Import from another browser

Moving to MetaDock does not mean logging back into everything. The import wizard reads an existing browser install on the same machine and copies its bookmarks, saved logins, cookies, history, autofill, payment cards, and search engines into a MetaDock profile, including the live sessions, so you stay logged in.

How do I start the import wizard?

Open Import browser data from the application menu. MetaDock looks for installed browsers on your PC and lists the ones it finds, along with each of their profiles. Nothing is read until you choose a source and press Next.

Which browsers can I import from?

Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, Arc, and Firefox. For most of them MetaDock reads every profile under the browser's user data folder, so you can pick which one to bring across rather than taking all of it.

Browser and Notes
Browser	Notes
Microsoft Edge	All profiles under your Edge user data folder
Google Chrome	All profiles
Brave	All profiles
Opera	The installed profile
Vivaldi	All profiles
Arc	All profiles
Mozilla Firefox	Every profile with browsing data, read from your Firefox profile folder

You can tick more than one source in a single run, and you can run the wizard again later for anything you skipped.

What data can I bring across?

The second page is a set of checkboxes plus the MetaDock profile everything should land in. Pick as few or as many categories as you want:

Category and Where it ends up
Category	Where it ends up
Bookmarks	Your MetaDock bookmarks, with the original folder structure
Passwords	The password vault, as login entries
Cookies	The target profile's live session store, so you stay signed in
History	Your browsing history, tagged with the target profile
Autofill	Saved form entries
Payment cards	The password vault, as card entries
Search engines	Your global search engine list

Note

Passwords and payment cards go into the password vault, so the vault has to be unlocked before the wizard will let you continue with either of those selected.

Not every browser stores every category. Firefox, for example, does not keep payment card numbers in a readable form, so that category is skipped for Firefox sources rather than reported as a failure.

What if the source browser is still running?

Browsers hold their data files open while they run, and some categories cannot be read around that. The confirmation page checks whether the source browser is currently running and, if it is, offers to close it for you before the import starts.

Warning

MetaDock never closes another browser without your explicit permission. If you decline, the affected categories report a clear error instead, and you can close the browser yourself and run the wizard again.

The source browser's own files are only ever read, never modified.

How do I import from Firefox with a primary password?

If your Firefox profile is protected by a primary password, MetaDock cannot read the saved logins without it. The wizard will prompt you for it during the run and then retry just the passwords category. Every other category continues normally in the meantime.

How do I track an import in progress?

The final page shows a progress bar across the whole job, with a running count of what has been added, skipped, and failed per category. Cookies are always handled last, because replaying them into your profile needs a browser session of its own.

When it is done you get an honest verdict rather than a blanket “complete”: if a category failed, or a source held nothing to import, the summary says so.

What else should I know about importing?

Everything lands in the one MetaDock profile you picked. Running it twice is not symmetrical: passwords, cards, and search engines are de-duplicated, but bookmarks, history, and autofill are added again. Import is local only and deliberately unavailable over the API.

•Import into a specific profile: everything lands in the MetaDock profile you chose, so you can keep a work import separate from a personal one
•Run it more than once carefully: passwords, cards, and search engines are de-duplicated, but bookmarks, history, and autofill are added again on a second run
•Some sessions will not survive: session cookies vanish when the source browser closes, and some sites tie a login to the browser it was made in and will ask you to sign in again
•Some saved logins may be skipped: recent Chrome and Edge versions protect certain stored secrets so that only they can read them; those entries are reported as skipped instead of silently lost
•Import is local only: it runs entirely on your machine and is deliberately not available over the API, so no script or AI assistant can trigger a credential import

Moving between two machines you already run MetaDock on? Use backup and restore instead; it carries profiles, workspaces, and settings across in one file.