Rearrange Bookmark Folders in Safari on Mac

Safari 26 changed the Bookmarks sidebar, and dragging folders to reorder them can now fail without warning. The older drag handle is gone, and the new layout needs a few toggles before drag works again.

Turn off Show Folders on Top, expand subfolders, then drag folders into a new order. If drag-and-drop still refuses to move, the troubleshooting steps cover extensions, caches, and a full Mac restart.

In this guide, I have covered:

Why Safari won’t let you rearrange folders on Mac

If a folder refuses to move in Safari, you’re usually fighting the Safari 26 sidebar redesign. The updated Bookmarks sidebar shows larger folder icons and two lines of description, and that layout hides the simple grab handle older builds placed on the right edge of each row.

Apple’s official guide still works in the current version. Open the sidebar, click , deselect Show Folders on Top, expand any subfolders, and only then start dragging. Those toggles are what re-enable the drag handle today. See Apple’s official Safari bookmarks guide for the current menu wording.

Rearrange folders in the Safari sidebar on Mac

Use this procedure when you want to reorder folders, or the bookmarks inside them, in Safari on macOS Tahoe or macOS 15.7 with Safari 26.

1. Open Safari from the Dock or Applications folder.
2. Click Bookmarks in the menu bar, then choose Show Bookmarks Sidebar. If the sidebar toggle in the toolbar is already on, just click it.
3. Click the menu at the top of the sidebar, next to the search field.
4. If Show Folders on Top has a check mark next to it, click it once to deselect it. With it checked, Safari flattens the list and the drag handle is hidden.
5. Click the small triangle next to each folder you want to move so its subfolders and bookmarks are visible.
6. Click and hold the folder, then drag it up or down to its new position. Drop it between two other items to place it there.
7. To copy a folder instead of moving it, hold Option while you drag.

Safari 26’s new sidebar removes the thicker drag handle that older builds showed on the right edge. Select the folder once first, then press and hold for a beat before moving, otherwise the click is treated as an open and no drag starts.

When you release the mouse, the folder stays in the new spot. Repeat for any other folders you want to reorder.

Sort folders alphabetically

Dragging every folder by hand gets old. If you would rather have Safari arrange folders for you, switch to an automatic sort instead of dragging one at a time.

1. In the same Bookmarks sidebar, click the menu.
2. Hover over Sort By.
3. Choose Name to sort folders alphabetically, or pick another option such as Most Visited.

Sort By applies to the entire bookmarks list, not just the folder you have open. After sorting, you may still need to drag subfolders inside a parent folder to set the order you want inside that parent.

You can switch back to manual drag-and-drop at any time by re-selecting Sort By then Manually.

What to try when drag-and-drop still does nothing

If the steps above look correct but the folder refuses to move, work through these checks in order. Most readers fix the problem after the first or second one.

Test the same drag in a Private window

Private windows disable extensions and run a clean session. If the folder moves in Private, something in your normal Safari setup (an extension, a synced profile, or stuck settings) is interfering.

1. In Safari, press Cmd+N to open a new window, or click File then New Private Window.
2. Show the Bookmarks sidebar in that window and try rearranging the same folder.

If it works there, the issue lives in your main profile, and you can skip ahead to disabling extensions.

Disable Safari extensions

Extensions that touch bookmarks (password managers, tab managers, read-later services) can hijack the drag-and-drop event before Safari sees it.

1. Click Safari in the menu bar, then choose Settings… (or press Cmd+,).
2. Open the Extensions tab.
3. Untick every extension, close the window, and try moving the folder again.

Re-enable extensions one at a time to find the offender.

Restart Safari fully

Safari holds bookmarks in a long-running cache. A full quit drops that cache and reloads it on next launch.

1. Click Safari in the menu bar, then choose Quit Safari.
2. Open Activity Monitor (in Applications then Utilities) and confirm no Safari process is still listed.
3. Relaunch Safari and try to drag the folder again.

Restart your Mac

If a single relaunch does not do it, restart the Mac itself. Sticky state in macOS can also break drag targets, and a full restart is the cleanest reset.

1. Click the Apple menu, choose Restart…, then click Restart to confirm.
2. Open Safari again and try the drag.

TIP: Keep a Private window pinned in your Dock for testing bookmark behavior. It runs with extensions off by default, so any drag-and-drop that works there but fails in a normal session points at an extension conflict right away.

If nothing in this section moved the folder, your bookmarks file may be corrupted. The last-resort section below covers that.

Rearrange folders in Safari on iPhone or iPad

On iOS and iPadOS, Safari keeps bookmarks and tab controls in the same screen, and the bookmarks side still uses a long-press pattern to reorder folders. The current steps are in Apple’s bookmarks guide for iPhone. If you also need to open new tabs and private tabs in Safari on iPhone and iPad, the setup is in the same toolbar area.

1. Open Safari on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap the Bookmarks icon at the bottom or top of the screen, depending on your Tab Bar layout.
3. Tap the menu, then tap Select Bookmarks.
4. Tick each folder, and any bookmarks, that you want to reorder.
5. Touch and hold the Reorder handle on the right edge of the row, then drag the selection up or down.
6. Tap Done when you are finished.

For the bookmarks screen to appear in Safari, make sure both devices are signed in to the same Apple Account. Then open Settings → your name → iCloud → See All and turn on Safari. Changes you make on Mac should appear on iPhone within a few seconds.

Last resort: rebuild the bookmarks file

If none of the above helped and the folder still will not move, Safari’s bookmarks file (called Bookmarks.plist) may be damaged. You can delete it and let Safari rebuild, but treat this as a last resort and back up first.

1. Quit Safari.
2. Open Finder, press Cmd+Shift+. to show hidden files, then go to ~/Library/Safari/.
3. Copy Bookmarks.plist from that folder to a safe location such as your Desktop, as a backup.
4. In Finder, choose Go then Go to Folder… and enter ~/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist.
5. Move the existing Bookmarks.plist to the Trash and relaunch Safari. Safari rebuilds a fresh file from iCloud when iCloud for Safari is on, or starts empty when it is off.

ALERT: Moving Bookmarks.plist to the Trash deletes any local bookmarks that were not synced. If iCloud for Safari is off, export your bookmarks to an HTML file first via File then Export Bookmarks… in Safari so you can restore them if anything goes wrong.

RELATED: Open Private Browsing Mode and New Tabs in Safari on Mac