Once you have built up a set of rules, you will want to back them up and carry them to your other Macs. BrowserFairy does this with a single backup file you can export and import, plus automatic backups that protect you in the background.

Where this lives

Open the BrowserFairy menu from the menu bar icon at the top right of your screen, choose Settings… (or press ⌘,), then select Data Exchange in the sidebar. This pane has two rows:

Import rules ("Load rules from a .bf backup file.")
Export rules ("Save rules to a .bf backup file.")

Importing and exporting are part of BrowserFairy Pro. If you are not subscribed, both the Import and Export buttons are disabled (greyed out) and a gold Pro badge appears next to each one. Clicking the badge takes you to the BrowserFairy Pro pane, where the Import & Export feature is described as "Back up your rules or transfer them to another Mac." To learn how to subscribe, see Free and Pro. Pro also includes priority support.

Data Exchange

Import rules

Load rules from a .bf backup file.

Export rules

Save rules to a .bf backup file.

Settings > Data Exchange. Import rules and Export rules each have their own button. On the free plan they are disabled and carry a Pro badge.

Export your rules

Exporting writes a single backup file that holds all of your rules.

In Settings > Data Exchange, click Export in the Export rules row.
A standard macOS save panel opens. It suggests a file name like Rules-2026-06-14_09-30-00.bf, where the numbers are the date and time, and it defaults to your Documents folder.
Choose a location if you want, then click Export to save the file.

The result is one .bf file containing every rule you have, in their current order. This is your portable backup. Keep a copy somewhere safe or copy it to another Mac to move your setup across.

Export before a big cleanup

Before you delete a batch of rules or reorganize your list, click Export first. You will have a clean snapshot of your rules from that moment, so if a change does not work out you can import it back and pick up where you left off.

Import rules

Importing loads rules from a backup file. It accepts modern .bf files and older .xml files exported by earlier versions of BrowserFairy.

In Settings > Data Exchange, click Import in the Import rules row.
A macOS open panel appears, starting in your Documents folder. It lets you pick a .bf or .xml file.
Select your backup file and click Import.

Your rules are read from the file and added to your current list right away.

Import merges, it does not replace

This is the most important thing to understand about importing. BrowserFairy merges the imported rules into the rules you already have. It never wipes your list and starts over.

A rule you already have is updated from the file only if the imported copy is newer than the one on this Mac. If your current rule is the same age or newer, it is left alone.
A rule that is in the file but not yet on this Mac is added to the end of your list.

So importing is safe to run: nothing you have is thrown away. If you really want a completely fresh list, delete your existing rules first, then import.

Check your rule order after importing

Because imported rules that are new to this Mac are added at the bottom of your list, they sit below your existing rules. Rule order is priority in BrowserFairy: the first matching rule wins. After an import, scan your list and drag any new rule up if it needs to take effect before a broader rule. See How routing works for why order matters.

Automatic safety backups

Even without lifting a finger, BrowserFairy protects your rules. It saves a backup automatically right before anything risky happens, so you always have a recent snapshot to fall back on. Unlike Import and Export, these automatic backups run for everyone, free and Pro alike.

BrowserFairy creates an automatic backup at these moments:

Before you delete a rule.
Before an import is applied (a snapshot of your current rules is saved first).
Before the first rule change each time you use the app.
After BrowserFairy updates to a new version.

It keeps the 10 most recent automatic backups and quietly removes older ones as new ones are made. (If you have no rules at all, there is nothing to save, so no backup is created.) Think of this as a safety net that runs in the background. Your manual exports are still the backups you should keep for the long term and for moving between Macs.

New to the Pro features? Start with Free and Pro. If you want to fine-tune what runs first after an import, read How routing works.