Synchronize Favorites in Edge

Paul,

Thanks for your prompt reply.  However, you did not address my question (my fault, I apologize for not being sufficiently clear).  I did not ask how to synchronize the Favorites in my desktop and my laptop.  I ask how to make sure that the Favorites in my desktop (and not the ones in my laptop) become the common set of Favorites in both computers, when I turn the synchronization setting on.   Right now I have about 150 Favorites in my desktop and about 50 Favorites in my laptop.  As you can see, the 2 sets of Favorites are different in number; and they also refer to different websites.  So they are completely different. I am not interested any more in the 50 Favorites in my laptop.  I would like the 150 Favorites in my desktop to become the common set of Favorites in both my computers.  What happens when I turn on the synchronization settings?  Will I get 150+50 = 200 favorites in both computers (A)? Or will I get the 50 Favorites that are in the laptop now in both computers (B)? Or I will I get the 150 files that are in the desktop now in both computers (C)?  The first 2 alternatives (A) and (B) are not acceptable to me.  I would like to get the third alternative (C).

Thanks

Hello Philip54,

Are you still unable to sync your favorites from your laptop to other machines?

I can transfer the Favorites files manually from a computer to another computer using the File Explorer.

But I cannot synchronize the Favorites automatically in a reliable way. I managed to synchronize the Favorites in a couple of occasions, but:

• In one occasion the synchronization was partially incorrect (see my post on 8/5/21) on the second computer and did not happen on the third computer
• In another occasion the computers stopped being synchronized after re-booting one of the computers

Thanks

Paul,

Thanks for your prompt reply.  However, you did not address my question (my fault, I apologize for not being sufficiently clear).  I did not ask how to synchronize the Favorites in my desktop and my laptop.  I ask how to make sure that the Favorites in my desktop (and not the ones in my laptop) become the common set of Favorites in both computers, when I turn the synchronization setting on.   Right now I have about 150 Favorites in my desktop and about 50 Favorites in my laptop.  As you can see, the 2 sets of Favorites are different in number; and they also refer to different websites.  So they are completely different. I am not interested any more in the 50 Favorites in my laptop.  I would like the 150 Favorites in my desktop to become the common set of Favorites in both my computers.  What happens when I turn on the synchronization settings?  Will I get 150+50 = 200 favorites in both computers (A)? Or will I get the 50 Favorites that are in the laptop now in both computers (B)? Or I will I get the 150 files that are in the desktop now in both computers (C)?  The first 2 alternatives (A) and (B) are not acceptable to me.  I would like to get the third alternative (C).

Thanks

Sync is supposed to leave both devices with the same union of Favorites (A). Ordinarily, I would recommend accepting this and using Edge's facilities to get what you want:

• Sync both devices
• Use either device to groom your Favorites into shape

However, sync is so unreliable that effort grooming Favorites and Collections often is wasted. You could try this hack:

On your desktop:

• Open Edge
• Open Favorites (Ctrl-Shift-O)
• Click three dots
• Click "Export favorites"

On your laptop:

• Close Edge
• Rename C:\Users<user_name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data<Profile>\Bookmarks (to "_Bookmarks", e.g.). Also rename Bookmarks.bak (to "_Bookmarks.bak", e.g.).

Make sure <Profile> corresponds to the Profile you're using ("Default", "Profile 1", Profile 2", etc.). Check the tool-tip you see when you hover over your account avatar. If it says "Personal", then your Bookmarks file will be in "Default".

• Open Edge
• Open Favorites (Ctrl-Shift-O)
• Click three dots
• Click "Import favorites"
• Import the file you exported from your desktop.

Results from here on out depend upon whether Microsoft ever fixes sync.

Paul, Ted,

Thanks for your replies.

I tried to synchronize my Favorites using various procedures and for a moment it looked like I had been successful.  Unfortunately, after re-starting the laptop, the Favorites on my laptop were no longer identical to the Favorites on my desktop.  In the next days I plan to give a try also to the procedures that you recommended, but it would appear that the Favorites synchronizing feature of Edge needs in any case further work to perform reliably.

Thanks for your help.

Good day Philip54! I am glad to be able to provide assistance to you today.

Just to check, are you logged into the same account in MS Edge for both PC's?

You will be able to see identical favorites if you turn on sync once you have logged into your profile and you can also change it's setting (click on the the profile icon > manage profile settings) and ensure that favorites is toggled to on (with a blue slider) in order to get it syncing on your other PC and you can reset the sync by clicking on reset sync now to resolve any sync issue that you will encounter.

Reference links:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-e...

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/edg...

Regards,

Paul R.