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October 10, 2008 12:01 AM PDT

Combine your Firefox bookmarks and IE favorites

by Dennis O'Reilly

For most people, browsing is an either-or proposition: they use either Microsoft's Internet Explorer or Mozilla's Firefox. But I'm betting there's a bunch of people like me who find themselves spending time in both browsers, often simultaneously.

The problem is, my list of Firefox bookmarks bears no resemblance to my collection of IE favorites. It took all of about five minutes to solve this problem.

Move your IE favorites to Firefox
Open Firefox 3 and click File > Import to start the Import Wizard. Choose Microsoft Internet Explorer and click Next. Uncheck all the options except Favorites (or retain them if you want to add your IE cookies, history, and Internet options) and click Next and Finish.

Mozilla Firefox 3's Import Wizard

Firefox 3 makes it easy to import your Internet Explorer favorites via the Import Wizard.

(Credit: Mozilla Foundation)

You can also export your IE favorites manually. To do so, open IE and click File > Import and Export to open the wizard. Click Next, choose Export Favorites, and click Next again. To export all your favorites, click Next again, or drill down the folders listed under Favorites and choose only the shortcuts you want to export before you click Next. Choose a name and location for your favorites file, but be sure to retain the .htm (or .html) format. Click Next > Finish > OK to close the wizard.

Use this file as a favorites backup or to move your list to a copy of IE on another PC.

Add your Firefox bookmarks to IE
In Firefox 3, click Bookmarks > Organize Bookmarks. At the top of the Library dialog box, click Import and Backup > Export HTML. Choose a name and location for the file (retain the .htm or .html extension) and click Save. Close the Library dialog.

Now open IE and click File > Import and Export > Next. Choose Import Favorites and click Next again. Click Browse, navigate to and select the bookmarks file you just exported from Firefox, and click Save. After you click Next again, select the folder you want to store the bookmarks in and click Next yet again. Finally, click Finish and OK.

Sync your Firefox bookmarks with Foxmarks
This import-export routine should suffice for people who use only one, two, or even three different PCs. However, if you would prefer to store all your bookmarks in one place or if you frequently browse on public PCs, an online bookmark service may be a better solution. The free Foxmarks add-on for Firefox lets you sync bookmarks on a number of systems and provides access to your shortcuts after you log in at the Foxmarks.com site.

And yes, the site works with both Firefox and IE.

Dennis O'Reilly has covered PCs and other technologies in print and online since 1985. Along with more than a decade as editor for Ziff-Davis's Computer Select, Dennis edited PC World's award-winning Here's How section for more than seven years. He is a member of the CNET blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET.
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Add a Comment (Log in or register) (6 Comments)
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by expressboy12 October 10, 2008 11:21 AM PDT
Now with Foxmarks an alpha version you can use in Internet explorer as well.
Great now. All my browsers across different computers having same bookmarks
A dream come true.
Reply to this comment
by zupcsics October 12, 2008 12:05 PM PDT
A _much_more useful tip would be some tools for *synchronizing* IE and FF bookmarks.

Many of us have to live with more than one browser (mostly because we're stuck w/ IE at work).

Importing and exporting bookmarks is simply NOT an acceptable solution for those of using multiple browsers and multiple PCs. The tools that I've tried so far have not worked very well - some don't seem to work at all, some are OK when they work, but are unreliable.

Please consider addressing *synchronization* of bookmarks in a future tip.
Reply to this comment
by EmilyJohn June 15, 2009 7:05 AM PDT
Synchronizing and <a href="http://www.tidyfavorites.com/favorites/export%20bookmarks.html">exporting bookmarks</a> is possible with Tidy Favorites. It supports IE, Firefox, Opera and Chrome. Besides, shows bookmarks as live thumbnails which makes working with bookmarks fun, easy and fast.
by boxgranch October 12, 2008 3:07 PM PDT
There is a really easy way to do do with the Firefox add-on called Plain Old Favorites. It simply lets you use IE Favorites within Firefox. No syncing, no logging into other sites, no importing or exporting. Very slick and easy to use.
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by hughy23 October 13, 2008 1:07 PM PDT
Just use Google bookmarks. Works best if you have the google toolbar installed but also accessible from http://www.google.com/bookmarks. The bookmarks are searchable and not dependent on a specific computer. That way you can access the same bookmarks from your home computer, office computer, etc.
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by pinoyme April 18, 2009 6:48 PM PDT
I just want to thank you for this guide. I works great.
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About Workers' Edge

Dennis O'Reilly has covered PCs and other technologies in print and online since 1985. Along with more than a decade as editor for Ziff-Davis's Computer Select, Dennis edited PC World's award-winning Here's How section for more than seven years. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET.

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