Tech Q&A

Question: I created a new profile in the Google Chrome browser that’s separate from the main profile, which is my wife’s. But now when I use the browser, all of my bookmarks are gone. I tried to export the bookmarks from my wife’s profile, but it didn’t work.

How can I get my old bookmarks into my new browser profile, or just delete my new profile? — D.A., West Bend, Wis.

Answer: The bookmarks weren’t lost. They simply remained with your wife’s Chrome browser profile, while you started fresh with no bookmarks. The other things that remained with your wife’s profile are the Chrome browser’s history, passwords and any special settings.

Here are three things you can do to solve the problem:

Manually re-create all the bookmarks within your browser profile, which would be tedious.

Erase your new Chrome profile and once again share your wife’s profile. Your bookmarks and other familiar features will be available again.

To erase your Chrome profile, open the browser and click “profile” icon (often an outline of someone’s head and shoulders.) In the resulting list, choose the “other profiles” icon (looks like a gear wheel). On the square containing your profile name, click the “more” icon (three vertical dots at upper right). Then click delete. When asked to confirm the action, click delete again.

Use another browser to copy your wife’s bookmarks to your profile. Download the Mozilla Firefox browser (see tinyurl.com/bcazwrc4), then import the Chrome bookmarks to Firefox (see tinyurl.com/3p7txrpn).

Then open Chrome to your profile and import the Firefox bookmarks to Chrome (see tinyurl.com/4hcerc26).

Question: Like most people, I receive a lot of junk email. I never open it, and several times a day I empty the Gmail junk and trash folders. I’ve learned not to “unsubscribe” to emails, which just verifies to the senders that I should be sent more junk. Is there some way to get less junk mail? — P.S., Minnetonka, Minn.

Answer: You can’t stop spam, but you can help the Gmail spam filter do a better job.

The spam filter already is helping you; its contents are the junk mail that never made it to your inbox. But the spam filter “learns” to identify spam by seeing new examples of it. So, when you get rid of spam in your inbox, don’t delete it — get rid of it by sending it to the junk folder.

In time, the spam filter should “learn” to block similar emails from reaching your inbox. This is hardly a perfect process, but it’s your best defense against spam.

Question: My friends and I keep a Mac iTunes library of 100,000 CD songs stored on an external hard drive. How can I move the songs and playlists to an iPhone now that Macs don’t use iTunes? — C.G., Edina, Minn.

Answer: You’ll need to import your songs to the Mac’s Music app (which replaced iTunes), then use the Finder app to copy the songs to your iPhone (see tinyurl.com/4pfnty3p and tinyurl.com/ywvj5w2p). The Music app also can import playlists (see tinyurl.com/vxyywya9).