How to Export Edge Favorites to an HTML File in 2026 (Step by Step)

Type edge://favorites, open the three-dot menu at the top, and pick Export favorites — Edge writes one HTML file holding every favorite and folder you have. Edge calls bookmarks “favorites,” but the file is the same Netscape HTML Chrome produces, which means anything that reads one reads the other, Marqly included. The gotchas are Edge-specific naming, where favorites actually live, and the myth that sync equals backup. Here is the full path, what the file holds, and how to put it to use.

Your export routes from Edge

Route	What you get	File format	Limits and costs	Gotcha
edge://favorites → ⋮ → Export favorites	All favorites: favorites bar, Other favorites, every folder, mobile favorites synced from your phone	Netscape bookmark HTML (one file, typically bookmarks_YYYY-MM-DD.html… style naming)	Free, instant, built in	Exports the current profile only — other Edge profiles keep their own favorites
Microsoft account favorites sync	Live copies across your signed-in devices	No file	Free	Not an export or backup; cannot be imported anywhere else
Import from another browser (edge://settings/profiles/import)	The reverse direction: brings others’ bookmarks into Edge	Reads HTML, does not write it	Free	If you are “switching,” remember Edge is also the destination for other browsers’ exports
Copying links by hand	A few URLs	Paste text	Slow	Only sensible for a handful of daily-driver links

Step by step: exporting favorites from Edge

1. Open the favorites manager. Type edge://favorites in the address bar and hit Enter. The toolbar’s star-with-a-ribbon icon opens the same page; clicking the plain star only bookmarks the current tab.
2. Check you are in the right profile. Edge keeps favorites per profile. If you juggle a work and a personal profile, the export only covers the one you are signed into right now — switch profiles and export again if you need both.
3. Open the menu and export. Click the three-dot (more options) menu at the top of the favorites page and choose Export favorites. A save dialog appears.
4. Save the HTML file. Keep the suggested name — it is already dated — and put it somewhere durable rather than Downloads. This file is the record of what your favorites were on this date.
5. Verify by opening it. Double-click the file: a plain page lists every favorite grouped under folder headings. Microsoft’s current favorites documentation — as of Oct 5, 2026, per https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/organize-favorites-in-microsoft-edge — covers how those folders are arranged, and the export mirrors that tree exactly.
6. Optional sanity check. Drop the file into the free Bookmark File Viewer to count links and inspect folders before importing anywhere.

To confirm the terminology: Microsoft’s own import guide — as of Oct 5, 2026, per https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/import-your-favorites-and-passwords-in-microsoft-edge — has you select “Favorites or bookmarks HTML file” and points at “the file you created when you exported favorites from another browser.” Same format in both directions.

What the file actually contains

The export is a Netscape bookmark HTML file — the same structure Chrome, Brave, Firefox, and Safari emit:

• A <!DOCTYPE NETSCAPE-Bookmark-file-1> header.
• Nested <DL> lists: each of your folders becomes an <H3> heading followed by a <DL> of its contents. Your favorites-bar entries and everything under “Other favorites” appear in their respective top-level sections.
• One <DT><A HREF="…">Title</A> per favorite, carrying the URL, the stored title, an ADD_DATE (Unix epoch — when you saved it), usually a LAST_MODIFIED, and an ICON with the favicon as encoded data.
• No tags. Edge has no bookmark-tags feature, so the TAGS attribute stays empty — unlike Firefox, which does export tags into the same file.
• No page content. Titles and links only — not the articles behind them.

The ADD_DATE fields survive in the file permanently, which is exactly why the export doubles as your history record. Whether they survive into the next tool is the bridge topic below — and the honest answer for Marqly is no: imports take the import date.

What to do with the export: the Marqly bridge

That HTML file is precisely Marqly’s bread and butter: the importer accepts browser bookmark HTML from Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari directly — no conversion, no CSV detour. The verified limits: 10 MB per file on the free plan, 30 MB on Pro, 10,000 bookmarks per file, .html/.htm/.csv accepted.

The straight path:

1. Create a free account at app.marqly.com — the free plan covers everyday saving.
2. Open the import screen and upload the file you exported in the steps above.
3. Let Marqly read each page after import — that is where summaries and tags come from, since the file itself only carries links and titles.

State the limits honestly: original save dates do not carry over (imported items take the import date — keep the HTML if the dates matter); auto-tagging imported items is a Pro feature (free-plan imports keep only tags present in the file, and Edge files have none); there is no dedupe at import — if the same URL sits in two Edge folders, both come across, and re-importing the same file twice duplicates everything. The Duplicate Bookmark Finder exists for exactly this after the fact.

If Edge is one browser among several, skip the piecemeal approach and read how to back up all your browser bookmarks into one file — it covers merging Edge exports with Chrome, Firefox, and Safari sets. And if favorites were standing in for a read-later pile, the read-it-later setup is the follow-on article.

When NOT to use Marqly for this

• You are moving Edge → Chrome (or vice versa). Import the HTML straight into the other browser’s favorites manager. A middle service adds nothing to a simple transfer.
• You live and die by Edge workspaces, collections, or PDF tools. Those are product features tied to Edge; no bookmarks export touches them, and no bookmark manager replaces them.
• Your favorites are under ~50 and mostly daily links. A favorites bar is a perfectly good bar. The payoff from a searchable library starts when the pile outgrows the bar and folders stop working — the failure mode how to organize bookmarks breaks down.
• You only need insurance against losing the set. A monthly HTML export into a folder is a complete backup by itself. Marqly is about making the links findable, not just safe.

FAQs

Where is the export favorites option in Microsoft Edge? On the edge://favorites page — open the three-dot menu at the top and choose Export favorites. Edge saves one HTML file with all favorites and folders. The label wording has shifted across Edge versions, so if you see “Export bookmarks” instead, you are in the right place; the output is the same file.

What is the difference between the favorites bar and Other favorites? The favorites bar is what displays under your toolbar; Other favorites is the catch-all folder for anything else. The export includes both plus every nested folder — placement never affects what comes out.

Does sync make an export unnecessary? No. Sync mirrors your favorites across signed-in devices; it produces no file, survives no profile wipe on its own, and imports into nothing else. Treat sync as convenience and the HTML as the actual backup — see the pillar backup guide for a routine that covers every browser at once.

Can I import the Edge HTML file into another tool? Yes — it is the universal Netscape format. Marqly imports browser bookmark HTML as-is (10 MB free / 30 MB Pro, 10,000 bookmarks per file). If you are evaluating managers rather than defaulting to ours, the Raindrop alternative breakdown is honest about who wins where.

Will Edge delete my favorites after exporting? No. Export is a read-only snapshot: your favorites, folders, and sync all continue untouched. That also means you can keep saving in Edge while trying an import into a new tool — nothing about the export commits you.

Recap

1. edge://favorites → three-dot menu → Export favorites → keep the dated .html.
2. Check the profile you exported from; export other profiles separately.
3. The file holds links, titles, folder structure, and original ADD_DATEs — no tags, no page text, no tabs or workspaces.
4. Archive the file, then import it wherever links should be searchable: Marqly takes this exact format.