How Internet Explorer Stores Web Pages Added to Favorites Menu

This article describes how Internet Explorer stores Web pages you add to the Favorites menu.

Internet Explorer 3.0, 3.01, 3.02a, 3.03

When you add a Web page to the Favorites menu, a shortcut to the Web page is saved in the <drive>:\<internet explorer>\favorite.htm file, where <drive> is the drive letter on which Internet Explorer is located, and <internet explorer> is the name of the folder in which Internet Explorer is installed. Favorites are arranged on the Favorites menu and in the Favorite.htm file in the same order, and they are listed in the order in which you add them, not alphabetically.

Internet Explorer 4.0, 4.01

When you add a Web page to the Favorites menu, a shortcut to the Web page is saved in the <drive>:\<internet explorer>\profiles\defuser\favorite folder, where <drive> is the drive letter on which Internet Explorer is located, and <internet explorer> is the name of the folder in which Internet Explorer is installed. In Internet Explorer for Windows 3.1, shortcuts in the Favorite folder have a file name of Fav<nnnnn>.url, and in Internet Explorer for Windows NT 3.51, shortcuts in the Favorite folder have a file name of <nnnnn>.url, where <nnnnn> is a unique number created by Internet Explorer.

The Folder.ini file located in the Favorite folder contains information about how favorites are displayed on the Favorites menu. If you create a new folder in the Favorite folder, a uniquely-numbered folder name is created containing its own Folder.ini file. The Folder.ini file contains the name of the folder as it appears on the Favorites menu.