Safari's overall iCloud syncing sometimes not working at all, or being heavily delayed, has indeed been going on forever. But AFAIK the positioning bug is actually a new thing that started around the time this thread was created.
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iOS 15.4 Safari Bookmark/Favorities position sync issue
- Thread starter idark77
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Well I fixed it but it was because of a mistake. Short version of it is all devices were turned off icloud, all bookmarks were deleted, then I imported them again into my mac from Chrome. Then I turned icloud sync back on for the phone and ipad. Deleting all my bookmarks was unintentional, but it did seem to solve the problem
Oh jeez. Not years, just past few months. This is a problem from years ago?!???
Yes it started many years ago and was never fixed. Apple has probably moved on with other priorities like shared tab groups yada yada and this will never be fixed.
From my experience and observation, you could have multiple Apple devices and not run into this issue for years, but if it ever hits you, it is unfixable and it will never stop.
Regardless of what you try, and even if it seems to be fixed, it is never truly fixed. The problem will inevitably return.
I found a fix that worked for me. On MacBook, go to Safari and open Bookmarks. Right click Favorites and sort by Name. Then Command Z to undo back to the original order. This will re-sync the order across devices.
OK, this worked for me!!!!
My bookmarks are under "Bookmarks Menu" but I followed your instructions doing the exact same thing you did. I right clicked and sorted by Name, followed by a Command Z to revert to my original order. I then moved the recent bookmarks that were jammed at the top of the list to their proper spots I wanted them. Went to check on my iPhone and those bookmarks stuck at the top now in fact moved to the spot I put them on my Mac.
I then did a test to see if this is really fixed - tried to save some new bookmarks and they are now saving at the BOTTOM of the list as it did before AND seem to carry over across devices as well! Even when I move the new bookmark, it carries over to the new spot across devices.
Will continue to test but looks like this is the fix!
OMG it works! I think it does the same thing as suggested by another guy replied earlier that, it can be fixed if you reordered the bookmarks one by one. Your method is surely the faster version lol.
I can also vouch for the fact that this works. Did it in one of my computers, and all other computers, iPad, and iPhone repopulated with the correct and ordered set of bookmarks.
Glad it worked but RalMikeM deserves all the credit for finding this fix!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Sort by Name and then Undo worked for me, too. This bug was driving me nuts.
Thank you for this. I've been driven nuts by the problem for a little while now. Kudos.
What about if you don’t have a Mac?
Can you do it on Windows with iCloud app?
Update
Answer? Yes you can.
It works in Firefox with the iCloud app in Windows syncing bookmarks.
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Thanks for the tip...it appears to have worked on the iMac and initially did not work on my two iPads and iPhone. I closed all the processes and the bookmarks are now all in synch!
I am hopeful but skeptical (knowing Apple as we all do) that this fix will hold long-term.
I am hopeful but skeptical (knowing Apple as we all do) that this fix will hold long-term.
This finally bit me today in Safari 12.5.1 on my Mac- and alas this trick didn't fix mine. Basically my Bookmarks menu was always sorted by Date Added. Well that isn't a sort option- there is only sort by Name and sort by Address. It is a scrambled mess now. I just now turned off iCloud Safari syncing, but I guess the horse is out the barn. This sucks!
EDIT: Tried to re-organize this mess and gave up. Instead I deleted ~/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist and replaced it with one from a backup from a couple weeks ago. Worked perfectly. I'm leaving Safari iCloud sync turned off for now and I am going to be sure I frequently backup that plist file routinely before I turn it back on.
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