Chrome Sync Not Working? Fix Paused Sync, Missing Bookmarks and Passwords That Won’t Sync

Quick Fix: Turn Sync Off and Back On Properly

You save a bookmark on your laptop, pick up your phone, and it is not there. Or you sign in to a new PC and none of your passwords show up. When chrome sync not working is the problem you are facing, the good news is that the cause is usually simple.

In most cases, sync has quietly paused, there is a passphrase problem, or one of your devices is signed in to a different Google account than the others. It rarely means your data is gone.

Before you try anything complicated, do a clean restart of sync itself. Turning it off and back on forces Chrome to reconnect to your account and start a fresh sync. Do it in this order:

1. Open Chrome on your Windows 11 PC and click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner.
2. Click Settings.
3. At the top of the left sidebar, click You and Google.
4. Check what it says under your name. If you see Sync is paused, click Turn on sync and sign in again when asked. If sync already looks on, click Turn off, then confirm with Turn off again.
5. Wait a few seconds, then click Turn on sync.
6. When Chrome asks, Yes, I’m in to confirm, and choose Manage what you sync if you want to control which data types are included.
7. Leave Chrome open for a minute or two with an internet connection, then check the other device.

That restart clears a lot of temporary errors. If nothing changes, or only some things sync, work through the sections below in order.

Why Sync Stops Working

Sync depends on a few things all lining up at the same time: the same Google account, the same settings, and a clear connection on every device. If any one of those breaks, sync stops, often without a clear error message.

The most common trigger is the Sync is paused message. This often appears after you change your Google password, sign out of Google in your browser, or clear cookies. Chrome pauses sync to protect your account and waits for you to sign in again. Until you do, new bookmarks, history, and passwords stay on that one device only.

A sync passphrase is another frequent cause. If you set a passphrase to encrypt your synced data, you have to enter that exact passphrase on every device. If you entered it on your PC but not on your phone, or you have forgotten it, the encrypted data cannot be read or updated properly on the other device.

Different accounts cause a lot of confusion too. It is easy to be signed in with a personal account on your laptop and a work or old account on your phone without realising it. Chrome will happily sync each device, just to a different place, so nothing ever matches up.

Sometimes only one type of data is missing. That usually points to a toggle. In the sync settings, you can turn individual items such as Bookmarks, Passwords, or History on or off. If passwords were switched off on one device, bookmarks may sync perfectly while passwords not syncing between devices becomes the only symptom.

Version mismatch can also get in the way. If one device runs a much older version of Chrome, it may struggle to talk to the others. A corrupted Chrome profile can cause similar problems. And if you use a work or school account, your organisation may limit certain types of sync through managed account restrictions, which you cannot override yourself.

Solution 1: Check You’re Signed Into the Same Account Everywhere

This sounds obvious, but check it properly on every device. Do not rely on the profile picture alone, because two accounts can look similar at a glance.

On your Windows 11 PC:

1. Open Chrome and click your profile icon in the top-right corner, next to the three-dot menu.
2. Read the email address shown at the top of the small panel. Write it down or keep it in mind.
3. Click Settings, then You and Google, and confirm the same address appears there.

On your phone or tablet:

1. Open the Chrome app and tap the three-dot menu.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Look at the name and email address at the top. It should match the PC exactly.

On a second computer, repeat the PC steps. Pay close attention to small differences, such as a personal Gmail address on one device and a work address on another, or an old address you no longer use.

If a device is on the wrong account, sign out of Chrome on that device only, then sign back in with the correct account and turn sync on. Give it a few minutes before you judge the result.

Also check you are in the right Chrome profile on the PC. Chrome allows several profiles on one computer, each with its own bookmarks and sync settings. Click the profile icon and make sure you are in the profile you use every day, not a guest or spare profile.

Solution 2: Fix a Paused Sync or Passphrase Problem

If Chrome shows Sync is paused at the top of Settings or under your profile, it is waiting for you.

1. Click your profile icon, then click the Sync is paused message, or go to Settings and then You and Google.
2. Click Turn on sync or Sign in again, depending on what Chrome shows.
3. Enter your Google account password carefully and complete any sign-in check Google asks for.
4. Once signed in, leave Chrome open and connected for a few minutes.

If the problem is a passphrase, the prompt usually appears in Settings under You and Google, in the sync and encryption area, or as a notice asking you to enter your sync passphrase to start syncing again. Enter the passphrase exactly as you created it. It is not the same thing as your Google password unless you deliberately set it to the same words, so try not to mix the two up.

If you have forgotten the passphrase, you do have an option to reset it, but read this warning first so you know exactly what happens.

Warning: Resetting your sync passphrase removes your synced data from Google’s servers. It does not delete bookmarks, passwords, or history from the devices where they already exist. After the reset, Chrome uploads the data again from your devices, and you can set a new passphrase if you want one. The risk is with data that only exists on the server, for example from a device you no longer have. That data cannot be re-uploaded, so it would be lost. For that reason, only reset the passphrase when you still have your main devices with your data on them, and treat it as a last step, not the first one. Google’s own help pages explain how sync and encryption work if you want to read the details in the official guide to turning sync on and off in Chrome before you decide.

After a reset, turn sync back on on your main PC first, let it finish uploading, and only then sign in on your other devices and enter the new passphrase there if you set one.

Solution 3: Turn On the Data Types You Actually Need

Even with the right account and no paused message, sync will not move data that has been switched off. This is where partial problems come from, like bookmarks syncing but passwords staying behind.

1. Open Chrome and go to Settings.
2. Click You and Google.
3. Click Sync and Google services.
4. Click Manage what you sync.
5. Choose Sync everything if you want the simplest setup, or choose Customise sync if you want control over individual items.
6. If you chose Customise sync, turn on the toggles for the items you need, especially Bookmarks, Passwords, History, Open tabs, and Settings.
7. Repeat this check on your other devices, because these toggles are set per device.

If passwords are the specific problem, also look at how they are stored and filled. A switched-off password toggle here can look very similar to a case where the password manager itself is not showing your saved logins, so check both places before assuming the passwords are deleted.

Think about addresses and payment details too. If those are not moving between devices, the fix is often the same toggle, and it is separate from the issue covered in our guide to fixing Chrome autofill when it stops filling forms correctly. Turn on Addresses and more and Payment methods under Customise sync only if you want that information synced.

Once you have changed the toggles, do a simple test. Save a new bookmark on your PC, wait a minute, and look for it on your phone. Then save a test password on one device and check the other.

Less Common Causes Worth a Look

If the three solutions above did not fix things, try these checks before you consider more drastic steps.

Update Chrome on all devices. On your PC, click the three-dot menu, then Help, then About Google Chrome. Chrome will check for updates and ask you to relaunch if one is installed. Do the same kind of update check through the app store on your phone. Sync works best when every device is reasonably up to date.

Check the date and time on your PC. In Windows 11, go to Settings, then Time & language, then Date & time, and turn on Set time automatically. A clock that is badly wrong can cause sign-in and secure connection errors that look like sync failures.

Temporarily disable your VPN or antivirus web protection. Some VPNs and security tools block or filter the connection Chrome uses. Turn the VPN off for a few minutes as a test, try sync again, and turn your protection back on straight after the test. Do not leave security software disabled.

Test with a fresh Chrome profile. Click your profile icon, then Add, and set up a temporary profile signed in to the same Google account. If sync works normally there, your original profile may be corrupted. That does not mean you have to delete the old profile right away, but it tells you where the problem lives.

Use the built-in diagnostics page carefully. Chrome has a diagnostics page for sync that you can open by typing chrome://sync-internals into the address bar. It shows technical status information about the sync connection. Most people will never need it, so treat it as a view-only page for checking whether sync reports itself as running.

If your Google account itself has a problem, sync will keep failing no matter what you change in Chrome. Checking whether other Google services work normally can help you tell an account problem apart from a Chrome problem. That is also worth keeping in mind if you have a related issue where Chrome refuses to save new passwords at all, because both problems can start with the account or profile.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Chrome say sync is paused?

Chrome usually pauses sync after you change your Google password, sign out of your account, or clear cookies. It is a safety step. Click the Sync is paused message, sign in again with your current password, and turn sync back on. Your data should start updating again within a few minutes.

How long should Chrome sync take?

For a small change, such as one new bookmark, sync is usually quick when both devices are online, often within a minute or two. A first sync on a new device, or a large history and password list, can take longer. Keep Chrome open and connected.

Why do my bookmarks sync but my passwords don’t?

This almost always means the Passwords toggle is off on one of your devices, or a sync passphrase has not been entered on that device. Go to Settings, then You and Google, then Sync and Google services, then Manage what you sync, and check the password setting on each device. Google also covers password sync behaviour in its help page on managing saved passwords in Chrome.

What happens if I reset my sync passphrase?

Resetting the passphrase removes the synced data stored on Google’s servers, but it does not delete data from your devices. Chrome then uploads your bookmarks, passwords, and other synced items again from the devices you still have. Data that was only on the server, from a device you no longer own, cannot come back, so only reset it when your main devices still hold your data.

Can I use sync with two different Google accounts?

Not inside one Chrome profile. Each profile syncs to one Google account. If you need two accounts, create a separate Chrome profile for each one. Each profile keeps its own bookmarks, passwords, and history, and they will not mix. That separation is useful for keeping work and personal browsing apart.

Does Chrome sync work in Incognito mode?

No. Incognito windows do not sync, and browsing done in Incognito is not added to your synced history. Bookmarks you save while using a normal window will sync as usual, but anything you do in an Incognito window stays out of sync by design, which is the point of using it.

Final Checklist

If chrome sync not working is still your problem after reading this far, run through this order once more, slowly, and do not skip steps.

Check that every device is signed in to exactly the same Google account and the same Chrome profile. Clear the Sync is paused message by signing in again. Enter your sync passphrase on every device, and only consider resetting it after you understand that the server copy is removed while your device data stays. In Manage what you sync, turn on Sync everything, or check the individual toggles for bookmarks and passwords on each device. Update Chrome everywhere, check that your PC date and time are set automatically, and test briefly with your VPN off. Finally, try a fresh profile to rule out a corrupted one.

In most cases, one of the first three checks solves it. Work in order, change one thing at a time, and give sync a few minutes after each change.