Arc to Zen
GitHub ↗
Unofficial community guide
For Mac
Arc shuts down 22.12.2026
 

Take your
sidebar to Zen.

Your Arc Spaces, folders and pinned tabs, rebuilt in Zen in about ten minutes. No coding and no accounts. One line to copy, a few questions to answer. Arc itself isn't changed and nothing leaves your Mac.

What moves Start

What moves

From your Arc sidebar
into Zen's

Spaces→Zen SpacesMoved
Folders→Folders, nesting keptMoved
Pinned tabs→Pinned tabs, same orderMoved
Favorites→EssentialsMoved
Passwords→Save them yourselfNot moved
History, extensions→Not includedNot moved

Five steps

About 10 minutes
On the Mac where you use Arc

You seem to be on a phone or another computer. Open this page on your Mac to follow along.

  1. Get Zen, open it once, then quit it.

    Download Zen from zen-browser.app and open it so it can set itself up. Then quit it completely: with Zen in front, press ⌘ Q.

    Already using Zen? Just quit it. Closing the window isn't enough.

  2. Open Terminal.

    It's an app that's already on every Mac. Press ⌘ Space, type Terminal, press Return.

    You'll seeA plain window with a line of text ending in %. That's it waiting for you.

  3. Paste this line and press Return.

    Terminal
    cd ~ && curl -fsSLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Glebelov96/arc-to-zen-guide/main/arc2zen.py && python3 arc2zen.py

    Click inside Terminal and press ⌘ V to paste. This downloads a small helper and starts it. It only reads Arc; it doesn't change it.

    If your Mac asks for “command line developer tools”Click Install, wait a few minutes until it finishes, then paste the line again.

  4. Answer a few questions.

    It shows what it found in Arc and asks before changing anything. Return picks the suggested answer, which is right for most people.

    • Which profile should I use?Only asked if your Mac has more than one Zen setup. Each is listed with its Spaces; pick the one you recognise.
    • Also add your Arc Favorites as Zen Essentials?They become the icons at the top of Zen's sidebar.
    • Go ahead?It saves a backup of Zen first, then moves everything.
    You'll see“Done. Open Zen — your Arc Spaces are in the sidebar.”

  5. Open Zen.

    Your Spaces are in the sidebar with every folder. Switch between them with the icons at the bottom of the sidebar. Each tab loads the first time you click it.

No Terminal?Download arc2zen.command, then in Finder right-click it and choose Open (once, so your Mac trusts it). It does the same five steps in a window, with nothing to type.

The rest of your move

History, passwords,
extensions

The steps above move your sidebar. For everything else, run python3 arc2zen.py --report to get a checklist with your extensions matched to their Zen add-ons.

  • HistoryRun python3 arc2zen.py --import-history. It writes your Arc history into Zen's own history — it shows up in the address bar and History menu. Zen's history file is backed up and checked first, and rolled back if anything looks wrong. Prefer a file to keep? Use --export-history instead.
  • PasswordsThis tool never touches your passwords. Export them from Arc's settings to a file, import that file in Zen, then delete it. Your Mac does the encryption, not us.
  • ExtensionsReinstall them from addons.mozilla.org. The report lists each one with a link.

Not ready yet?

Save your Arc now
Switch whenever you like

Arc stops working on December 22. This saves a copy of your sidebar to your Documents folder in a few seconds. When you're ready, even after Arc is gone, the five steps above use that copy automatically.

Terminal
cd ~ && curl -fsSLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Glebelov96/arc-to-zen-guide/main/arc2zen.py && python3 arc2zen.py --save-arc
You'll getA folder called “Arc backup” plus today's date, with your sidebar and a bookmarks file any browser can import.

Undo

Puts Zen back exactly
as it was before

Quit Zen with ⌘ Q, open Terminal, paste this and press Return.

Terminal
cd ~ && python3 arc2zen.py --undo

Questions

Short answers

Is this safe?

It reads Arc's sidebar file and changes only Zen's list of tabs, after saving a copy so you can undo. Everything runs on your Mac and nothing is sent over the internet. The code is public on GitHub for anyone who wants to read it.

It says “Zen is open”.

Zen is still running in the background. Click Zen, press ⌘ Q, wait a few seconds, then paste the line again.

It finished, but Zen looks the same.

Your Mac has more than one Zen setup and a different one was picked. Open Zen, create a Space with an unusual name, quit Zen, run the line again, and pick the profile that lists that Space.

What about my passwords?

They aren't moved. Before December 22, save them somewhere you trust, such as a password manager or Apple Passwords. If you export them to a file along the way, delete the file afterwards, because anyone can read it.

Should I just use Dia instead?

The Browser Company recommends its new browser, Dia, which imports Arc directly, including passwords and history. If you'd like to stay with that team, it's the easiest path. This guide is for moving to Zen.

I'm on Windows.

Windows support is new and still experimental. Install Python from python.org, close every Zen window, open PowerShell, and paste: cd ~; iwr https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Glebelov96/arc-to-zen-guide/main/arc2zen.py -OutFile arc2zen.py; py arc2zen.py. If anything goes wrong, py arc2zen.py --undo puts Zen back.