how do I delete my iCloud bookmarks and upload a new bookmark file

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Last night I decided to give a try to BookMacster (after reading Kramme's post).

So today, after TWO YEARS, I finally got rid of around 16K ghost iCloud entries in my favorites!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm happy to have been able to help out.

Nothing ever worked for me and I've been waiting for this for a long time, Safari 6.1 released yesterday. I held and selected 25,000 bookmarks and deleted them in one shot. A couple of minutes later they were gone on my ipad mini and iphone. First time. Finally fixed.

Kramme Thanks, that is really helpful. I too found BookaMacster having previously been a user of Bookdog. My problem was that I wsn't patient enough to wait. Having gone through most of the steps you outlined. Then, sure enough, suddenly all my iMac bookmarks were there on my iPad without any duplicates. Good stuff chum. :-)

Sorry, but where can I find bookmark synch on iCloud. This function doesn't exist. I have the latestiPad, latest iPhone , qwith all their updates and an iMac 10.8.5.

All the bookmakrs keep coming back. I deleted the list in the library, switched off Safari in iCloud, but there is nothing in iCloud pointing towards bookmarkd. Really need a stepb by step guide for Dummies on that one, please.

Many thanks, Anita

Anita, if you're looking for bookmarks control on http://icloud.com, you are correct that there is none, because Apple has chosen to not provide it. Your bookmarks are in there, but you can't see them.

Regarding the step-by-step procedures for deleting all bookmarks, if you look at the previous pages in this thread, you will see my two posts on June 28, 2013. The first post has a step-by-step procedure for iOS and the second one has a step-by-step procedure for Macs. You need to do these steps on all of your iOS devices and all of your Macs.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "delete the list in library". If you mean that you deleted the file ~/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist, then that is why your bookmarks keep coming back. Touching that file while iCloud-Safari syncing is on will cause iCloud to become iThunderCloud. Don't touch it.

Thanks Jerome, tried it out. But doesn't work. As soon as I click in Cloud in Safari again, the list re- appears. I need to get rid of the Favourites in iCloud. Also, as I had in the past deleted bookmark.plist, I don't know what this means. what means Thunder Cloud. Am I stuck now with this problem forever. I need to research for a project and want to create new Bookmarks and don't want to have the old ones hanging around. But just before When I deleted them, now some of the useful new ones are gone.

also based on your step by step description, the things you mention don't appear on my screen the same way.

I have an iMac with 10.8.5 a

s mentioned i have deleted all the bookmarks already, but ones I go System Preferences, the to Cloud, the window will have several things ticked on, like Safari too and All the Favourites and Bookmarks are back. Or only a part of it and they are not the right ones. I have some bookmarks here now which I don't want to delete. I need to be able to open iCloud and not having all the stuff re- appear again.

That's why I ask this question. Is there a way to get into the iCloud account and delete the things there?

Many thanks,

Anita

Let's take the simple stuff first. iThunderCloud is a funny name I made up to express what happens when iCloud gets upset and starts uncontrollably raining down bookmarks on you. It's a joke.

Second, on your Mac

• Click in the menu:  > System Preferences.

• Click the iCloud section.

• Switch OFF the checbox for Safari.

• Quit System Preferences.

• Activate Safari.

• Click in the menu: Bookmarks > Edit Show All Bookmarks. A window will open.

• Delete all of the bad, duplicate bookmarks.

• Click in the menu: File > Export bookmarks

• Enter the name and desired location of a temporary file.

Safari will create an html file that will be safe from iCloud.

Before continuing, we need to identify all of the Macs, iOS devices, or Windows PCs you have may ever have been connected to iCloud. Please list those in your next reply.

Hi Jerome,

Thanks for your help. i have an I Mac with 10.8, an iphone 5c and ipad with OS7. they all have been sharing over iCloud and I would like to use it as i need to research online more or less on all 3 devices.

Many thanks,

Anita

OK, Anita. So first of all, on your Mac, you should do all the steps indicated in my previous message. Then, go to your iPhone and do this

• Go to the Home screen.
• Scrolling screens if necessary, find and then tap the app named Settings.
• In the left column, tap iCloud.
• In the right column find the switch for Safari.
• If Safari is OFF, turn it ON and then wait for bookmarks and other data to sync.
• Switch Safari to OFF. A dialog titled Turn off Safari will appear. There are three choices/buttons. The middle choice/button is Delete from My iPad.
• Tap that middle button.
• Activate Safari.
• Verify that all bookmarks are gone.

Then, go to your iPad and repeat the above steps.

Now go back to Safari on your Mac.

• Go back into Bookmarks > Edit Bookmarks. A tab will open, or re-open.

• Delete all bookmarks and all folders. (This is OK because remember you'd earlier saved off the ones you wanted to a file.)

• In System Preferences, switch iCloud-Safari back on.

• Wait a few minutes. If bookmarks or folders reappear, delete them.

• Repeat the cycle of waiting and deleting until all bookmarks and folders are gone and do not reappear.

• Switch System Preferencees > iCloud-Safari ON.

• Wait a few minutes. If bookmarks or folders reappear, delete them.

• Switch System Preferencees > iCloud-Safari ON.

• Wait a few minutes.

• Repeat switching System Preferences > iCloud-Safari ON, OK to Merge, wait, OFF, wait, ON, OK to Merge, and verify that no bookmarks reappear. If bookmarks or folders reappear, delete them. (Yes, the idea here is that you are beating it into submission.) Eventually, you should prevail.

• Wait overnight, then run your computer (if you'd shut it down or slept it) for an hour to make sure that no bookmarks or folders reappear.

• Repeat switching System Preferences > iCloud-Safari ON, wait, OFF, wait, ON and verify that no bookmarks reappear. End the cycle with iCloud-Safari ON.

• On both of your iOS devices, in Settings, switch iCloud-Safari back on and Merge. Verify that no bookmarks reappear. Wait an hour or so to be sure.

So now you should have iCloud-Safari switched ON in all of your devices, and Safari bookmarks should be empty on all of your devices. Congratulations. The hard part is over.

• On your Mac, in Safari, click in the menu File > Import Bookmarks.

• Navigate to and select the bookmarks html file that you'd exported the day before.

• Verify that, after a these bookmarks appear in Safari on your Mac.

• Verify that, after some minutes, theses bookmarks appear in your iOS devices.

OMG, JEROME!!! 🙂🙂🙂IT HAS WORKED!!! 🙂 THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I got rid of all these annoying old bookmarks and now I can create new and import only the few I really need. YOU ARE A GENIUS!!! Apple should pay you!!!

THANKS AGAIN AND BEST WISHES, Anita

Thank you for your kind words, Anita.

But all we did here was apply "brute force". A genius would devise a direct method.

And if Apple ever paid me, the first thing I would tell them would be to please add a bookmark interface to http://icloud.com, which is what you were looking for, rightfully and logically, in your original post. I suppose Apple has what they consider to be good reasons for not providing it. I mean, with 150 billion in the bank, obviously they're smarter than me.

I've tried this and it does work. However, as soon as you add a bookmark to any device and have iCloud sync turned on, you get duplicates, triplicates, etc. I'm trying to find a way to permanently stop the dupes. I own and recommend BookMacster as it controls the dupes on laptops and desktops. I continue to experience problems with iOS devices.

Hello, Tex. When you say "I've tried this", I presume you mean you tried the iCloud Rebuilding procedure I gave in my reply of 2014 Jan 10. But if you're still getting duplicates and triplicates, it did not work. Success is when duplicates and triplicates are gone forever and do not come back.

I have on my website an article containing another version of that procedure which gives some background information at the beginning, and also it assumes you're going to stash your bookmarks in BookMacster during the rebuilding instead of stashing them in a Safari export. But that doesn't matter. Either way, with or without BookMacster, should work. Much more important is that you should read and understand the background information in that article, particularly the Cause and Pathology section. It might help you to be successful if you try it again. And let me emphasize that if you do try it again, you must start over at step 1. To be successful, rebuilding iCloud must be done rigorously, from start to finish.