Windows 10 Edge Favorites Disappeared: Getting Your Bookmarks Back in Microsoft Edge

You open Microsoft Edge and the favorites bar is empty, or your carefully organised folders of bookmarks are gone. When Windows 10 Edge favorites disappeared, years of saved websites dewaasia seem lost in an instant.

In most cases the favorites still exist. Edge stores them in a browser profile, and they may be hidden, sitting in a different profile, or waiting to sync from your Microsoft account.

Edge also keeps a backup file of favorites, which can help when sync is not available.

Working through the simple checks before anything drastic gives the best chance of full recovery.

What Usually Triggers It

Favorites vanish for these reasons:

• The favorites bar is hidden, though the favorites still exist.
• Edge opened with a different profile, or you are signed out of your account.
• Sync was turned off, or changes on another device removed favorites.
• The profile was reset or damaged during an update.

Folders deleted by mistake on another synced device can disappear everywhere.

First Steps to Try

Look in the obvious places.

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + B to show the favorites bar.
2. Press Ctrl + Shift + O to open the full favorites page.
3. Click the profile picture at the top of Edge and check which profile is active. Switch to your usual profile if another one is open.
4. Open Settings > Profiles > Sync and make sure sync is on and Favorites is enabled.
5. Wait a few minutes and restart Edge.

Many “missing” favorites reappear once the right profile is selected and sync completes.

Also check whether the favorites have simply moved into “Other favorites” or a folder with a new name, which can happen after importing from another browser.

If the Problem Continues

Restore from backups.

1. On the favorites page, open the menu and look for an option to restore recently deleted favorites, which recent Edge versions include.
2. Check another device signed in to the same account, and export favorites from there to an HTML file.
3. Import that file in Edge via Settings > Profiles > Import browser data.
4. Close Edge and look in %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default for a file named Bookmarks.bak. Copy it somewhere safe first.
5. Rename the current Bookmarks file to Bookmarks.old, then copy Bookmarks.bak back and rename it to Bookmarks.

Protect Your Data First

Always copy the Bookmarks and Bookmarks.bak files to another folder before renaming or replacing them. Export favorites to an HTML file regularly so you have an offline backup.

The Bottom Line

Missing Edge favorites are usually hidden, in another profile, or awaiting sync. Show the favorites bar, check profiles and sync, and use backup files when necessary.

Exporting favorites every few months takes only a moment and gives you a file you can import into any browser if something goes wrong again.