1

I can’t seem to find an answer to something that used to be easy. Favourites bookmarks in Edge. Before backing these up was as easy as copying the favourites folder. Now it seems to be a menace. I’m tryin to automate the process of backing these up.

I have found the bookmark folder in %AppData%\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default but copying this to another machine as a test has not worked.

Does anyone know of a way to automate backups for this for users (preferably using Powershell).

Microsoft seem to have made this very difficult with Edge and Azure driven Windows 10 laptops.

8 Spice ups
2

A quick search turned up this Powershell Script to Backup Bookmarks / Favorite to a different drive for IE, Edge, & Chrome - Super User

3

i use this powershell script to back them up (not my script). $HTML_File_Path = "U:" is the destination for the backup html file

# Read EdgeChromium Bookmarks (JSON File) and Export/Backup to HTML File
# Gunnar Haslinger, 30.10.2019 - tested width EdgeChromium Beta 78

# Path to EdgeChromium Bookmarks File and HTML Export
$JSON_File_Path = "$env:localappdata\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\Bookmarks"
if (!(Test-Path -Path $JSON_File_Path)) { throw "Source-File Path $JSON_File_Path does not exist!" }

$HTML_File_Path = "U:\"
if (!(Test-Path -Path $HTML_File_Path)) { throw "Destination-Path $HTML_File_Path does not exist!" }
$HTML_File_Path = "$HTML_File_Path\EdgeChromium-Bookmarks.backup.html"

# Reference-Timestamp needed to convert Timestamps of JSON (Milliseconds / Ticks since LDAP / NT epoch 01.01.1601 00:00:00 UTC) to Unix-Timestamp (Epoch)
$Date_LDAP_NT_EPOCH = Get-Date -Year 1601 -Month 1 -Day 1 -Hour 0 -Minute 0 -Second 0

# ---- HTML Header ----
$BookmarksHTML_Header = @'
<!DOCTYPE NETSCAPE-Bookmark-file-1>
<!-- This is an automatically generated file.
     It will be read and overwritten.
     DO NOT EDIT! -->
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<TITLE>Bookmarks</TITLE>
<H1>Bookmarks</H1>
<DL><p>
'@

$BookmarksHTML_Header | Out-File -FilePath $HTML_File_Path -Force -Encoding utf8

# ---- Enumerate Bookmarks Folders ----
Function Get-BookmarkFolder {
[cmdletbinding()] Param( [Parameter(Position=0,ValueFromPipeline=$True)] $Node )

  Process {
     foreach ($child in $node.children) { 
       $DateAdded = [Decimal] $child.date_added
           if ($DateAdded -gt 0) { 
                # Timestamp Conversion: JSON-File uses Timestamp-Format "Ticks-Offset since LDAP/NT-Epoch" (reference Timestamp, Epoch since 1601 see above), HTML-File uses Unix-Timestamp (Epoch, since 1970)
                $DateAdded = $Date_LDAP_NT_EPOCH.AddTicks($DateAdded * 10) # Get the JSON-Timestamp to a valid PowerShell DATE
                # $DateAdded # Show Timestamp in Human-Readable-Format (Debugging-purposes only)
                $DateAdded = $DateAdded | Get-Date -UFormat %s # Convert to Unix-Timestamp
                $DateAdded = [int][double]::Parse($DateAdded) - 1 # Cut off the Milliseconds
            }

       $DateModified = [Decimal] $child.date_modified
           if ($DateModified -gt 0) { # same conversion needed as above
                $DateModified = $Date_LDAP_NT_EPOCH.AddTicks($DateModified * 10)
                # $DateModified # Show Timestamp in Human-Readable-Format (Debugging-purposes only)
                $DateModified = $DateModified | Get-Date -UFormat %s
                $DateModified = [int][double]::Parse($DateModified) - 1
            }

       # Type folder or url?
       if ($child.type -eq 'folder') 
           { "        <DT><H3 FOLDED ADD_DATE=`"$($DateAdded)`" LAST_MODIFIED=`"$($DateModified)`">$($child.name)</H3>" | Out-File -FilePath $HTML_File_Path -Append -Force -Encoding utf8
             "        <DL><p>" | Out-File -FilePath $HTML_File_Path -Append -Force -Encoding utf8
             Get-BookmarkFolder $child # Recursive call in case of Folders / SubFolders
             "        </DL><p>" | Out-File -FilePath $HTML_File_Path -Append -Force -Encoding utf8
           }
       else # Type not Folder => URL
           { "        <DT><A HREF=`"$($child.url)`" ADD_DATE=`"$($DateAdded)`">$($child.name)</A>" | Out-File -FilePath $HTML_File_Path -Append -Encoding utf8
           }
     } # foreach
  } # Process
} # Function

# ---- Convert the JSON Contens (recursive) ----
$data = Get-content $JSON_File_Path -Encoding UTF8 | out-string | ConvertFrom-Json
$sections = $data.roots.PSObject.Properties | select -ExpandProperty name
ForEach ($entry in $sections) { $data.roots.$entry | Get-BookmarkFolder }

# ---- HTML Footer ----
'</DL>' | Out-File -FilePath $HTML_File_Path -Append -Force -Encoding utf8
4

The script in the post I linked is an updated version of that script. I guess I’m confused at what you’re asking for. In your original post, you mentioned needing to backup favorites. Now, I’m not sure what you’re asking for help with.

5

OR you could just sign in with your MS365 account (or Microsoft account if it is a personal machine) and turn on Sync.

This is what we do. We require the use of Edge now (if you want your links and such saved) and sync to the cloud. When replacing a pc, simply sign in on the new PC and it is all there.

2 Spice ups
6

I should pay better attention to who’s the author of each reply…