Shut Down Web Tracking: How to Switch From Google Chrome to the Brave Browser (2024)

Among Google Chrome alternatives, Brave is a lesser-known option compared to Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari. However, Brave stands out for its focus on privacy, built-in VPN and ad blocker, numerous custom features, and the ability to earn rewards while browsing.

Like Chrome, Brave is built on the open-source Chromium browser engine, so its interface should look familiar. But while Chrome is notorious for hogging your RAM, Brave says that its browser uses less RAM by blocking ads and trackers.

Switching browsers is fairly easy; extensions and features should carry over seamlessly thanks to that Chromium engine. But if you’re reliant on some Chrome-exclusive extensions, you can add them manually to Brave via the Chrome Web Store.Here's how to migrate browsing data, bookmarks, passwords, and more.

How to Import Your Browser Data and Passwords to Brave

(Credit: Ajay Kumar / Brave)

The obvious first step is to download and install Brave from the company's website. Once installed, the browser should immediately prompt you to set it as the default and import browsing data. If you don’t want to follow the steps of the onboarding screen, you can also set it up manually.

(Credit: Ajay Kumar / Brave)

To import your data manually, open the hamburger menu in Brave, then select Bookmarks > Import bookmarks and settings. Pick from the list of browsers you want to import. In this case, we’ll click Chrome. You can choose to import your browsing history, bookmarks, passwords, and extensions, and payment methods. Click Import to grab all the data from your Chrome profile.

(Credit: Ajay Kumar / Brave)

If you select Save passwords, all your passwords should be imported, but you can also download your passwords from Chrome. Open the Settings menu in Chrome, choose Autofill and passwords > Settings and click Download file next to Export passwords to create a .csv file.

(Credit: Ajay Kumar / Brave)

Now, open the hamburger menu in Brave and choose Settings > Autofill and passwords > Password manager. Select Settings and click Select file next to Import passwords. Navigate to your .csv file—in our case, it's in the Downloads folder—and click Import. Note that the .csv file isn’t encrypted, so be sure to delete it and clear your recycling bin to keep your passwords secure.

(Credit: Ajay Kumar / Brave)

Sync Settings Across Devices

(Credit: Ajay Kumar / Brave)

If you plan to use Brave across multiple devices, set up a Sync Chain. Open the hamburger menu in Brave and choose More tools > Sync. Since this is the first time you're setting up Brave, choose Start using Sync Chain and pick either Phone/Tablet or Computer.

Brave will generate either a Sync Chain QR code (on mobile) or a Sync Chain Code (a long line of text) on desktop to help you set up your device seamlessly. Brave warns you not to share the QR code or Sync Chain Code with anyone and to treat it like a password.

(Credit: Ajay Kumar / Brave)

Now, switch to your other device. If it's a computer, head back to this screen, choose I have a Sync Code, and enter the text in the box, then click Confirm. (You can also copy and paste across Windows computers and Apple devices.) For mobile devices, install Brave, then open to Brave Sync in Settings and tap Scan Sync Code. After entering the passphrase or scanning the QR code, both devices should be synced.

Set Brave as Your Default Browser

(Credit: Ajay Kumar / Microsoft)

The onboarding screens should have helped you set Brave as the default browser, but you can also set it up manually. In Windows 10, go to Settings > Apps and choose Google Chrome under Web browser, then pick Brave from the list.

On Windows 11, we recommend manual setup to ensure Brave is the default for different types of files and extensions.Go to Settings > Apps > Default Apps > Brave > Set default.

(Credit: Ajay Kumar / Microsoft)

Below that, you’ll see an option to Set default file types or link types. Setting Brave as default should switch some of those over automatically, but in our case, it skipped several file types, like .shtml, .svg, and .webp. For those, switch each one to Brave manually by picking the browser from the drop-down menu. Leave PDF alone if you have a dedicated PDF viewer.

Mac users can go to System Settings > Desktop & Dock and choose Brave from the Default web browser menu. Older versions of macOS will require you to open System Preferences > General before choosing Brave from the Default web browser menu.

Choose Your Own Search Engine

(Credit: Ajay Kumar/Brave)

Brave uses its own search engine by default, but switching is easy. Open the browser's hamburger menu and choose Settings > Search engine.

You’ll see two drop-down menus for Normal Window and Private Window. Pick the search engine you want for each options. Alongside Google and Bing, you'll also find several alternative search engines, such as DuckDuckGo, Qwant, and Ecosia. Your address bar should then reflect the new search engine

There are also a few toggle options to improve search suggestions, contribute to Brave’s Web Discovery Project, and index other search engines that follow the OpenSearch spec. You can enable or disable whichever ones you’d like.

Is the Brave Browser Safe?

(Credit: Ajay Kumar / Brave)

Privacy and security are likely the main reasons you picked Brave over other browsers. While Google recently discontinued the VPN that came with Google One, Brave has a built-in VPN, though it costs $9.99 per month ($99.99 per year if you subscribe via the apps).

With or without the VPN, you’ll want to configure a few privacy settings and special features to take full advantage of what Brave has to offer.

Open Settings > Shields to see various options for blocking trackers, ads, fingerprinting, scripts, and cookies. Depending on the level of privacy you’re seeking, you can pick Aggressive/Strict, Standard, or Disabled. We recommend leaving it on standard to start, since more aggressive filtering tends to break some sites.

(Credit: Ajay Kumar / Brave)

Under Privacy and security, you’ll see a section called Tor windows and various toggles for handling .onion links and sites. For those unfamiliar, the Tor Browser is a privacy-centric open-source browser of the Tor Project that became notorious over the years for allowing people to anonymously buy drugs, guns, and engage in other illegal activity on the dark web.

Brave has its own Tor Onion Service integrated into the browser via its private window. This allows you to hide your IP address from your ISP, hide visited sites, and anonymize yourself against anyone else who might be watching your connection.

(Credit: Ajay Kumar / Brave)

Brave also comes with a suite of Web3 features: the built-in Brave cryptocurrency wallet, NFT discovery, and options to clear your wallet history and automatically lock it after a certain number of minutes.