I also thought that maintaining my computer by cleaning it every month that it might extend the life of my computer.

Unfortunately, the bookmarks I saved on Chrome are very old ones, not the current ones I saved on Opera. I still don't understand if Opera was my default browser (translation: the most important browser I have) that this is the one that was sweeped clean. Doesn't make sense.

I also don't understand the difference between cache and cookies and removing those w/o ruining your bookmarks or favorites.

Thank you for your assistance.

@leocg I thought I was doing a "monthly cleanup" like I had done many times before through OfficeMax online tech support. In the past, I opened their link, submitted my request for "monthly cleanup," and I did not lose bookmarks. This time though, my choices were "disc cleaning," "browser cleaning" (would that have removed all browsers? I don't know), another type of cleaning, and "full cleanup." I thought it was going to remove all superfluous stuff that I did not need and create more space. Instead, I ended up one step up from totally wiping it. I ended up with my 2-1/2 yr old computer not recognizing me anywhere.

As I noted, this "cleaning" did not get rid of bookmarks in Google Chrome or Bing Edge; only Opera, which is where the majority of my bookmarks were since I use Opera as my default. Impossible to recreate over 300 bookmarks. Guess I will just build my bookmarks in Chrome from now on as that is where some of them are. Still missing some, but will not import to Opera b/c I could lose them again.

Since I am unable to find 300+ bookmarks I saved and lost about 40 speed dials, I think it's time to abandon Opera and use Chrome or Edge. Not going to recreate speed dials and lost precious bookmarks I created over the past 2-1/2 years.

I did a "monthly cleanup" on tech support several months ago and did not lose Opera bookmarks that time, even though I did not back them up. This time was different and after spending 5 hours in cue for help and then not being able to find them, it is time to throw in the towel and go in another direction.

Also, why didn't Opera have alerts or notices to be sure to back up all of this stuff? Read all the other stuff they sent me or that I saw to set up Opera, but not one single word about backing up bookmarks and/or speed dials. My bad, but Opera's too.

If I cannot recapture lost bookmarks, I guess I won't be using this browser anymore. Way too risky and reckless!

I can probably recreate the speed dials, but I lost hundreds of bookmarks. aren't they stored somewhere?

I did not do a backup. I thought Opera kept speed dials b/c I was logged in. I believe sync was enabled. not sure. why does cleanup obliterate Opera browser, but not Chrome or Edge?

I did a full cleanup of my computer through tech support and I lost all of my speed dial icons and bookmarks. what a nightmare. how do I recover speed dial icons and bookmarks?

Wonderful!!!! Yay! I am over the moon as it turned out to be very simple, too. Thank you so much!

A couple of times my computer crashed and I lost all of my Opera Speed Dial tiles (special web sites). Is there a way to save them? Luckily, I took a screen shot of them so I could at least replicate them. Same thing with Opera Bookmarks. They all disappear, never to be found again. Opera is my default browser. Thanks!