Where Are Favorites Stored in Edge? Find Out Here

Where are favorites stored in Edge? Read this post to quickly locate your Edge favorites and learn how to recover deleted favorites in Edge if they are lost.

Posted by @Gia October 29, 2024 Updated By @Gia September 13, 2024

Where are favorites stored in Edge?

Microsoft Edge is a robust and widely used web browser created by Microsoft. It provides users with a rich set of features and flexible options to meet different users’ requirements. To enhance the user experience, it includes a feature called Favorites, allowing users to store and manage the websites that they frequently visit. Using this feature, you are able to quickly access your desired websites instead of repeatedly entering the searching address. You can also classify these websites as needed to improve your working efficiency.

Backing up favorites regularly is a good habit, especially if you rely on them to manage essential websites. In cases where your browser crashes or cannot be opened due to unknown reasons, checking your backups can greatly reduce the risk of data loss. “Where are favorites stored in Edge?” Some people are confused with the issue. This article offers a comprehensive tutorial to find your favorites on your computer.

Access favorites in Microsoft Edge

First of all, you are able to access favorites directly from the main page of Microsoft Edge. To access your favorites in Microsoft Edge, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open Microsoft Edge on your computer.

Step 2: Click the star icon on the top right of the toolbar or directly press Ctrl+Shift+O to open the Favorites menu. Your favorites are listed there and can be easily visited by clicking them.

Check favorites in File Explorer

“Where are Microsoft Edge favorites stored in Windows 10?” Actually, your favorites are typically stored in a local file on the C: drive by default. To back up or manage them individually, you can find them through File Explorer. If you changed the default saving path before, find them at the Edge favorites location you specified. Here’s how to check your favorites in File Explorer:

Step 1. Open File Explorer and navigate to the default directory below: C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default

Step 2: Look for files named Bookmarks there. All your Edge favorites are stored in these files in JSON format. You can view them by opening the files with a text editor.

Note: It is not recommended to manually edit the these files unless you're familiar with JSON structure, as improper changes could corrupt them.

View favorites by exporting them to an HTML file

Additionally, you can view your favorites by exporting them to an HTML file. Microsoft Edge allows you to save these favorites in HTML format. This method is often applied to backing up your favorites or transferring them to another location. Here are the steps to export favorites as an HTML file:

Step 1: Open the Microsoft Edge on your computer.

Step 2: Click the star icon on the top right of the toolbar or directly press Ctrl+Shift+O.

Step 3: Click More options, and then select Export favorites.

Step 4: Specify a location and name for the file and then save it. After exporting, you are allowed to open the HTML file in any browser to view your favorites.

What can I do if favorites are deleted?

After discussing where are favorites stored in Edge, it’s equally important to address how to recover lost favorites. If you cannot find the desired favorites with the methods above, they may have been deleted accidentally. Is it possible to recover deleted favorites?

Fortunately, since favorites are stored in files below the Edge directory, you can get them back by restoring deleted files. This section will show you several effective solutions to recover deleted files, allowing you to choose the one that best suits your needs.

Recover deleted favorites using recovery software

When files containing your favorites are deleted unexpectedly, one of the most straightforward ways to recover them is by using specialized recovery software. AOMEI FastRecovery, a highly efficient data recovery tool, is designed to help users recover lost, deleted, or corrupted files on Windows PCs & Servers. Most data loss scenarios can be effortlessly addressed with its advanced data scanning and recovery technology. Compared with other recovery solutions, this method offers us some greater advantages:

User-Friendly: The easy-to-use interface guides users through a smooth, sequential recuperation process, regardless of experience.
Fast and Efficient: Users are able to locate and recover missing files within the shortest time.
High Success Rate: Supports effectively recovering various files on multiple devices with a high success rate.
Secure and Reliable: A professional data recovery expert ensures that your data is 100% safe.

How to recover deleted favorites using AOMEI FastRecovery:

Step 1: Launch AOMEI FastRecovery on your computer first, and then choose the exact partition or disk where your favorites are stored.

Step 2: Scan the specific disk to find the deleted files. It offers two modes, Quick Scan and Deep Scan:

  • Quick Scan: Quickly searches for recently deleted files.
  • Deep Scan: Thoroughly scans your storage device for finding lost data from more complex loss situations.

Step 3: Once the scan is complete, the deleted files will be displayed on the interface. Choose the file you want to restore, and click Recover

Step 4: Specify a new location to save recoverable files to prevent data from being overwritten. 

Recover deleted favorites from the Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin is a built-in tool in Windows that allows you to easily recover deleted files if you change your mind or have made a wrong choice. Sometimes, you can’t find the files containing your favorites due to accidental deletion. In this case, these files can often be found in the Recycle Bin. You can recover them by the following steps:

Step 1: Open the Recycle Bin.

Step 2: Select the files with your favorites to recover. 

Step 3: Right-click on the desired files and click the Restore option. Wait until they are restored to their original locations.

Recover deleted favorites through backups

Excluding the recovery ways above, another effective solution for recovering deleted files is through backups. For example, you can recover deleted files by using Backup and Restore (available in Windows 7 and later versions), provided you have enabled this feature beforehand. This method also works on the files being lost due to system failure or accidental overwriting. You are able to customize the backup content and plans according to their different needs. To recover deleted files that contain your favorites, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Go to the Control Panel, and select System and Security > Backup and Restore in turn.

Step 2: Click Restore my files.

Step 3: Click Browse for files to choose the files you want to recover, and then click Next.

Step 4: Specify the saving path for the recovered files, and click Restore.

Recover deleted favorites in Edge

In addition to these solutions, you can also use the built-in restore function in Microsoft Edge to get the deleted favorites back. Before that, please ensure that you have signed in to a Microsoft account and enabled the sync setting.

Step 1: Open Microsoft Edge and click the star icon on the top right of the toolbar. Or directly press Ctrl+Shift+O to open the Favorites menu.

Step 2: Click on the More options in the Favorites menu and select the Restore deleted favorites.

Step 3: You will see a list of favorites there. Choose a particular one you want to recover and click Restore.

Note: You can only restore favorites that have been lost or deleted in the past 28 days.

Conclusion

Favorites is a commonly used feature in Microsoft Edge, helping you quickly access the websites that you frequently visit. But where are favorites stored in Edge? In this post, you will learn several practical ways to locate your favorites. If you cannot find them, they might be deleted for some reasons. Don’t worry. Continue reading the rest of the post to learn four recovery solutions to get your favorites back. Additionally, it is suggested to back up your favorites or store them in a secure location to avoid future data loss.