How to reduce the id in edge://favorites/?id=?

逸飞周 1

As the title.

For some reason, it is sometimes necessary to import favorites on the computer. Every time the favorites are imported, the id in edge://favorites/?id= will become larger, and the number is already very large now. There may be no more imports in the future. Is there any way to make its id smaller, so that the number behind edge://favorites/?id= will not be too long, and I can specifically bookmark some favorite pages as Easy to jump.

I remember that I have implemented it, even edge://favorites/?id=3 and edge://favorites/?id=4 are available. Later, I logged in and synchronized on the mobile phone, and added the item of mobile favorites, and there was edge://favorites/?id=3 as a mobile favorite, and all other ids were postponed, but this situation is possible Accepted, because there are not many pushbacks, only a few thousand. Now I want to get back to the operation at that time.

It is acceptable to log out and log in again on the computer, delete and re-import after backing up favorites, reset synchronization, log in to mobile phones to display mobile favorites, etc.; it is not acceptable to log out and delete local data, because this will delete highlights, passwords, etc., although it can be synchronized and backup, but there are still risks; uninstalling Edge and reinstalling is not accepted, and I did the id reset without doing so, but I can't remember the original operation now.

For "and I can specially bookmark some favorite pages for easy jumping", I have a solution that does not use this method, and I don't need to recommend it, and please don't persuade me to give up the idea of reducing the id because this problem can be solved.

The above content is translated by Google, and I am sorry if there is any mistake.

1 answer

ShiJieLi-MSFT 7,391 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2022-11-28T07:41:09.987+00:00
Hi @逸飞周 ,

The ID issue you've described has been reproduced, as I've tested on multiple devices and accounts. In short, it usually occurs if you have deleted previous favorites and then import/add new ones. Then, you'll have some ids skipped. Suppose you have deleted 5 previous favorites, and these 5 ids will no longer show up. The more you have deleted, the faster IDs will increase.

Workaround:
The workaround is quite simple and does not involve deleting any data.

Go to your profile folder. If you're not sure about the folder, you can go to edge://version/ and find it in Profile path.

In the profile folder, open Bookmarks file with Notepad or any text editor.

You'll see your bookmarks/favorites with information attached, including ID. Modify any ID and save the file. For example, you can simply edit any ID not equal to 1 into "id": "1". In my opinion, this triggers a "re-ordering" mechanism as there're 2 items with the same id "1".

Restart Edge (make sure there's no instance left). Then, you'll find IDs return to normal.

However, if you need to import/delete favorites again in the future, you may still encounter such issue. Besides the workaround above, I suggest sending feedback by pressing Alt+Shift+I in Edge to the Dev Team, so that a relevant fix will be delivered in the future.

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Best Regards,
Shijie Li
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逸飞周 1 Reputation point

2022-11-29T13:04:53.84+00:00

Hello.

Thank you very much for your kind reply.

I found three files related to favorites in C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default, namely Bookmarks, Bookmarks.bak and Bookmarks.msbak. Is the relevant thing to be changed is Bookmarks? Is there a requirement for which text editor to use? Can I use VSCode?

I took a look and it seems that folders and bookmarked urls are marked with ids. Can the id of the folder and the website being bookmarked be the same? What would be the consequences if they were the same? If I want to change it, what should I do if the id I want to change already exists? For example, I want to change 110000 to 10000 and 12000 to 20000, but 10000 is already the id of a certain website, and 20000 is already the id of a certain folder, so what should I do?

Regarding the fact that favorite websites also have ids, I would like to ask what happens if I visit their ids? I tried it, and it seems to jump directly to the front page edge://favorites/. Is this normal?

Regarding your feedback to the Edge Dev Team, thank you for your proposal, and I will give feedback to the Edge Dev Team later.

Finally, thanks again for your answers and help.

The above content is translated by Google, and I am sorry if there is any mistake.

ShiJieLi-MSFT 7,391 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2022-11-30T06:24:50.89+00:00

Hi @逸飞周 ,

Here're my answers to your questions:

Yes, there're 3 files related to Bookmarks, but in this case we only need to modify the one named Bookmarks without file name extension.

There's no requirement for which text editor to use. You can also use VS Code, of course.

IDs of folders and URLs cannot be the same. For example, you cannot have a folder with ID 1 and a URL with ID 1 at the same time. If their IDs should be the same, Edge would re-order them so that they would have different IDs. That's exactly how we exploit the mechanism so that no IDs will be skipped, and you will have smaller IDs as expected.

If you need to specify an ID for a folder/URL, you should exchange IDs. For example, you want to change A's id "10000" to "20000", but there's already been a B with id "20000". To avoid re-ordering, you'll also need to change B's id from "20000" to "10000". A and B can be folders or URLs, or a folder and a URL.

Visiting a url's ID will only make Edge jump directly to edge://favorites/, but visiting a folder's id will make Edge navigate to the exact folder. It is normal and also by design.
If you have any further question, please feel free to contact us.

逸飞周 1 Reputation point

2022-11-30T14:34:01.62+00:00

Thank you for your reply and patient explanation.

In addition to the favorites bar, other favorites, mobile favorites, and restored folders, does the Edge browser favorites have other root folders? The mobile favorites appeared after I installed the Android version of Edge and added the website, and the id displayed on the computer is 3. The recovered folder seems to have appeared after resetting the synchronization. There is no website in it yet, and it is not displayed on the computer. I don’t know what the id is. Is the id of the root folder generally the first few?

If I download and log in to Edge on an Apple device in the future, will there be root folders such as macOS favorites and iOS mobile favorites? Or will iOS devices only have mobile favorites? I have logged in on the Linux system, and there is no such folder as Linux favorites, which seems to be similar to the experience on Windows. But I don't know the situation on the Apple system.

In addition, I found that there are no Collection in the Edge sync option downloaded from the Google Play store, only five items: favorites, addresses and more, passwords, history, and open tabs. I remember that this option was canceled in a previous update, but it is still not there after updating to the latest version. Will it be added in the future? Or is it a problem with my download? I'm sure it was downloaded from the Google Play Store. The version number is 107.0.1418.43.

The above content is translated by Google, and I am sorry if there is any mistake.

ShiJieLi-MSFT 7,391 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2022-12-01T03:28:51.713+00:00

Hi @逸飞周 ,

Here're my answers to your new questions:

Edge has no other root folders.

IDs of root folders are not necessarily the first few. They follow a fixed order: Favorites bar --> URLs/folders in Favorites bar --> Other favorites --> URLs/folders in Other favorites --> Mobile favorites --> URLs/folders in Mobile favorites. If you are not sure about the ID of a certain folder or URL, you can find it in Bookmarks file. But if you find it missing in the file, it means the folder/URL does not exist.

On macOS or iOS Edge, you'll have same root folders as Windows ones.

As to Collection sync issue on Android, I've tested on multiple devices and found an interesting behavior: I had the Collection sync option at first, but when I logged out and logged in again, this option disappeared. It applies to both Google Play store version and the official version. You may try to log out and log in, and see whether this option shows up. But after all, I suggest sending feedback again regarding this sync issue.

逸飞周 1 Reputation point

2022-12-04T14:27:16.487+00:00

Thank you for your patience in replying.

That means Edge only has four root folders, right?

What I mean is that these four folders are owned by Edge. Are their ids 1, 2, 3, and 4 by default? Of course, we can change it through the method you mentioned above.

I will try to log out and log in again. I will also give feedback to the Edge Dev Team.

I am a little curious about the reason why this mobile favorite was developed at that time? Wouldn't it be enough to directly use the "favorites bar, other favorites" system on the computer? Is there anything special about the mobile terminal? Or is there a corresponding need? I generally only use it for mobile websites and a few other things. After all, the domain names of the mobile version often start with m. and mobile., but if the website recognizes the UA of the mobile version, it will generally jump. When importing the .html file before, Edge seemed to not be able to recognize the mobile favorites at all, and directly imported the website in the mobile favorites to other favorites, it seems that it is not compatible at all?

The above content is translated by Google, and I am sorry if there is any mistake.

ShiJieLi-MSFT 7,391 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2022-12-05T08:47:07.153+00:00

Hi @逸飞周 ,

Yes, Edge only has four root folders.

Their ids are 1,2,3,4 by default.

IMO, the folder of "Mobile favorites" is set up to separate those favorites you've picked on mobile devices from those on PCs. For example, websites designed for mobile devices can be stored in "Mobile favorites". By default, when you add favorites on mobile devices, they're stored in "Mobile favorites" folder, but you can still edit the preferences so that you can add them to "Favorites bar" or any other folder next time automatically.

If you import a .html file containing "Mobile favorites", you will not have the "Mobile favorites" folder and bookmarks of which will be transferred to "Other favorites". It is an expected behavior because the new profile does not share the same account as your mobile device profile, which means this "Mobile favorites" folder is used to sync between different devices with the same account logged in. In this case, you can create a custom "mobile favorites folder" to store your favorites on mobile devices for the convenience of importing.

逸飞周 1 Reputation point

2022-12-05T14:33:59.59+00:00

I've added a website to my restored favorites on Edge on my phone, but nothing seems to happen on my computer. There are still only three root folders. Can't find it either. I added another website to my mobile favorites on my phone, and it synced quickly. Won't this restored favorites appear on the computer? Or is it not synced yet? Or does it only appear when the sync is reset or something? I probably won't reset sync in the future if I don't have to.

The above content is translated by Google, and I am sorry if there is any mistake.

ShiJieLi-MSFT 7,391 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2022-12-07T05:14:59.807+00:00

Hi @逸飞周 ,

The "restored favorites" seems to be an obsolete folder, and normally we only have three root folders now. Even when I reset sync or something, this folder won't show up on either mobile devices or PCs. I suggest moving the favorites in the "restored favorites" to other favorites folders, so that you can successfully sync those favorites between devices.

逸飞周 1 Reputation point

2022-12-07T14:19:32.927+00:00

Thank you for your reply.

The restored folder appeared after one of my previous reset syncs. I don't remember if there were any favorite websites in it at that time, because I uninstalled and reinstalled it before, but after reinstalling and synchronizing, it was there again. However, I also installed Edge Dev and did not uninstall it at the same time. It may be that the leftover files have affected it. Now that it's deprecated, I won't use it anymore.

I will take the time to modify the id, and I will also give feedback to the Edge Dev Team. I will also give feedback on the fact that the synchronization option on the Android phone does not have a collection.

I wish Microsoft's Windows, Office, OneDrive, Microsoft Edge and other products will get better and better.

The above content is translated by Google, and I am sorry if there is any mistake.

ShiJieLi-MSFT 7,391 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2022-12-08T01:49:31.207+00:00

Hi @逸飞周 ,

Glad that I can assist you with this issue. Your kind feedback and suggestion can be of great help to us. Thank you for your support.
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