What is the user data folder and how do I find it so I can restore deleted bookmarks?

Question

Tell me how to find the User Data folder so I can restore some bookmarks

Answer 1

The User Data Folder (UDF) is a directory on your machine that stores data related to your WebView2 applications, including browser data like bookmarks, cookies, and cached resources. To find the location of the User Data Folder, you can use the CoreWebView2Environment.UserDataFolder property in your code after creating the WebView2 environment. This property returns the path to the UDF for the current session.

Here’s an example of how to retrieve the UDF location in C#:

private void OnGetUDFClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    // This property can be used after WebView2 creation to find the actual location of the User Data Folder
    UserDataFolder.Text = WebView2.CoreWebView2.Environment.UserDataFolder;
}

If you are using Win32, you can access it using the ICoreWebView2Environment7.get_UserDataFolder property getter:

auto environment7 = m_webViewEnvironment.try_query<ICoreWebView2Environment7>();
CHECK_FEATURE_RETURN(environment7);
wil::unique_cotaskmem_string userDataFolder;
environment7->get_UserDataFolder(&userDataFolder);

Once you have the path to the User Data Folder, you can navigate to that location on your file system to look for your deleted bookmarks, assuming they are stored there. However, if the bookmarks were deleted, you may need to check for backup files or other recovery options, as simply accessing the UDF may not restore them directly.

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References:

• Manage user data folders
• What kind of data is stored in the UDF
• User data and privacy in Microsoft Edge

Answer 2

Hi,

Press Windows+R keys on the keyboard, or Right-click Start on the Taskbar and choose Run.

Paste this path:

Go to %localappdata%\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default

Press Enter.

Two files namely:

bookmarks

bookmarks.bak

Should be there. Please rename the bookmarks file to bookmarks1, and remove the extension from the file bookmarks.bak so that it becomes bookmarks only.

Open Microsoft Edge

Let me know if the previous bookmarks appear.