Managing Internet Explorer FavoritesView/Save PDF 99.1KB

For: Internet Explorer 5, 6, 7

Published: 11May01 | Last Updated: 13Apr10 | Status: To Be Continued

  1. 1.  Introduction
  2. 2.  Location Of The IE Favorites Folder
  3. 3.  Organizing IE Favorites
  4. 4.  Backing Up And Restoring IE Favorites
    1. 4.1.  Backing Up IE Favorites
    2. 4.2.  Restoring IE Favorites

1.  Introduction

A Favorite is a Internet shortcut that loads a URL into your default Web Browser. Each Favorite exists as a single file and, like other data files, Favorites can be renamed, copied, moved, deleted, created, and edited.

Note:  Internet Explorer calls Internet shortcuts Favorites. Other Browsers such as Firefox, Opera, and Safari call Internet shortcuts Bookmarks.

The Internet Explorer (IE) method for organizing Favorites is button-driven and, therefore, rather cumbersome. Moreover, it does not provide a mechanism for backing up and restoring Favorites:

Managing Favorites With Internet Explorer 7

A more efficient method for organizing Favorites is to access them directly with My Computer or Windows Explorer. Using My Computer or Windows Explorer, Favorites can be created, moved, renamed, edited, copied, deleted, placed into folders, and the changes immediately appear in the IE Favorites list. Moreover, by knowing how to access Favorites directly, backing up and restoring Favorites becomes as simple as copying them to and from removable media:

Managing Favorites With Windows Explorer

2.  Location Of The IE Favorites Folder

Favorites are stored in the Favorites folder, located as follows:

3.  Organizing IE Favorites

  1. Open My Computer or Windows Explorer and go to the Favorites folder (above).
  2. Rename, copy, move, and delete Favorites as you like. Create and delete folders under the Favorites folder and move Favorites into and out of the folders as you like.
  3. To create a Favorite:
    1. Right click an empty area of the right pane of My Computer or Windows Explorer and select New | Shortcut.
    2. The Create Shortcut dialog appears. In the Type the location of the item field, type a URL. Click Next:
      Creating A Favorite - URL
    3. The Select a Title for the Program dialog appears. In the Type a name for this shortcut field, type a name. Click Finish:
      Creating A Favorite - Name
  4. To edit a Favorites' URL:
    1. Right click the Favorite and select Properties | Web Document.
    2. The URL field contains the Favorites' URL. Edit the URL. Click OK:
      Editing A Favorite - URL

4.  Backing Up And Restoring IE Favorites

Note:  The Favorites folder contains a file, Desktop.ini. It is not necessary to backup/restore Desktop.ini. Therefore, including Desktop.ini when backing up/restoring Favorites is optional.

4.1.  Backing Up IE Favorites

Note:  To backup Favorites to CD/DVD, follow the CD/DVD burning software's instructions for copying data files to CD/DVD.
  1. Open My Computer or Windows Explorer and go to the Favorites folder (above).
  2. Copy the Favorites folder to removable media.

4.2.  Restoring IE Favorites

  1. Open My Computer or Windows Explorer and go to the Favorites folder on removable media.
  2. Copy the contents of the Favorites folder on removable media to the Favorites folder (above).