Windows 10: Enable or Disable Favorites Bar in Microsoft Edge in Windows 10

How to: Enable or Disable Favorites Bar in Microsoft Edge in Windows 10

How to Enable or Disable Favorites Bar in Microsoft Edge in Windows 10


Microsoft Edge is a new web browser that is available across the Windows 10 device family. It is designed for Windows 10 to be faster, safer, and compatible with the modern Web.

The favorites bar is a toolbar in Microsoft Edge that you can add your favorite websites you visit frequently on to make opening them faster and more convenient.

Starting with Windows 10 build 17063 (announced in New tab pages, if you have at least one favorite in it. When you navigate, the Favorites Bar will automatically hide to give you the most space for browsing. You may still choose to always show the favorites bar if you wish, via a context menu on the favorites bar Show bar, or via settings Show the favorites bar. The Favorites bar also now supports hiding names for individual favorite bar items, instead of having to either hide none or all names.

Starting with Windows 10 build 17713 (announced in Windows 10 build 17723), you can use a new Configure Favorites Bar group policy to configure Microsoft Edge to either show or hide the favorites bar on all pages.

[table][tr][td]Group Policy Setting[/td] [td]Description[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Not Configured[/td] [td]Allow users to turn on or off show the favorites bar in Microsoft Edge settings.[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Enabled[/td] [td]Show the favorites bar on all pages. Also, the favorites bar toggle, in Settings, is set to On and disabled preventing users from making changes. Microsoft Edge also hides the “show bar/hide bar” option in the context menu.[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Disabled[/td] [td]Hide the favorites bar on all pages. Also, the favorites bar toggle, in Settings, is set to Off and disabled preventing users from making changes. Microsoft Edge also hides the “show bar/hide bar” option in the context menu.[/td] [/tr] [/table]

This tutorial will show you how to completely enable or disable showing the favorites bar in Microsoft Edge for all users in Windows 10.

*Warning You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to enable or disable Microsoft Edge favorites bar.


CONTENTS:

• Option One: Enable or Disable Microsoft Edge Favorites Bar in Local Group Policy Editor
• Option Two: Enable or Disable Microsoft Edge Favorites Bar using a REG file

EXAMPLE: Microsoft Edge Favorites Bar Enabled and Disabled













OPTION ONE [/i] Enable or Disable Microsoft Edge Favorites Bar in Local Group Policy Editor

*note The Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

All editions can use Option TWO below.


1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor.

2. In the left pane of Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Microsoft Edge




3. In the right pane of Microsoft Edge in Local Group Policy Editor, double click/tap on the Configure Favorites Bar policy to edit it. (see screenshot above)

4. Do step 5 (not configured), step 6 (disable), step 7 (enable) below for what you want.


5. To Not Configure Microsoft Edge Favorites Bar
*note This is the default setting.
A) Select (dot) Not Configured, click/tap on OK, and go to step 8 below. (see screenshot below)

6. To Disable Microsoft Edge Favorites Bar
A) Select (dot) Disabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 8 below. (see screenshot below)

7. To Always Enable Microsoft Edge Favorites Bar
A) Select (dot) Enabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 8 below. (see screenshot below)




8. You can close the Local Group Policy Editor if you like.

9. If Microsoft Edge is currently open, then close and reopen the browser to apply.





OPTION TWO [/i] Enable or Disable Microsoft Edge Favorites Bar using a REG file

*note The downloadable .reg files below will add and modify the DWORD value in the registry key below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\MicrosoftEdge\Main

ConfigureFavoritesBar DWORD

delete = Not Configured (default)
0 = Disable
1 = Enable


1. Do step 2 (not configured), step 3 (disable), step 4 (enable) below for what you want.


2. To Not Configure Microsoft Edge Favorites Bar
*note This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 5 below.

Default_not_configured_Favorites_Bar_in_Microsoft_Edge.reg

Download

3. To Disable Microsoft Edge Favorites Bar
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 5 below.

Disable_Favorites_Bar_in_Microsoft_Edge.reg

Download

4. To Always Enable Microsoft Edge Favorites Bar
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 5 below.

Always_enable_Favorites_Bar_in_Microsoft_Edge.reg

Download
5. Save the .reg file to your desktop.

6. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

7. When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

8. If Microsoft Edge is currently open, then close and reopen the browser to apply.

9. If you like, you can now delete the downloaded .reg file.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Turn On or Off the Favorites Bar in Microsoft Edge in Windows 10
• How to Add or Remove Favorites in Microsoft Edge in Windows 10
• How to Backup and Restore your Microsoft Edge Favorites in Windows 10
• How to Show Icons Only or Names and Icons on Favorites Bar in Microsoft Edge
• How to Create or Delete Folder from Microsoft Edge Favorites Bar in Windows 10

:)

 

Turn On or Off Favorites Bar in Microsoft Edge in Windows 10  

Hello Jakmi, :-(

Starting with Windows 10 build 17063 (announced in Windows 10 build 17074) the Favorites Bar will now always automatically show on Start and New tab pages.

If you have build 17713 or later installed, you could use an option in the tutorial below instead to disable the Favorites Bar everywhere in Microsoft Edge.

*Arrow Enable or Disable Favorites Bar in Microsoft Edge in Windows 10

 

Favorites Bar in Edge

Nothing will show up in the horizontal Favorites BAR until you put something there

There are two steps to make this work:

• Enable the Favorites BAR (which it appears you have already done)
• Move some favorites into the Favorites BAR

Most people use the horizontal Favorites BAR for just a few of their frequently used favorites... and do not attempt to put their entire collection of favorites there. Instead, the "big" list of favorites remains in the vertical Favorites PANE.

So, open the vertical Favorites PANE the normal way (via the "hub" icon... the 3 little lines), expand the FOLDER called "Favorites Bar", and move a few favorites there via a "drag-n-drop" operation. This is a special folder that mirrors the horizontal
Favorites BAR. So, anything you put there will show up both in the vertical Favorites PANE and in the horizontal Favorites BAR.

Note: Make sure that you don't accidentally have two folders called "Favorites Bar" in the vertical Favorites PANE. If you have more than one, then you should be using the one at the top of the list.

 

Favorites from Firefox to Favorites BAR in Edge


I recently upgraded to Win 10 64 and have decided that I am going to use Edge as my default browser. I have followed the directions on 2 websites now that tell how to transfer favorites from Firefox to Edge and seem to have hit a little snag. I am trying to transfer my favorites but every time I complete the steps, it takes my favorites and puts them in my favorites bar. I have a whole list of pages on my favorites bar in Firefox that I want to use for my favorites bar on edge. Why is the program turning my favorites from Firefox into my favorites BAR on edge? How do I transfer my favorites from Firefox into favorites on Edge and my favorites BAR in Firefox into my favorites BAR in edge? Thank you in advance for your help.

 

windows 10 favorites bar

Hi,

Since the information is insufficient to provide further assistance, I suggest you to let us know the below information.

• When you say "Favorites bar," to which favorite bar you are referring to? Is it the Internet Explorer favorites bar or Edge favorites bar.
• What is the exact issue you are facing?
• Which build of Windows 10 is installed in your system?

If you are referring to the favorites bar in Microsoft Edge browser, refer to the article below on
Microsoft Edge help and check if it helps.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/products/microsoft-edge

Hope this helps. Kindly write back to us with the updated status of the issue for further assistance, we will be glad to assist you.

 

Edge favorites and favorites bar gone

Hi Kim,

Welcome to Microsoft community and thank you for posting your query.

I would like to know some information about the issue so that we could help you better.

• 
  Do you have a Favorites folder at [C:\Users\your account name\Favorites] ? Does it contain all of the favorites?
  
• 
  Did you import the favorites from any browser other than Internet Explorer?
  

In order to view the favorites bar, you must turn it on. Here are the steps to do this:

1. Within Microsoft Edge, you will see a button with ellipses on it
(...) in the top right hand corner. Click this.

2. At the very bottom of the dropdown menu, click "Settings".

3. Near the top of the next page, you will see a section titled "Show the favorites bar" and a switch beneath it. Simply click this switch into the on positon and your favorites bar should immediately appear underneath the search
bar at the top of Microsoft Edge

To restore your favorites I would suggest you to try the steps mentioned below and check if it helps.

How to restore the favorite’s folder in Internet Explorer.

• 
  To open the Registry Editor, click Start.
  
• 
  Type regedit into the Start Search field.
  
• 
  Press Enter.
  
• 
  Find Favorites under the following Registry keys:
  
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\Shell folders
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\User Shell folders
  
  HKEY_USERS\.default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\Shell folders
  
  HKEY_USERS\.default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\User Shell folders
  

• 
  Right click it and select Modify. The Edit String dialog will open.
  
• 
  Verify that the Value Data field contains the correct location of your Favorites folder. If it does not, enter the right location to restore your missing Favorites folder to Internet Explorer.
  
  C:\Users\NetID\Favorites
  

• 
  Close the registry editor.
  
• 
  Open Internet Explorer to confirm that your favorites are there.
  
  Note: This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that
  you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number
  to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  
  How to back up and restore the registry in Windows
  
  I hope this information is helpful. Please do let us know if you need any further assistance, we will be glad to assist you.