CyberSeniors Computer Tips

04/02/08 Moving Your Bookmarks

Newk's Nook: With many of us using multiple computers, you may want to move your Internet bookmarks. Here's a short article by Kim Kommando.

Q. I have a new computer. How do I move my Favorites from my old computer to my new one? Thank you. I tell all my friends about your show. They thank me for that.

For those who don't know, you can save Web sites as bookmarks. When you want to revisit the site, you have a link handy.
A. I've been computing for a long time. So, I have a lot of bookmarks. Being able to move them is crucial.

Before you begin, you might want to clean up your bookmarks. If you have a lot, there are bound to be dead links. You wouldn’t want to transfer those. But checking all of those links would be a pain. Try AM-DeadLink instead. It will do the checking for you.

Nearly all browsers have a method to import and export bookmarks. There really isn't much to it. If only world peace were this easy!

I'll give instructions for the four most popular. There should be no trouble making these transfers. Any of these browsers can export to any other browser. So, it does not have to be Safari-to-Safari, or Firefox-to-Firefox.

I'm assuming that your machines are not on a network. If they are networked, the transfer would be even easier. The most difficult part of this is moving the files between machines.

Let's start by explaining the export procedures, beginning with Internet Explorer. In each case, we will export to the Desktop.

--If IE does not display the menu (File, Edit, View, etc.), right-click in the gray area. Select Menu. Click File>>Import and Export. When the wizard opens, click Next. Select Export Favorites and click Next. Select Favorites and click Next. Click Browse and select the Desktop. Click Save. Click Next>>Finish.

--In Apple's Safari, click File>>Export Bookmarks. A Save As dialogue box will open. In the Save in: box, select Desktop. Click Save.

--In Firefox, click Bookmarks>>Organize Bookmarks. Click File>>Export. In the "Export bookmark file" dialogue box, select Desktop. Click Save.

--In Opera, click File>>Import and export>>Export bookmarks as HTML. In the Export window, find Desktop in the "Sign in" box. Click Save.

In each case, the bookmarks file is on the desktop. The file must be moved to the new computer. You could do this with a network, if you have one. Or, you could save the file to a CD or thumb drive. Sending the file to an online e-mail account might be easiest.

Once the file is on the new computer, drag and drop it onto the desktop. Once there, you can import it to your new browser. The process is slightly different for each available browser. Let's see how to import your bookmarks.

--If IE does not display the menu (File, Edit, View, etc.), right-click in the gray area. Select Menu. Click File>>Import and Export. When the wizard opens, click Next. Select Import Favorites and click Next. Select Import from a File or Address. Click Browse and select the Desktop. Select the file and click Save. Click Next. Select Favorites and click Next>>Finish.

--In Appe’s Safari, click File>>Import Bookmarks. Select Desktop and locate the bookmarks file. Click Open.

--In Firefox, click Bookmarks>>Organize Bookmarks. Click File>>Import. Then select From File and click Next. Select Desktop and find the file. Click Open.

--In Opera, click File>>Import and export. Click the browser from which you're importing. Select Desktop and find the file. Click Open.

It is also simple to move bookmarks from a PC to a Mac. Move the bookmarks to the Mac and place them on the desktop. Then you can import then to the various browsers. I am not including Internet Explorer. It is no longer made for the Mac.

--In Apple’s Safari, click File>>Import Bookmarks. On the left side of the window, click Desktop. Select the bookmarks file and click Import.

--In Firefox, click Bookmarks>>Organize Bookmarks. A bookmarks manager window will open. Click File>>Import. Select >From File and click Continue. On the left side of the window select Desktop. Select the bookmarks file and click Open.

--In Opera, click File>>Import and export>>Import (previous browser) bookmarks. On the left side of the window select Desktop. Select the bookmarks file and click Open.

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