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  • How do I backup my Internet Explorer favorites in Windows?

How do I backup my Internet Explorer favorites in Windows?

April 15, 2005 / Dave Taylor / Windows PC Help / 47 Comments

Hi Dave, I am relatively new to computers and hope you can help. I am getting better at using the computer but I do have problems. This problem really gets me upset every time it happens: my computer crashes a lot and I have to reinstall windows thus loosing everything on my computer. I would like to know if there is a simple way that I can save my IE favorites folder on a disk so I won’t lose this information? Also how to put them back when I get the computer up and running again? Any help you can be will be greatly appreciated as this is a very frustrating thing for me.

Well, first of all, let me say that continual computer crashes are not normal and you should have an expert take a look at your system. You may have a virus or something that is causing these crashes. If you’re running Windows ME, that could be part of the problem, too. I’d recommend that you ensure you’re running Windows XP with SP2 installed (see my articles about SP2 for more information).
As for saving your favorites, there are several options. Depending on your version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, one might work where another one won’t. For the newer versions, you can export them directly from within MSIE:

  1. Select File -> Import and Export. This will start the “Import and Export” wizard.
  2. Select Export and the click on “next.”
  3. Select Favorites and click on “next.”
  4. In the next window you can accept the default Save Directory or choose a new one. I suggest you select “Desktop” so you can easily find the file again. Click on “next.”
  5. Finally, click on “finish” and your Favorites will be saved to disk.

The default file name is “bookmark.htm”: simply copy this file to a floppy disk or even email it to yourself (or both).
To Import your Favorites into a newly created version of Microsoft Internet Explorer post-crash (though I still don’t understand why your computer crashes so much!) simply run the wizard again. This time select Import and click on “next.” Browse to the saved copy of “bookmark.htm” and the wizard will replace your existing bookmarks (which are just the defaults) with the saved copy.
If you’re running an older version of IE (whatever you’re reinstalling from your installation CD), you can use a free utility program to do the same thing as above. One that I have found to be good is Bookmark Wizard.
If you’re feeling like experimenting, another option is to save your bookmarks somewhere online. There are tons of online bookmark services — just Google “online bookmark manager”. With the online option, your bookmarks aren’t stored on your computer, so if it crashes you won’t lose them. You do have to visit the site of your online bookmarks to get to them, but it is convenient in that you can access them from any computer with Internet access.
Here are a few of the most popular, though I can’t say which are better because I don’t use any of them myself:

  • Pluck Web Edition
  • Hyperlinkomatic
  • My Yahoo (sign up for a My Yahoo account and add the bookmarks feature to your page)
  • del.icio.us
  • Spurl

The last two listed are what are called “social bookmarks”, so they are public, not private. Public bookmarks are nice if you want to see what other people who have similar interests are viewing — it’s a great way to find new sites that might specifically interest you. If you’re concerned about privacy, however, you should probably not choose a social bookmarking system, even though there’s no personally identifiable information saved on their servers.
Tommy Martin also has a nice online tutorial on how to import and export Favorites from within Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Finally, IE’s help system actually has some very useful information on how to export bookmarks too, where they note: “Exported favorites are saved as regular HTML files, so either Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator can import them. You can export a selected folder in your Favorites list, or all of your favorites. The exported favorites file is fairly small, so if you want to share the favorite items with other people, you can copy it to a floppy disk or folder on a network, or attach it to an e-mail message.”

Lots of folk helped with this particular question, including Kim Smith, Chris Thomas, James Foster, John Carlin, Tony Derricott, Sahil Tandon, Mya Leigh and Larry Royal.
About the Author: Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since the early days of the Internet. Author of over 20 technical books, he runs the popular AskDaveTaylor.com tech help site. You can also find his gadget reviews on YouTube and chat with him on Twitter as @DaveTaylor.

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Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

47 comments on “How do I backup my Internet Explorer favorites in Windows?”

  1. hale jale says:
    November 7, 2013 at 12:14 pm

    where is the file menu in Internet Explorer. I can not see one

    Reply
  2. Eleanor Gendill says:
    September 20, 2013 at 1:55 pm

    My Favorites list ended up in Internet Explorer and it used to come up when I accessed my email. Can you tell me how to get it in an accessable file when I open my comcast email folder?

    Reply
    • Dave Taylor says:
      September 21, 2013 at 6:24 pm

      Not sure what you mean. When you open your Comcast email, isn’t it still in Internet Explorer? So why would the favorites list have vanished?

      Reply
  3. Rob says:
    May 22, 2013 at 7:00 am

    Export Import worked like a charm.

    Reply
  4. Jose says:
    July 6, 2012 at 11:16 am

    thank you mr taylor

    Reply
  5. Samantha says:
    June 24, 2012 at 8:32 pm

    Thank you so much! The microsoft site had me going into “add to favorites” to import/export, when I should have looked under “file”, as your blog told me to! Thanks again!

    Reply
  6. Jamie says:
    May 4, 2012 at 7:17 am

    Thanks you for this information! It was very useful!

    Reply
  7. Evangeline says:
    March 13, 2012 at 6:36 am

    Hi Dave,
    A million years later and a new, but related problem. I am going to have to delete and reinstall firefox and it just developed the odd habit of opening a browser window and freezing it. Opening subsequent windows work fine even while the 1st I opened stays frozen. Rather than deal with that issue, I want to delete and reinstall, but not without saving my favorites/bookmarks. I have researched up and down on the internet and even at Firefox’s help page but the instructions they gave do not work for me as I do not have a ALL BOOKMARKS designator, nor a heading for importing them as indicated on the Firefox page (using 10.0.2, by the way). Even attempting to open import in i.e. to import from another browser does not work either ;-( I’m at my wit’s end. Any recommendations for me? Are these saved in a file somewhere that I can find in the firefox folder??? If you can reply to my email as well as to this page, that would be awesome as I may end up without any browsers in a few!!!
    Thanks

    Reply
  8. MA says:
    October 10, 2011 at 1:47 pm

    Excellent! Thank you very much.

    Reply
  9. Ron Deale says:
    September 18, 2011 at 6:59 pm

    Thank you for your help. It is very generous of you to share your time and expertise.

    Reply
  10. Dave Taylor says:
    July 3, 2011 at 6:10 pm

    Randy, you should be able to pick up a USB thumb drive for $10 at Target or Wal-Mart and it should work fine on both the old and new computer.

    Reply
  11. Randy Ash says:
    July 3, 2011 at 5:51 pm

    My computer is about 10 yrs old and am in process of getting a new computer. Saw your instructions on how to save bookmarks or favorites. Can’t follow those instructions because I can’t save to a disk…just a floppy and that won’t work on a new computer. Any suggestions?

    Reply
  12. Rob says:
    June 25, 2011 at 6:32 pm

    Hi if anyone can help me I would be indebted. The favorites file folder with .html files were saved but when I go to import them back to with the Import and Export wizard, it keeps saying it cannot find the files when I am clearly browsing to the file folder they are located in.
    I am really frustrated by this because the favorites are there!! as HTML files.
    Any suggestions please email me cameronace@acanac.net

    Reply
  13. jackie says:
    June 22, 2011 at 12:13 am

    My daughter has a dell and when we bought her another laptop for christmas she can not rememeber for the life of her –her password. We want to save her documents and all her photos from college. How can we get into the laptop to save her files. I have searched the internet for answers and have been unable to solve this problem. Please advise ASAP Thank you

    Reply
  14. ChrisFJ says:
    February 7, 2011 at 5:35 pm

    Hi Dave
    I have backed up files to my USB in Normal, but when I change something in a document it doesn’t appear as changed on my USB when I do a differential backup.
    I have to copy and paste from ‘My documents’ to the USB manually which defeats the purpose. What am I doing wrong?
    Can you advise on this – thank you.

    Reply
  15. Nannette says:
    January 15, 2011 at 1:23 am

    I went to igoogle now that I have I can’t get into internet explorer it freezes. So I need to know how to get my favorites off my favorites tab over to igoogle I don;t mine useing tabs I just don’t know how to get it over there. I can’t even get into it to try and find it again so I can tab it. Can you help? Thank-you so much

    Reply
  16. cheryl cox says:
    August 4, 2010 at 1:24 pm

    hi dave i am new to the computer world a friend of my says on his comp he has a section just below where you type the web address where all his favorites are stored (eg his bank address googlemail googlemaps etc) how can i get this funtion on my comp many thanks cheryl.

    Reply
  17. erol says:
    April 28, 2010 at 5:12 am

    thanx ez to understand.

    Reply
  18. darla says:
    March 14, 2010 at 12:01 pm

    My laptop keeps saying i need the windows key number and I am new to this and do not even know what they are talking about. I have a Windows Vista. Could you please help me out.

    Reply
  19. John A. says:
    March 10, 2010 at 12:59 pm

    Whats the diffrence between apple computer components(& or hatdware) and todays standard components?

    Reply
  20. pam says:
    February 18, 2010 at 11:28 pm

    thanks Dave … it was so easy when I read it set out so simply. much appreciated.

    Reply
  21. Ally Lu says:
    February 11, 2010 at 7:58 am

    Hello Dave,
    I just want to say THANKS, u’ve totally saved my day! i find this info not only helpful, yet so ez to understand! even my mum get it~ I’m so glad u posted this!
    Have a wonderful year!
    -Ally ^^

    Reply
  22. Mojeer McMillan says:
    January 25, 2010 at 11:00 am

    Thank you.

    Reply
  23. RB says:
    December 16, 2009 at 7:27 am

    Dave,
    I have windows xp and just added memory 2gb. When I go to some websites it freezes and if I click the page a couple of times it releases. Any ideas?

    Reply
  24. david says:
    November 23, 2009 at 12:52 pm

    g’day mate
    thank you very much for helping, about the how to store all my favorites into a disk and so on,,,
    some times it take a lot of efort for me to get info about solving problims on my computer,,but it seems that i landed on the right site, you are great,
    thanks again

    Reply
  25. Aamer says:
    July 5, 2009 at 4:10 am

    try to copy the favorites folder in the windows directory and consider it as a backup.When you install the new windows 98 then copy and paste the folder in the windows directory…..problem solved

    Reply
  26. CONNIE says:
    May 9, 2009 at 10:34 am

    I thank you 10 times over for the info on My Yahoo and using bookmarks. As I share cpu with spouse, we had way too many websites saved in favorites. I created a Yahoo acct & removed all of my stuff off of favorites & moved over to my yahoo bookmarks. Then deleted it from the Favorites. Folks, this is a godsend. Thank you, connie

    Reply
  27. libra says:
    April 23, 2009 at 9:39 am

    Blessings and thanks for people like you, so helpful and such easy explanations for non-nerds like me. Much appreciated.

    Reply
  28. Kathy says:
    April 15, 2009 at 9:49 pm

    Thanks for the info on backing up favorits on IE. Your instructions made it so easy.
    Now, can you tell me how to back up messages from outlook express to move to a new computer? I got the address book backed up to my removable hard drive but can’t figure out out to export the messages.
    Thanks!

    Reply
  29. Cassie says:
    December 26, 2008 at 9:23 am

    Hi there,
    I was wondering if anyone could help me out –
    I recently made the mistake of deleting the file in which my favorites were stored. I was unable to access my favorites, add new favorites, or anything untill Iwent into the recycling bin and restored it.
    Once I restored my favorites the link to the folder in which favorites are kept (mydocuments/myname/favorites) seemed to be fine. although my old favorites were gone, it looked like id be able to add new ones.
    The link on IE however, will not allow me to add new favorites. Whenever I click “add to favorites” the link I add will go to the folder under my documents, but it doesnt come up on IE. I’m really frustrated with this, and any advice would be great.
    Thanks 🙂

    Reply
  30. darlene says:
    September 30, 2008 at 11:37 am

    dave, I’m a senior with some computor knowledge but I need to put all my husbands favorites in a folder. I have vista microsoft. I would appreciate you help.

    Reply
  31. Masterv says:
    May 22, 2008 at 1:52 pm

    I have just enabled a feature on my site :
    http://www.pro.org.uk/servlets/BookMarks
    This allows you to import all of your IE and Firefox favorites into the site, simply create an account then you will see import features in the bookmarks section, copy and paste content of bookmarks.htm [ie] bookmarks.html [Firefox] into the form boxes submit, you will then find it stored in the category they appeared available for use on any other PC online once you have logged in.
    [ it also takes a small snap shot of the site to show you what it looks like ]
    Hope its of some use to someone out there!

    Reply
  32. Rick Swanson says:
    May 9, 2008 at 12:24 pm

    I have accumalated 200 plus additions to my favorites on my work computer. Is there any way to copy it and place it on my own personal Google home page. This would allow me access any computer, and log into my personal google page and be able to access the favorites list that I mentioned above.

    Reply
  33. Mark Eichenlaub says:
    April 17, 2008 at 5:27 pm

    Very helpful. Thanks very much Dave.

    Reply
  34. Avinash B says:
    February 7, 2008 at 11:05 pm

    WOW,
    Good to know that……….

    Reply
  35. andy says:
    January 9, 2008 at 11:14 am

    Thanks for your hint at moving bookmarks. I had been searching for a while and getting more and more annoyed! I put your webpage on my moved favorites!

    Reply
  36. Roger says:
    December 6, 2007 at 9:42 pm

    Wow, what a fast, easy to use answer to my question on saving my favorites. Even IE’s help files couldn’t answer the question, much less with such easy to follow directions. Thanks.

    Reply
  37. atia says:
    October 12, 2007 at 5:15 pm

    thanks but ididnot find file export in IE7 ???

    Reply
  38. Ginny says:
    September 2, 2007 at 6:26 pm

    Hi,
    I had a virus that was cleaned off my computer, and now when I go on the web, the top of my page does not show “File” and the other normal words anymore, so I can not export my favorites as I used to do. How can I get a normal page again? Thanks.

    Reply
  39. larry says:
    March 30, 2007 at 10:13 am

    Hi Dave: Thanks for posting the section telling all of us how to save our favorites, in such an easy way, most all of us can understand and follow the directions. It worked perfectly, Thanks again, Larry

    Reply
  40. Ted Pfrimmer says:
    March 29, 2007 at 9:17 am

    Question: How do I transfer files (such as My Pictures on AOL, my Address Book, etc)from my computer to CDs or DVDs? I do not know how to even start doing this. Any help will be appreciated.

    Reply
  41. lisa says:
    March 29, 2007 at 7:02 am

    Hey – I’ve been running into the same laptop crashing thing (I know why though – it’s 5 years old and I’ve been beating the stuffing out of it, asking it to do things it wasn’t designed to do). But anyway, I will be getting a new laptop and wanted to know the same thing – can I copy my bookmarks over…The guy who will be configuring my new system said the only way to do so was to purchase a $30 cable and transfer them over that way. I thought that was a little strange and searched the question on the internet, just to be sure….Just wanted to say THANKS for posting such a careful response to the posters question; I’m grateful for info.
    Cheers,
    lisa

    Reply
  42. onilik22 says:
    March 18, 2007 at 2:06 am

    Oh yeah~! so nice! i can move my firefox favourite to ie7 now! so nice!

    Reply
  43. Norasate says:
    March 11, 2007 at 10:47 am

    Hi Dave,
    If my computer has already crashed and what left is a HDD with ton of files and directories.
    Where does IE store favorite data file ? and can I copy necessary files from that folder to a new IE folder in new HDD ?
    Thanks,
    Norasate.

    Reply
  44. Dave Taylor says:
    December 4, 2006 at 12:40 pm

    I don’t really understand what you’re asking, John. You have email addresses in Internet Explorer?

    Reply
  45. john Shgelman says:
    December 3, 2006 at 9:12 am

    Your info on how to back up favorites was very helpful and easy. Do you have an easy way to backup email addresses?

    Reply
  46. William Brown says:
    April 6, 2006 at 5:30 am

    Barbara Jones

    The sweet life stories.

    Reply

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