Import Bookmarks to Microsoft Edge from Chrome, Firefox or an HTML File (and Where They Go)

To import bookmarks to Microsoft Edge, open Edge, select Settings and more (the three dots) > Settings > Profiles > Import browser data. To import bookmarks from Chrome to Edge, select Import next to Import data from Google Chrome, keep Favorites or bookmarks checked, and select Import. For Firefox, or to import bookmarks to Edge from an HTML file, use Import browser data now under Other import locations and pick the browser or Favorites or bookmarks HTML file in the Import from list. Edge calls bookmarks favorites, and here is the part that makes people think the import failed: Edge puts them in a new folder, usually named Imported or Imported from the other browser, on the Favorites bar, which many people never see. Press Ctrl + Shift + O to open all favorites and find it.

Ethan's aunt had spent eleven years collecting recipes in Firefox on an old Windows 10 laptop: more than three hundred bookmarks, in folders by cuisine, some pointing to food blogs that no longer exist anywhere else. When her new Windows 11 laptop arrived with Edge, Ethan exported the Firefox bookmarks to an HTML file, copied it to a USB stick, and imported it into Edge in two minutes. That evening she called, close to tears: "They're all gone." They were not. Edge had placed every one of them, folders intact, inside a single folder named Imported, on a Favorites bar she had never switched on. One keyboard shortcut later, Indian, Italian and "Grandma's cakes" were all back. This page covers every way to bring bookmarks, and passwords if you want them, into Edge from Chrome, Firefox, another Edge profile, another PC or a file, plus where they land, how to tidy them, and what to do when the import does not work.

Favorites, bookmarks and what Edge can import

Microsoft Edge uses the word favorites for what Chrome, Firefox and Safari call bookmarks. They are the same thing: saved links, organized in folders, with an optional bar under the address bar for the ones you use most. Every instruction for "import favorites to Edge" and "import bookmarks to Edge" means the same process, and an HTML file of bookmarks from any browser is an HTML file of favorites to Edge.

Edge's importer can bring in more than links. Depending on the source browser, the Choose what to import list includes some or all of these:

Item	What comes across	Worth importing?
Favorites or bookmarks	All links and folders, in a new folder	Yes, always
Saved passwords	Website sign-ins saved in the other browser	Yes, if Edge will be your password manager
Browsing history	Sites you visited, so the address bar suggests them	Useful for a smooth switch
Personal info and addresses	Autofill names, addresses, phone numbers	Optional
Payment info	Saved cards (Chrome); you may need to re-enter security codes	Think about it; many people re-add cards by hand
Open tabs, extensions, settings, cookies	Offered for Chrome on many PCs	Extensions and tabs save time; cookies keep you signed in to sites

If all you want is your links, check only Favorites or bookmarks. You can always run the import again later for anything else.

Before you import: a two-minute checklist

Most failed or messy imports come from skipping one of these. None takes long.

1. Let the old browser finish syncing. If Chrome or Firefox is signed in to an account, open it and give it a minute, so bookmarks saved on your phone or another PC have arrived on this one. Edge reads only what is on this computer.
2. Back up what Edge already has. If Edge already holds favorites you care about, export them first (Ctrl + Shift + O, More options, Export favorites). An import never deletes anything, but a backup makes any later tidy-up risk-free.
3. Pick the right Edge profile. Check the profile picture at the top left. Imports land in whichever profile is open.
4. Decide about passwords and cards now. Importing them is optional. If you plan to use a separate password manager, leave passwords unchecked so they do not end up in two places.
5. Close the other browser. Close every window, and check the taskbar's hidden icons for a browser that keeps running in the background.

With those done, the import itself is the easy part, and you will know exactly where to look when it finishes.

Import bookmarks from Chrome to Edge

Chrome is the most common source, and Edge has a dedicated row for it. Both browsers can be installed on the same PC; nothing is removed from Chrome.

1. Open Microsoft Edge.
2. Select Settings and more (the three dots at the top right, or press Alt + F) and choose Settings.
3. Select Profiles, then Import browser data. You can also paste edge://settings/profiles/importBrowsingData into the address bar.
4. Next to Import data from Google Chrome, select Import.
5. If you use more than one Chrome profile, pick the right one in the import options.
6. Under Choose what to import, keep Favorites or bookmarks checked and check or clear the rest.
7. Select Import. When the notification says it is complete, select Done.

Close Chrome first if Edge asks you to; some items, especially passwords and cookies, can only be read while Chrome is closed. If your Chrome bookmarks are synced to your Google account but this PC's Chrome has never been signed in, open Chrome, sign in and let it sync before importing, because Edge reads the bookmarks stored on this PC, not the ones in your Google account.

Import from Chrome on another computer

Edge can only import directly from a Chrome installed on the same PC. For Chrome on an old computer, either sign in to Chrome on the new PC so your bookmarks sync down, then import, or export an HTML file on the old PC as shown in the next section.

Import bookmarks to Edge from an HTML file

An HTML bookmarks file is the universal format: every major browser can create one and read one. It is the method to use when the old browser is on another computer, has been uninstalled, does not appear in Edge's list, or when you are bringing bookmarks over on a USB drive.

Step 1: Export the bookmarks from the old browser

• Chrome: press Ctrl + Shift + O to open the Bookmark manager, select the three dots at the top right of the blue bar, choose Export bookmarks, and save the file.
• Firefox: press Ctrl + Shift + O to open the Library, select Import and Backup > Export Bookmarks to HTML, and save.
• Edge (another PC or profile): press Ctrl + Shift + O to open Favorites, select More options (the three dots), choose Export favorites, and save.
• Safari on a Mac: use the File menu's export option for bookmarks, which saves an HTML file.
• Opera, Brave and Vivaldi: each has an Export bookmarks option in its bookmarks manager, saving the same kind of HTML file.

Copy the file to the new PC with a USB drive, OneDrive, email to yourself, or any other way you like. It is a small text file, usually well under a megabyte even for thousands of bookmarks.

Step 2: Import the file into Edge

1. In Edge, go to Settings > Profiles > Import browser data.
2. Under Other import locations, select Import next to Import browser data now.
3. In the Import from list, choose Favorites or bookmarks HTML file.
4. Select Choose file, find the HTML file, and select Open.
5. When Edge reports that the import is complete, select Done.

You can also open the exported file without importing it. Double-click the HTML file and it opens in any browser as a plain page of clickable links, grouped under your folder names. That is a handy way to check the export worked before you wipe an old PC, to find one link without importing everything, or to give a relative a printed list of their favorite sites. Because the file is ordinary text, it also opens in Notepad, where every link appears as a line you can search with Ctrl + F.

There is a shortcut to the same dialog from the Favorites menu: press Ctrl + Shift + O, select More options (the three dots), and choose Import favorites.

Import bookmarks from Firefox to Edge

If Firefox is installed on the same PC, Edge can read its bookmarks directly.

1. Close Firefox completely, including any window minimized to the taskbar.
2. In Edge, go to Settings > Profiles > Import browser data.
3. Next to Import browser data now, select Import.
4. In Import from, choose Mozilla Firefox. If you have several Firefox profiles, choose the right one.
5. Check Favorites or bookmarks (and passwords or history if you want them) and select Import.

If Firefox does not appear in the list, or the import finishes with nothing in it, use the HTML file method instead. It works every time, and it is the right choice when Firefox uses a profile on a different drive or a portable copy of Firefox.

Where imported bookmarks go in Edge (and why they seem to vanish)

This is the most common reason people think the import failed. Edge never mixes imported bookmarks into your existing favorites. It wraps everything in one new folder, so nothing you already had gets disturbed:

• From an HTML file, the folder is usually called Imported.
• From a browser, it is usually named after the source, such as Imported from Chrome or Imported from Firefox.
• The folder goes on the Favorites bar, or into Other favorites if the source had them there.

To see everything at once, press Ctrl + Shift + O (or select the star-with-lines Favorites button next to the address bar). The Favorites panel lists the Favorites bar, Other favorites and Mobile favorites, each of which can be expanded. To show the Favorites bar under the address bar permanently, press Ctrl + Shift + B, or go to Settings > Appearance and set Show favorites bar to Always. Our guide to where Edge keeps your favorites covers every place they can hide.

Move imported bookmarks out of the Imported folder

Most people want the old bar to look like it did before. Open the Favorites page with Ctrl + Shift + O, open the Imported folder, select the first item, press Ctrl + A to select everything inside, and drag the selection onto Favorites bar in the left pane. Then delete the empty Imported folder. On the Favorites page you can also right-click and use Cut and Paste instead of dragging.

Tidy up after importing: duplicates and old links

Importing more than once, or from two browsers that shared bookmarks, leaves duplicates. Edge has a built-in fix:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + O to open Favorites.
2. Select More options (the three dots).
3. Choose Remove duplicate favorites, then confirm.

Edge removes exact duplicates (the same link in the same folder) and tells you how many it found. Links saved in different folders are left alone, because you may have put them there on purpose.

While you are tidying, it is a good moment to remove dead links. A bookmark collection a decade old will contain sites that no longer exist. Edge does not check links for you, so open your most-used folders and delete anything that fails to load. Ethan's aunt kept the dead recipe links anyway, in a folder called "Gone but not forgotten", because the titles alone reminded her of the dishes. That is a perfectly good reason to keep a bookmark.

Organize a big imported collection

A thousand imported bookmarks in one folder is not much more useful than none. A simple three-level layout makes them usable again:

• The Favorites bar holds your daily few. Eight to twelve links or folders you open every day: email, bank, work tools, the news site you read with coffee. Right-click a favorite on the bar and choose Rename to shorten long titles, so more fit.
• Folders on the bar group the weekly ones. A "Bills" folder, a "Kids' school" folder, a "Recipes" folder. One click opens a menu of everything inside.
• Other favorites is the archive. Everything you might want one day goes here, in folders by topic. You will rarely browse it; you will search it.

Searching is the secret to a large collection. On the Favorites page (Ctrl + Shift + O), the search box at the top finds favorites by name or address across every folder, and typing part of a favorite's name in Edge's address bar suggests it as you type. So a well-named bookmark is easy to find even if it is buried five folders deep, while a bookmark named "Untitled" or "Home" is lost forever. While you tidy, rename the vague ones.

Ethan set his aunt's bar up with exactly four folders, by cuisine, plus her email and her bank. Everything else went to Other favorites, and she finds old recipes by typing a word from the dish into the address bar.

Remove or undo imported bookmarks

If an import brought in something you did not want, such as a colleague's bookmarks or a second copy of everything:

• Delete the whole import: press Ctrl + Shift + O, right-click the Imported folder and choose Delete. Everything inside goes with it.
• Delete part of it: open the folder, select the items (Ctrl-click to select several), and press Delete.
• Change your mind: immediately after a deletion, press Ctrl + Z on the Favorites page to undo it.

Imported passwords and history are removed separately: passwords from Settings > Profiles > Passwords, and history from Ctrl + Shift + Delete (Clear browsing data). Deleting the Imported favorites folder does not touch them.

Stop Edge importing from Chrome every time it opens

Edge offers a setting that copies data from Chrome automatically each time Edge starts, sometimes suggested in a pop-up the first time you open Edge. Some people turn it on without realizing, then wonder why Chrome tabs and bookmarks keep appearing in Edge.

1. Go to Settings > Profiles > Import browser data.
2. Look for Import browser data from Google Chrome on each launch.
3. Select Edit preferences (or the toggle next to it) and turn it off, then confirm.

Turning it off does not remove anything already imported; use the steps above to delete what you do not want. If you like the arrangement, because you use Chrome at work and Edge at home on the same PC, leaving it on is fine; just know it is there.

Edge not importing bookmarks: every fix

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Import says complete, nothing visible	They are in the Imported folder	Ctrl + Shift + O and look for Imported
Chrome or Firefox missing from the list	Not installed for this Windows user, or a portable copy	Export an HTML file and import that
Only some bookmarks arrived	Wrong Chrome or Firefox profile chosen	Run the import again and pick the other profile
Import button grayed out or stuck	The other browser is still running	Close it fully, check Task Manager, try again
HTML import does nothing	Wrong file type, or a file still syncing in OneDrive	Make sure it ends in .html and is downloaded locally
Import option missing, "managed by your organization"	A policy blocks importing	Ask IT, or check the policies at edge://policy
Bookmarks appear, then disappear	Sync replaced them, or a different Edge profile	Check the profile icon; check sync on other devices

Imported bookmarks not showing in Edge

Work through these in order. First, open the Favorites page with Ctrl + Shift + O and search for one bookmark you know you had, using the search box at the top of the page; if it appears, the import worked and the folder is simply somewhere you did not expect. Second, check which Edge profile you are in: select the profile picture at the top left of the Edge window. Imports go into the profile that was open when you ran them, so bookmarks imported into a work profile will not show in your personal one. Third, if the Favorites bar is empty, press Ctrl + Shift + B to show it, since a hidden bar looks the same as an empty one.

Chrome is not listed as a source

Edge lists browsers it finds for your Windows user account. Chrome installed by another user, a portable Chrome on a USB stick, or a Chrome profile stored on another drive may not show. In those cases, export an HTML file from Chrome and import the file. If Chrome is installed but shows as unavailable, update it and open it once, then try again.

The import button does nothing or is grayed out

Close the other browser completely. Browsers often keep running in the background after their window closes, so open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), look for Chrome or Firefox under Processes, and select End task for each. On work PCs, the options may be locked by policy; visit edge://policy to see whether import policies are set, and our guide to the "managed by your organization" message explains where those policies come from.

Import passwords into Edge (and the safe way to do it)

Passwords come across in the same import as bookmarks when you check Saved passwords. Importing directly from a browser on the same PC is the safest route, because the passwords never leave the computer in readable form.

The other route is a CSV file. Chrome, Firefox and most password managers can export your passwords to a CSV, and Edge can read one: in Settings > Profiles > Import browser data, use Import browser data now and choose Passwords CSV file. A CSV file holds every password in plain text. Anyone who opens it can read all of them. If you use this route:

1. Export the CSV straight to the new PC's desktop, or to a USB drive you keep with you, never to a shared or synced folder.
2. Import it into Edge right away.
3. Delete the CSV file, then empty the Recycle Bin.
4. If it went onto a USB drive, delete it from there too.

After importing, check that Edge offers to fill your sign-ins. If it does not, our guide to making Edge offer to save and fill passwords covers the settings involved.

Move Edge favorites to a new computer

Two ways work well, and they suit different people.

Option 1: Sync with your Microsoft account

1. On the old PC, open Edge, select your profile picture and sign in with your Microsoft account if you have not already.
2. Go to Settings > Profiles > Sync and make sure Favorites is turned on. Wait a few minutes for it to upload.
3. On the new PC, open Edge, sign in with the same account and turn on sync.

Your favorites appear on the new PC and stay in step on both from then on. Sync also covers Edge on phones and tablets.

Option 2: Export and import a file

On the old PC, press Ctrl + Shift + O, select More options and choose Export favorites. Edge saves an HTML file named with the date, such as favorites_10_4_26.html. Copy it to the new PC and import it with the HTML file steps above. This route needs no account and works between work and personal PCs where sync is blocked. It also makes a simple backup: an exported favorites file once a year, kept in your documents, protects a collection like Ethan's aunt's from any future mishap.

Copy favorites between Edge profiles

Edge profiles keep work and personal browsing apart, each with its own favorites, passwords, history and sync account. To copy favorites from one profile to another:

1. In the profile that has the favorites, press Ctrl + Shift + O, select More options and choose Export favorites.
2. Select the profile picture at the top left and switch to the other profile, which opens a new Edge window.
3. In that window, go to Settings > Profiles > Import browser data, choose Import browser data now, and import the HTML file.

There is no drag-and-drop between profiles, because each is a separate browser window with separate data. Remember that a work profile signed in to a company account syncs to that company's servers; think twice before copying personal bookmarks into it, and the other way round. If the profile belongs to an organization, its policies may block importing entirely, which is expected rather than a fault.

Rescue bookmarks from a dead PC or an old hard drive

When the old computer will not start, its bookmarks are usually still sitting on its drive. Connect the drive to a working PC with a USB enclosure or adapter (or ask a repair shop to copy your user folder), then look for the browser's files. The folders are hidden, so turn on hidden items in File Explorer first.

Chrome or Edge on the old drive

Chromium-based browsers keep bookmarks in a plain file named Bookmarks:

• Chrome: Users\name\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Bookmarks
• Edge: Users\name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\Bookmarks

Extra profiles use Profile 1, Profile 2 and so on in place of Default. The easiest rescue is to copy that file into the same place in a fresh, unused browser profile on the working PC while the browser is closed, open the browser so it reads the file, then export an HTML file and import it into Edge as normal. Do not overwrite the Bookmarks file of a profile you already use, because you would replace its favorites; work in a new, empty profile.

Firefox on the old drive

Firefox keeps bookmarks in a database named places.sqlite inside the profile folder at Users\name\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\. The same profile has a bookmarkbackups folder with dated automatic backups, which is often the simplest thing to rescue. Copy that folder to the working PC, install Firefox, open the Library with Ctrl + Shift + O, choose Import and Backup > Restore > Choose File, and select the newest backup. Then export to HTML and import into Edge.

If the old drive is failing (clicking, very slow, or files that will not copy), copy the browser files first, before anything else, and stop using the drive. Bookmarks files are tiny and usually copy even from a drive that is struggling with larger files.

Switching from Chrome to Edge: the rest of the move

Bookmarks are the start of a browser switch, not the end. When Jake moved the shop's front-counter PC from Chrome to Edge, the import took a minute, but the things that actually made the move feel finished were the five that came after it:

1. Extensions. Edge runs most Chrome extensions. Open edge://extensions, turn on Allow extensions from other stores, then install them from the Chrome Web Store as you would in Chrome. Many popular ones are also in Edge's own Add-ons store. Our guide to adding extensions to Edge covers both stores.
2. Search engine. Edge uses Bing by default. If you want Google in the address bar, change it in Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Address bar and search.
3. Default browser. Edge asks to become the default; if you skipped it, set it in Windows Settings > Apps > Default apps > Microsoft Edge > Set default.
4. Passwords. Import them as shown above, then turn off Chrome's password saving so the two do not drift apart.
5. Pinned sites. Re-pin the websites you open every day to the taskbar from Edge, so a click opens them in the new browser.

Jake left Chrome installed for a month "just in case", which is a sensible habit. When he had not opened it in four weeks, he exported its bookmarks one last time as a backup, and uninstalled it.

Favorites keyboard shortcuts in Edge

Once your bookmarks are in Edge, these shortcuts make them quick to use and organize.

Shortcut	What it does
Ctrl + D	Add the current page to favorites
Ctrl + Shift + D	Save all open tabs into a new favorites folder
Ctrl + Shift + O	Open Favorites, where Import, Export and Remove duplicates live
Ctrl + Shift + B	Show or hide the Favorites bar
Alt + F	Open Settings and more, the route to Settings and Import
Ctrl + Shift + Delete	Clear browsing data, including imported history

Ctrl + Shift + D is a handy way to bring a whole research session across too: open the pages in the old browser, bookmark them all into one folder there, and they come over with the next import.

Brave, Opera, Vivaldi and other browsers

Edge's Import from list shows the browsers it recognizes on your PC, which reliably includes Chrome and Firefox. For anything else, the HTML file route works with every mainstream browser. Brave, Opera and Vivaldi are all built on the same engine as Chrome and Edge, and each has an Export bookmarks command in its bookmarks manager that saves the standard HTML file. Import that file into Edge with the steps above, and the folder structure comes across exactly as it was.

The same goes for bookmarks managers and read-later services: most can export to the HTML bookmarks format, which Edge imports like any other browser file. If a service only exports CSV or JSON, import it into Firefox or Chrome first if they support that format, then export to HTML from there.

Import bookmarks to Edge on Android and iPhone

Edge on phones and tablets does not offer importing from a file. The reliable way to get bookmarks onto Edge mobile is sync:

1. Import your bookmarks into Edge on a Windows PC or Mac, using any method above.
2. Make sure you are signed in to Edge with your Microsoft account and Favorites sync is on.
3. Install Edge on the phone from the Google Play Store or App Store, sign in with the same account, and turn on sync.

The bookmarks appear in Edge mobile's Favorites, usually under the same folder names. Bookmarks you save on the phone show up on your PC under Mobile favorites. If you only use a phone, sign in to Chrome or Firefox there, use their sync to get the bookmarks onto a computer, and then follow the PC steps.

Going the other way: Edge favorites into Chrome, Firefox or Safari

• Chrome: open Chrome, select the three dots > Bookmarks and lists > Import bookmarks and settings, choose Microsoft Edge, and select Import. Or import the HTML file Edge exports.
• Firefox: open the Library with Ctrl + Shift + O, choose Import and Backup > Import Data from Another Browser, and pick Microsoft Edge. Or import Edge's HTML file.
• Safari on a Mac: export from Edge on the Mac (or copy the HTML file over), then use Safari's File menu to import bookmarks from the HTML file.

If a reverse import from Edge fails, the HTML file method works for every browser. Close Edge before importing, as Chrome and Firefox read Edge's data from disk.

Where Edge stores favorites on your PC

Edge keeps each profile's favorites in a file named Bookmarks (no extension) in its profile folder:

%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\Bookmarks

Additional profiles use folders named Profile 1, Profile 2 and so on instead of Default. The folder is hidden by default; paste the path into File Explorer's address bar to go straight there, or see our guide to showing hidden files. A Bookmarks.bak file next to it holds the previous version. Copying these files by hand between PCs is possible but fiddly, and it can conflict with sync. Export and import is the safer route for almost everyone; the file location matters mainly for backup software and IT admins.

For IT admins: import or push favorites with policy

On managed PCs, Edge policies control importing and can deploy favorites without anyone running an import:

• AutoImportAtFirstRun imports supported data from another browser once, when Edge is first set up on the device.
• ImportFavorites allows or blocks favorites as part of any import, and can force them to be included.
• ManagedFavorites pushes a list of company links into a folder users cannot edit, which is the clean way to give everyone the same intranet links.
• ImportOnEachLaunch controls the each-launch import from another browser.
• Other Import policies (for history, passwords, saved payment info and so on) allow or block each kind of data individually.

There is no PowerShell cmdlet that imports favorites into Edge. Scripts that claim to do it either write the Bookmarks file directly, which is fragile and conflicts with sync, or deploy policy values. Policy is the supported way, through Group Policy with the Edge administrative templates, Intune, or the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge.

Importing from Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer 11 is retired, but its favorites still exist on many older PCs, stored as shortcut files in your user folder's Favorites folder. Edge's import page shows Import data from IE11 on PCs where that data is present, and it brings favorites, passwords and history across with the same steps as Chrome. If the IE row is not offered, open File Explorer, go to C:\Users\your name\Favorites, and you will find the links there as files you can open, copy or import another way.

Importing bookmarks to Microsoft Edge: frequently asked questions

Importing bookmarks into Microsoft Edge takes a couple of minutes from Chrome, Firefox or a file, and the only real surprise is where they land: a single Imported folder that keeps your collection intact but out of sight. Find it with Ctrl + Shift + O, move things where you want them, remove duplicates, and keep a yearly export as a backup. Ethan's aunt now has her recipes on the Favorites bar, synced to her phone in the kitchen, and a backup file on a USB stick in the drawer with the good spoons.

Revision note. Written October 4, 2026, as a complete guide to importing bookmarks into Microsoft Edge. May every link you ever saved find its way home.