Synching Internet Explorer Favorites on Windows 10

How to Share Files Using Nearby Sharing in Windows 10

So, you use more than one Windows 10 computer or device and need an easy way to share files between different devices. Yes, you can use a syncing service like OneDrive. But if you’ve installed the Windows 10 April 2018 Update, another option is a new feature called Nearby Sharing.

Through Nearby Sharing, you can do all of the following:

• Share files wirelessly using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
• Share website links
• Share files only with devices using your Microsoft Account or with any nearby devices running the same Windows 10 update.
• Set the location where shared files are deposited. Share a single file or a group of files via File Explorer and other apps.

Let’s go through the steps for sharing files via Nearby Sharing.

First, confirm that you’ve got the Windows 10 April 2018 Update. Open Settings, System, and then About. Scroll to the bottom of the screen. If the Windows version says 1803, you’re set. If not, jump to the Update & security category in Settings. Install the update called “Feature Update to Windows 10, version 1803.” If you don’t see it listed, hop over to Microsoft’s Windows 10 Download page to manually install the April 2018 Update.

Next, you’ll want to enable Nearby Sharing and tweak its options. Open Settings and then System. Click on the category for Shared experiences. Turn on the switch for Nearby Sharing if it’s off.

While you’re here, you can also decide which devices to include in your sharing. You can opt to share files with all nearby devices, a handy option for sharing with other people or with devices that use different accounts. Or you can limit sharing to just devices in which you’re signed in with your own Microsoft Account.

Under “I can share or receive content from,” click on the drop-down menu and select either Everyone nearby or My devices only. If you’re not sure, leave the setting at Everyone nearby for now.

Next, you can select the location where files shared by other devices will be deposited. Under “Save files I receive to,” click on the Change link and browse to and select the folder that will be home to any shared files. You may want to create a special folder called Shared Files to store all the files shared this way.

You can more easily turn Nearby Sharing on and off through the Windows Action Center. Click on the Action Center button in the lower right corner and click on the icon for Nearby sharing to turn it on or off.

If you don’t see the icon for Nearby Sharing in Action Center, you may need to switch it on. I had to do this for two of my computers. Open Settings, then System, and then Notifications & actions. Click on the link to Add or remove quick actions. Turn on the switch for Nearby sharing if it’s turned off.

Okay, now it’s time to share.

Let’s say you have a Word document that you want to share with a nearby computer. Make sure that Nearby Sharing is turned on and configured for both the sending PC and the receiving PC. Open File Explorer. Right-click on the document you want to share.

From the popup menu, click on the Share command. The names of any computers with Nearby Sharing turned on should appear in the Share window.

Click on the computer with which you want to share the document.

On the receiving PC, a notification pops up to tell you that the other PC wants to share a file with you. You have three choices: You can save and open the file, just save it, or decline the file.

Click on the option to Save & Open or Save. If there is no response, the notification times out after several seconds. You can also cancel the notification from the sending PC. Open File Explorer on the receiving PC. Navigate to the folder for your shared files and you should see the document you shared.

You can also share certain types of files from their apps. Let’s say you want to share a photo. Open the Photos app. Click on the Share icon. From the Share window, click on the name of the receiving PC. On the receiving PC, click on the option to Save & Open or Save the file when the notification appears.

Next, you can share website links from one PC to another. Open Microsoft Edge on the sending PC. Navigate to a website you wish to share. On the receiving PC, click on the Open option in response to the notification. The website opens in your default browser.

Bumping into any problems with Nearby Sharing? Here are a few troubleshooting steps. First, make sure both PCs are running the Windows 10 April 2018 Update. Next, Nearby Sharing requires both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. To check your Bluetooth connection, open Settings, Devices, and then Bluetooth & other devices. Make sure Bluetooth is turned on. You can also see if Bluetooth is enabled by clicking on the Action Center and confirming that the Bluetooth icon is lit.

If your file transfers are taking a long time or even timing out, then the sharing may be using Bluetooth rather than Wi-Fi. Make sure both computers are on the same Wi-Fi network.

Finally, you should also check your Bluetooth device to ensure that it supports Bluetooth 4.0 (or later) with Low Energy (LE).

To do this, open Device Manager and click on the setting for Bluetooth. Right-click on your Bluetooth adapter and select Properties. In the Properties window, click on the Details tab. Click the Property drop-down window. Scroll down the list and select the property that says: “Bluetooth radio supports Low Energy Central Role.” Confirm that the value for this property is set to True.

Syncing Internet Explorer Favorites on Windows 10

When Microsoft launched Windows 10 back in July 2015, they included a fledgling web browser called Microsoft Edge. Work has continued on Edge over the last three years and it has improved tremendously. However, there are still a lot of sites that do not work correctly with it.

For some, Chrome and Firefox provide alternative browsers that can be used in these situations but there are also some folks who need to use Internet Explorer in certain circumstances.

Over my time using Windows 10, I have occasionally pulled up IE 11, that is the version included in Windows 10, in order to check out certain sites. In fact, Edge has a shortcut in its sidebar menu that lets you directly open a site in IE that is displayed in Edge.

While that shortcut is handy, I also use the Favorites Bar on all my browsers to have the same sites pinned across the different devices I use each day. As I have been working with IE over these last three years or so in Windows 10, I have noticed that the Favorites Bar is either not synching at all or is very slow to sync across devices.

I tinkered around a bit and have produced a workaround that will keep all your Favorites in IE synced much faster across your various Windows 10 systems.

It involves using a cloud storage service. I use OneDrive in this example, but you could also use any of the others that sync to your local drive. The other element of this workaround involves changing the storage location for your IE Favorites via that folder’s properties.

Establish Your Favorites in IE

Pick one of your devices and make sure you have your initial collection of favorites added to the IE browser. You can also organize them in any manner you want including subfolders, links in the Favorites Bar, and individual links in the root of your Favorites folder.

Be sure to check your other devices just in case you added specific website shortcuts to the Favorites on those devices in IE. Make sure you duplicate them on the initial device on which you started organizing your Favorites.

Copy IE Favorites to a Folder on OneDrive

Once you have all these website shortcuts organized, go to This PC in File Explorer and then select your main OS drive – this is typically the C drive on most systems.

Drill down in File Explorer to C:UsersYourUserNameFavorites and you will see your new collection of Favorites. Using your keyboard press CTRL & A to select all your listed Favorites and then press CTRL & C to copy them to the clipboard temporarily.

Next, while still in File Explorer, select your OneDrive folder, it should be listed as OneDrive – Personal in most situations, and then create a new folder in the root directory that will hold these IE Favorites. In my system, I called this folder IE Faves but you can use whatever name suits you for this purpose.

Once the folder is created just make sure that folder is opened in the right-hand part of the File Explorer window and then right click in that blank area with your mouse. On the context menu select Paste and all your Favorites should appear.

Change Location of Favorites Folder to the New OneDrive Folder

The Favorites folder in Windows 10 is a special folder and just like its siblings — Documents, Videos, Music, Downloads, and Pictures — the Favorites folder can be relocated to another drive or storage location.

We are going to use this feature and move the location of your IE Favorites folder to read the folder you just created in Step 2 on OneDrive that is now holding your collection of IE Favorites.

Once again open File Explorer and select This PC and drill down on your system drive to the directory C:UsersYourUserName. Notice that we are not going into the Favorites folder this time.

Right-click on the Favorites folder and on the context menu select Properties.

Find the Location tab in Favorites Properties.

Select Move and a File Explorer window will open for you to select a new destination for IE Favorites on this system. Browse to the new folder you created in Step 2 on OneDrive. Once you have selected that folder, click the Select Folder button at the bottom of the dialog window.

You will now be returned to the Favorites Properties dialog and will see this new address in the address box. Click OK to continue.

A warning dialog will pop up at this point and ask you about moving the old Favorites into the new folder. Since you have already copied those over the correct answer here is No.

Step 4 – Open IE and Verify Favorites Are Available

When you open IE you should see your new collection of Favorites in the Favorites Bar if you have that displayed, otherwise just click on the Star icon on the far right side of the browser window to open your Favorites. They should all appear in the drop-down menu.

You now have your IE Favorites in a cloud-based folder and set to use that folder on this system. You can edit these Favorites using the management tools in IE and those changes will sync to your other devices automatically.

Next just go to your other Windows 10 devices and repeat steps 3 and 4 to get those machines using the cloud-based Favorites folder you have on OneDrive.

Note: If you do not see the folder on OneDrive for your other devices then make sure you have that folder selected to sync with that device. This happens when you have previously told OneDrive to not sync all folders from the cloud to your device so new folders are not automatically synced by default. Just open the OneDrive Settings by right clicking on the white cloud icon in the system tray, selecting Settings and then Choose folders your list of OneDrive folders will then appear, and you just scroll down to find the folder you created earlier in Step 2 and make sure its checkbox is selected. Select OK and that folder will now be synced locally. Now you can continue with steps 3 and 4 to set up your cloud-based Favorites folder.

Now any additions or changes you make to your Favorites should be synched very quickly across all your devices. Since this is cloud-based, it will also remain in sync when you are on the road with any of your hardware.