How to Back up Microsoft Edge Favorites

Easily back up and restore your bookmarked favorites whenever you want

What to Know

  • Click the menu icon and select Favorites > Manage favorites > Export favorites. Save the file.
  • Restore: Go to Favorites > Import favorites and select Favorites or bookmarks HTML file from the dropdown menu and select the file.

This article explains how to back up or export favorites from Microsoft Edge and restore or import them.

How to Back Up Microsoft Edge Favorites

In Microsoft Edge, website bookmarks are favorites. If you sign into the browser using a Microsoft account, you can turn on syncing and automatically store your favorites in the cloud. If you don’t want to sign in to the browser or prefer a local copy, you can back up your Edge favorites to your local hard drive, USB drive, SD card, or whatever other location you like.

If you have your favorites organized into multiple folders, the following procedure will back up all of the favorites and preserve your folder structure.

Here’s how to back up Microsoft Edge favorites:

  1. Open the Edge browser, and click the menu icon (three horizontal dots) in the upper right corner.

    The main menu button in Microsoft Edge.
  2. Navigate to Favorites > Manage favorites.

    The favorites menu in Microsoft Edge with Manage Favorites highlighted.
  3. In the right pane, click the menu icon (three horizontal lines) that’s located directly above the list of favorites.

    The Favorites Bar menu in Microsoft Edge.
  4. Click Export favorites.

    The Export favorites menu option in Microsoft Edge.
  5. Select a location to back up your favorites, name the file, and click Save.

    Saving an exported list of favorites in Microsoft Edge.

How to Restore Your Microsoft Edge Bookmarks

If you’re signed into the Edge browser with your Microsoft account and have sync turned on, your bookmarks will save to the cloud. If you don’t want to sign in and store your favorites in the cloud, you can quickly restore them from a local backup.

Here’s how to restore Microsoft Edge favorites:

  1. Open the Edge browser, and click the menu icon (three horizontal dots) in the upper right corner.

    The main menu button in Microsoft Edge.
  2. Select Favorites > Import Favorites.

    Favorites import option in Microsoft Edge.
  3. Click the Import from dropdown menu, and select Favorites or bookmarks HTML file.

    Selecting where to import favorites from in Edge.

    Make sure that the box next to Favorites or bookmarks is checked before you proceed.

  4. Click Choose file.

    Importing favorites into Microsoft Edge.
  5. Select your backed up favorites, and click Open.

    Selecting a favorites backup file in Microsoft Edge.
  6. Click Done.

    Finishing importing favorites into Edge.

How to Remove Duplicate Favorites in Microsoft Edge

When you import favorites in Microsoft Edge, you may end up with duplicates. That can happen if you’ve already bookmarked some websites before importing your old list or if you’re importing favorites or bookmarks to Edge from multiple browsers.

Here’s how to remove duplicate favorites from Edge:

  1. Open Edge and navigate to menu > Favorites select the three dot menu and then choose Manage Favorites, or enter edge://favorites/ into the URL bar.

  2. In the right pane, click the menu icon (three horizontal lines) located directly above the list of favorites.

    The Favorites Bar menu in Microsoft Edge.
  3. Click Remove duplicate favorites.

    The Remove duplicate favorites in Microsoft Edge.
  4. Click Remove.

    Removing duplicate favorites from Microsoft Edge.
  5. Wait for the process to finish, and confirm if prompted.

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