Backing Up Your Favorites from Microsoft Internet Explorer and Edge

Backing up your Favorites (Internet Explorer and Edge): Whether you’re migrating to a new computer or reformatting your current one, there are several things you may want to bring with you from your current Windows environment. One of the most important for many people is their saved website bookmarks. In older versions of Windows, that meant Internet Explorer favorites. In modern Windows, that means Microsoft Edge favorites.

Backing up your favorites is just as important as backing up your email messages and personal contacts. This tutorial shows you how to back up and restore both Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge favorites.

Backing Up your Favorites from Internet Explorer

In Internet Explorer, favorites are stored as shortcut files inside your user profile.

1. Click Start → My Computer → C:\ (assuming Windows is installed on C: drive).
2. Navigate to:

   C:\Documents and Settings\[Your Username]\Favorites

   On newer versions of Windows (Vista/7/8/10 with IE), the path is:

   C:\Users\[Your Username]\Favorites

3. Copy the entire Favorites folder to your backup location (USB drive, cloud storage, etc.).

Restoring Internet Explorer Favorites

1. Navigate to the same path for your user profile’s Favorites folder.
2. Paste your saved favorites into this folder, overwriting the existing files if prompted.

Backing Up Microsoft Edge Favorites (Chromium Version)

The new Microsoft Edge (released January 2020) stores favorites in a database file rather than simple shortcut files.

1. Press Windows + R, type:

   %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default

   and press Enter.

2. Locate the file named Bookmarks (no extension).
3. Copy this file to your backup location.

Tip: You can also export Edge favorites directly from the browser by going to Settings → Profiles → Import or Export and clicking Export Favorites.

Restoring Microsoft Edge Favorites

1. Close Microsoft Edge completely.
2. Navigate to:

   %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default

3. Replace the existing Bookmarks file with your backup copy.
4. Restart Edge — your favorites should now be restored.

Importing Internet Explorer Favorites into Edge

1. Open Microsoft Edge.
2. Go to Settings → Profiles → Import Browser Data.
3. Choose Internet Explorer from the list and select Favorites or Bookmarks.
4. Click Import.

With these steps, you can safely back up, restore, and transfer your favorites between Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge — ensuring your most important website links are always within reach.