Organize Bookmarks in Firefox

Firefox is a great browser, and makes surfing the web fast and fun, collecting bookmarks as you go. We'll show you how easy it is to clean up and organize all your bookmarks with these simple steps.

Steps

  1. Launch Firefox. If it's not already on your desktop or dock, look for it in your Start menu (Windows) or the Applications Folder (Macintosh).
  2. Click on the View menu in your menu bar. Select Sidebar, and then Bookmarks.
    • A sidebar will appear on the left of the Firefox window.
    • You will see at least 3 icons there: Bookmarks Toolbar, Bookmarks Menu, and Unsorted Bookmarks .
    • The Bookmarks Toolbar is the strip across the top, underneath the address bar. Use that for websites you go to constantly, so you never have to dig for them.
    • The Bookmarks Menu is what you see when you click on the Bookmarks menu, and is probably where most of your current bookmarks are.
  3. Add Bookmarks to the Bookmarks Toolbar. This will make it easy to get where you often go to, quickly and without fuss.
    • From the bookmarks you've collected, drag the top 5 bookmarks into the Bookmarks Toolbar folder. You can add more if you like, but the most efficient way to use the Bookmarks Toolbar is to keep it limited to those sites you visit regularly.
    • Add folders to the Bookmarks Toolbar. If you frequently visit a number of related sites, rather than using up the toolbar space for every site, put them all in a Bookmark folder, and drag that to your Bookmarks Toolbar folder.
    • The menu option Open All in Tabs will open all the bookmarks in that folder at one time, in separate tabs.
  4. Create folders. To organize the rest of your bookmarks, we need to create a filing system. Chances are, while you may have dozens of bookmarks, you have a much smaller number of categories for those bookmarks. We'll create those next, in the Bookmarks Menu folder. Some possibilities for your category folder names are:
    • Entertainment
    • News
    • Computers
    • Kids
    • Shopping
    • Tools
    • Sports
    • Travel
  5. Create a new folder. Right-click on the Bookmarks Menu folder (or Control-click). From the contextual menu, select New Folder...
  6. Name the folder. In the New Folder window, type a name for the folder, and if you like, a description or memo of what's inside. The new folder will appear in the sidebar inside the folder you clicked on to create it.
    • Repeat this procedure until you have what you think will be a good start to your bookmark filing system. Remember, you can always add more!
  7. Move your old bookmarks into the new folder. Now comes the process of sorting through your stacks of bookmarks, and deciding what goes where.
    • Should you come across a bookmark that seems to fit multiple filing categories, put it in the very first one you thought of.
  8. Select the source folder. Click on the folder that holds your bookmarks.
  9. Move a bookmark to the new folder. Click on the bookmark you want to move and drag it to the new folder. Release the mouse button to place the bookmark in the folder.
    • Repeat this procedure until you have all your bookmarks placed. You may need to create new folders for categories you missed, and you may end up having created categories you're not using.
  10. Sort your bookmarks. You can sort your bookmarks automatically, or manually—or a combination of the two.
  11. Sorting automatically.
    • Right-click on the folder containing the bookmarks you wish to sort.
    • From the contextual menu, select Sort by Name.
    • The contents will be sorted by type, and then by name. Folders will be at the top, sorted alphabetically, followed by individual URLs, also sorted alphabetically.
  12. Sorting manually.
    • Click on the folder you want to sort manually, to open it.
    • Click and drag each bookmark to the desired position.
    • If you wish to move a bookmark to a different folder, just drag it to that folder and release the mouse.
  13. Temporary sort. There may be times when you want something other than a basic name sort. To do this, open the Library window.
    • On the menu bar, click Bookmarks and select Show All Bookmarks.
    • In the left pane, click on the folder you want to view. Its contents will appear in the main window on the right.
    • Click on the Views button at the top, and select the Sort menu, and choose a sort order.
      • Note that this is a temporary sort order in the Library window, and is not reflected in the Bookmarks menu or sidebar.



Tips

  • If more than one person uses the same Firefox profile (Windows account), make folders for each person so that all of you can find your bookmarks easier.
  • Make it intuitive. Name the folders using simple names that will help you remember which bookmarks are in which folder. Example: use School Links for sites leading to your school website or other helpful websites a teacher has recommended.
  • Get your bookmarks synchronized. Install Xmarks from Xmarks.com (formally Foxmarks) Firefox Add-on to synchronize your newly organized bookmarks with multiple PCs. This will keep your bookmarks the same on all of the desktops and laptops you use for home, work, or school.
  • Organize even further! Move folders inside of other folders to build a bookmark folder tree.

Warnings

  • Don't stress about organizing all of your bookmarks. If you have a large collection of bookmarks, it may be a tedious task. Spread out your organization project over an extended period of time by organizing only a portion of your collection each day.
  • While each bookmark folder should have a specific purpose, try not to have too many folders. Over-organization could be as problematic as disorganization.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

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