Bookmarks and Favorites — Never Lose a Site

What a Bookmark Actually Is

Let us start with the plainest possible answer, then build from there.

A bookmark is a saved shortcut to a web page. Instead of typing the address again or searching for it, you tap the saved bookmark and your browser takes you straight there. It works the same way a paper bookmark holds your place in a book, except this one holds your place on the internet.

Bookmarks, Favorites, and History -- Untangled

Browsers keep a few different lists of websites, and it is easy to mix them up. Here is the plain difference.

History is useful when you forgot to bookmark something and need to retrace your steps from yesterday. But it fills up fast and gets cleared out over time, so it is not a place to count on for something important. That is what bookmarks are for.

Saving a Bookmark in Safari (iPhone or iPad)

Safari is the browser built into every iPhone and iPad. Here is how to save a page you want to keep.

To find it again later, tap the open-book icon at the bottom of the screen, then the Bookmarks tab. Your saved sites are listed there, ready to tap.

• Open the website in Safari.
• Tap the Share icon at the bottom of the screen, the square with an arrow pointing up.
• Scroll down the list and tap Add Bookmark.
• You can change the name if you like, then tap Save.

Saving a Bookmark in Chrome (Android Phone)

Most Android phones come with Chrome as the default browser. Saving a bookmark there takes just a couple of taps.

To see all your saved sites, tap the three dots again, then Bookmarks. From there you can tap any saved site to open it, or press and hold one to move, rename, or delete it.

• Open the website in Chrome.
• Tap the three dots in the top right corner.
• Tap the star icon, or tap Add to bookmarks.
• The star turns solid blue, which means it is saved.

Saving a Favorite on a Windows Computer

Windows computers usually come with Microsoft Edge, though many folks install Chrome as well. Both work almost the same way.

In Edge, saved sites are called Favorites. To see them, click the three dots in the top right, then Favorites, or press the Ctrl and Shift and O keys together to open the full list.

• Open the website in your browser.
• Look at the right side of the address bar at the top.
• Click the star icon.
• A small box pops up. Click Done, or Save, to confirm.

Saving a Bookmark on a Mac

Macs come with Safari built in, and the steps are nearly identical to the iPhone version, just with a mouse instead of a finger.

To see your saved sites, click the sidebar icon that looks like an open book, or go to the Bookmarks menu at the top of the screen. Everything you have saved is listed there in one place.

• Open the website in Safari.
• Click the Share icon near the top of the window, or go to the File menu.
• Choose Add Bookmark.
• Pick where to save it, such as Favorites, then click Add.

The Bookmarks Bar (or Favorites Bar)

Most computer browsers can show a thin row of your favorite sites right below the address bar. It is one of the handiest little features once it is turned on.

Once it is on, any bookmark you place in that folder shows up as a small button you can click any time, without opening a menu first. It is best kept to a handful of sites you use every single day, like your bank, your email, or the weather.

• In Chrome on a computer, go to the three dots, then Bookmarks, then Show Bookmarks Bar.
• In Edge, go to the three dots, then Favorites, then turn on Show Favorites Bar.
• In Safari on a Mac, go to the View menu and choose Show Favorites Bar.

Organizing Bookmarks Into Folders

A handful of bookmarks is easy to scan. Fifty of them, all in one long list, gets hard to manage. Folders fix that.

• Most browsers let you create a New Folder from the same menu where you view your bookmarks.
• Give folders plain names you would actually think to look under, like Banking, Recipes, or Family.
• You can usually drag a bookmark straight into a folder, or use an Edit or Move option if dragging is tricky.
• It is fine to have a few loose bookmarks outside any folder too. There is no wrong way to sort them.

Renaming, Editing, and Reordering

Bookmarks are not set in stone. You can rename them, move them, or clean them up any time.

If a bookmark saved with a long, confusing name from the website itself, you can shorten it to whatever makes sense to you, like your bank's real name instead of a string of technical text.

• Open your list of bookmarks or favorites.
• Press and hold, right-click, or tap Edit next to the bookmark, depending on your device.
• Choose Edit or Rename, change the name, then save.
• To move it, drag it to a new spot or into a different folder.

Deleting Bookmarks You No Longer Need

Every so often it is worth clearing out bookmarks for sites you never visit anymore. A tidy list is a useful list.

Deleting a bookmark only removes the shortcut. It does not delete the website itself, and it does not affect anyone else who may have that site saved on their own device.

• Open your bookmarks or favorites list.
• Press and hold, or right-click, the bookmark you want to remove.
• Choose Delete or Remove.
• Confirm if it asks you to.

Getting Your Bookmarks on All Your Devices

Save a bookmark on your computer and want it on your phone too, without saving it twice? That is what signing in to your browser account is for.

Once this is set up, a bookmark you save on your phone will quietly show up on your computer within a few minutes, and the other way around too. You only ever have to save it once.

• In Chrome, sign in with the same Google account on every device, then turn on sync in Settings.
• In Safari, sign in with the same Apple ID on every Apple device, then make sure Safari is turned on under iCloud settings.
• In Edge, sign in with the same Microsoft account and turn on sync in Settings.

A Different Kind of Shortcut: Home Screen Icons

On a phone or tablet, there is a second way to save a favorite site, and it looks a little different from a bookmark.

Instead of living inside your browser's bookmark list, a Home Screen shortcut becomes an icon on your phone, right next to your other apps. Tapping it opens straight to that website in your browser, without you having to open the browser first and find the bookmark.

• On an iPhone in Safari, tap the Share icon, then Add to Home Screen.
• On Android in Chrome, tap the three dots, then Add to Home screen, sometimes called Install App.
• Give it a short name, then tap Add.

The Reading List: Save Now, Read Later

Sometimes you find an article you want to read but do not have time right now. A Reading List is built for exactly that.

Unlike a bookmark, which you likely visit again and again, a Reading List item is more like a stack of magazines by the chair: things you plan to get to, then clear out once you have read them.

• In Safari, tap the Share icon and choose Add to Reading List, or look for the eyeglasses icon in the bookmarks view.
• In Chrome, tap the three dots and look for Reading List, or the bookmark star menu, depending on your version.
• Some Reading List pages even save enough of the article to read without an internet connection.

Finding a Bookmark You Thought You Lost

It happens to everyone: you know you saved something, but cannot remember where. Here is how to track it down.

If a bookmark seems to have disappeared entirely after an app update or a new phone, it may not have synced correctly. Double check that you are signed in to the same account everywhere.

• Open your bookmarks list and use the search box at the top, if there is one, and type a word from the site's name.
• Check every folder, since it may have been filed somewhere you forgot.
• Check your history for the site, then bookmark it properly this time.
• If you sync across devices, check on your other phone, tablet, or computer. It may simply not have synced yet.

Sharing a Favorite Site With Family

Found a great recipe site, a useful government page, or a fun hobby forum? Sharing it with someone is easier than you might think.

There is no way to directly hand someone your whole bookmarks folder unless you use the export feature covered later in this guide, but sharing one link at a time works well for most people.

• Open the site, tap the Share icon, and choose a way to send it, such as Messages, Mail, or a family group chat.
• This sends the actual web address, so the other person can tap it and bookmark it themselves if they like it too.
• You can also simply read them the website name out loud if they prefer to type it in themselves.

Watch for Fake and Copycat Websites

Before you bookmark a site, it is worth a moment to make sure it is really the one you think it is.

Scammers sometimes build websites that look almost identical to a bank, a shipping company, or a well-known store, with an address that is spelled just slightly differently. If you bookmark one of these by mistake, that fake address becomes your shortcut every time you click it.

• Check the address carefully before saving, especially for sites involving money or personal information.
• When possible, type a well-known company's address yourself rather than clicking a link from a search ad or an email.
• If a site looks slightly off, misspelled, or asks for unusual information right away, do not bookmark it. Close it instead.

Backing Up Your Bookmarks

If you have built up a large, carefully organized list of bookmarks, it is worth knowing you can save a backup copy.

Most browsers let you export your bookmarks to a single file, which you can save to your computer as a safety net, or use to bring your bookmarks into a different browser entirely.

• In Chrome on a computer, go to the three dots, then Bookmarks, then Bookmark Manager, then the three dots again for Export Bookmarks.
• In Edge, go to Favorites, then the three dots, then Export Favorites.
• In Safari on a Mac, go to the File menu, then Export Bookmarks.

A Few Good Bookmark Habits

None of these take long. A little tidiness now saves real frustration later.

That is genuinely most of it. Bookmarks are meant to make your online life easier, not to become another chore, so keep the system as simple as it needs to be for you.

• Bookmark a site the moment you know you will want it again, rather than trusting yourself to remember it later.
• Give bookmarks names you will actually recognize at a glance.
• Sort into a small handful of folders rather than one long list.
• Once a year, remove bookmarks for sites you never visit anymore.
• Double-check the address before bookmarking anything involving money or personal information.

What's in the 27-page PDF

• What a bookmark is and how it is different from your history
• Step-by-step saving on iPhone, Android, Windows, and Mac
• Organizing bookmarks into folders so they stay useful
• Getting your bookmarks to show up on all your devices
• Spotting a fake or copycat site before you save it
• A short list of words so nothing sounds foreign again

Why I wrote this

I write these as printable handouts because a guide you can keep in a drawer beats a web page you have to find again. No jargon, no judgment, no rushing. If you'd rather have someone sit beside you and go through it together, that's a flat $99 first visit with the 30-day follow-up included — serving Portage County from Atwater, Ohio. — Bill