In OneTab, open Export / Import URLs and copy all of the text. Then, in LB TAB Layers 2.9.0, go to Settings → Data & Sync → Get started / switch → Switch from OneTab, paste the text and press Import. Every tab is saved as an ordinary Chrome bookmark, and each block of your OneTab list becomes a subgroup inside one group (called From OneTab unless you rename it). Importing is free and needs no account. Keep a copy of the exported text as a backup.
OneTab is a quick way to clear the tab bar. Over months, though, its list can grow long, and some people want those links in Chrome’s own bookmarks too, where they sync with Chrome, stay in place if you change extensions, and can be sorted by project.
This guide covers the move itself. If you are still deciding, our OneTab alternative article compares the two approaches.
Why not import it straight into Chrome?
Chrome’s Import bookmarks and settings brings in bookmarks from another browser or from a bookmarks HTML file. OneTab’s export is plain text, one tab per line in the form URL | title, with a blank line between blocks. That is a different format, so Chrome’s importer is not the right tool for it.
The manual route in Chrome is to open the tabs of one OneTab block in a window of their own, press Ctrl+Shift+D (⌘+Shift+D on Mac) to save all open tabs in that window as bookmarks in a new folder, and repeat for each block. That is fine for two or three blocks and slow for twenty.
Before you start: keep a backup
Paste OneTab’s exported text into a plain text file and save it. Importing does not change anything in OneTab, since LB TAB Layers just reads the text you paste, but a backup costs nothing.
Step by step
- Copy from OneTab. Open OneTab’s page, choose Export / Import URLs, and copy all of the exported text.
- Open the import screen. Open LB TAB Layers (Alt+T), click the gear icon (Settings), open the Data & Sync tab, and under Get started / switch click Switch from OneTab.
- Paste. Paste the text into the box. A line underneath shows what will happen, for example “Will import 120 tabs in 6 groups”.
- Name the group. In Group to import into, keep From OneTab or type a name such as “OneTab archive”.
- Import. Press Import. Large lists show progress (“Importing… 50 / 120”). When it finishes you will see “Imported 120 tabs”.
- Check the result. Open the Bookmarks screen (or the group list in the Combined layout). The new group is at the bottom, with subgroups named Group 1 (24), Group 2 (9) and so on.
If some links were already saved in another of your groups, the message adds how many, for example “(18 of them were already saved in another group)”. They are imported anyway, so nothing goes missing; you can tidy them up later.
What the import keeps, and what it doesn’t
| In your OneTab list | After importing |
|---|---|
| URL and title | Kept. A line without a title uses the URL as its title. |
| Blocks (separated by blank lines) | One subgroup per block. If the text has a single block, its tabs go straight into the group. |
| Names you gave OneTab groups | Not in the exported text, so subgroups are numbered instead: Group 1 (24), Group 2 (9)… |
| Stars, locks, dates | Not imported. The import reads URLs and titles. |
| Lines that are not web addresses | Skipped. Lines must start with http:// or https://. |
Where your tabs end up
Each tab becomes a real Chrome bookmark. In Chrome’s Bookmark Manager you will find them under LB TAB Layers → From OneTab → Group 1 (24) and so on. Because they are ordinary bookmarks:
- they sync to your other computers if Chrome sync is on for bookmarks,
- you can export them from Chrome’s Bookmark Manager like any other bookmarks,
- they stay in Chrome if you remove LB TAB Layers.
Tidy up after importing
- Rename the numbered subgroups: double-click a group name and type, for example “Holiday ideas” or “Client A research”.
- Review a block with ▶ to open its tabs, and ■ to close them again; they stay saved.
- Move tabs into your project groups by dragging them, and remove what you no longer need.
- Search the panel to find a link you remember by a word in its title or address.
Seeing open tabs and saved groups on separate screens can make this clean-up easier; see open tabs vs. bookmarks.
The free version and the 5-group limit
Importing is free, and it is not stopped by the number of groups you have. But the imported group and each of its subgroups count as groups. The free version includes up to 5 groups, subgroups included.
- During the 3-month free trial, and with PRO, you can use every group.
- After the trial, in the free version, the first five groups in your list stay available and the others show “This group is locked”. Imported groups are added at the bottom of the list, so if you already have several groups they are likely to be among the locked ones.
- Locked or not, the tabs remain Chrome bookmarks, so you can still open them from Chrome’s bookmarks.
If you want to stay on the free version, use the trial to move the links you still need into a few groups and let the rest go. PRO is a one-time $9.99.
About your data
The import runs on your computer, and nothing is sent to Liquid Block. The imported tabs are Chrome bookmarks, so if Chrome sync is on, Chrome syncs them to your Google account like your other bookmarks. Site icons in the panel come from the favicons Chrome already stores on your computer.
Chrome’s official help
- Import Chrome bookmarks & settings — Google Chrome Help
- Create, find and edit bookmarks in Chrome — Google Chrome Help
- Sign in to Chrome — Google Chrome Help
Frequently asked questions
Q. Can Chrome import OneTab’s exported list directly?
Chrome’s Import bookmarks and settings reads bookmarks from other browsers or from a bookmarks HTML file. OneTab exports plain text (URL | title), so use a tool that reads that text, such as Switch from OneTab in LB TAB Layers, or restore each OneTab block and bookmark the tabs with Ctrl+Shift+D.
Q. Does the import keep my OneTab group names?
No. OneTab’s exported text does not include group names, so each block becomes a numbered subgroup such as Group 1 (24). You can rename them afterwards by double-clicking the name.
Q. Is there a limit on how many tabs I can import?
There is no fixed limit. Large lists take a little longer, and a progress counter updates every 50 tabs. In the free version, imported groups and subgroups count toward the 5-group limit after the 3-month trial.
Q. Will importing change my OneTab list?
No. LB TAB Layers reads the text you paste and does not touch OneTab. Keep a copy of the exported text as a backup anyway.
▶ See it in action
Managing bookmarks and tabs together in the sidebar. (The video shows the Japanese UI.)
Your OneTab list, as real bookmarks.
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