June 20, 2008
Vista Feature: Explorer Favorites
When you open a file folder on your computer with Vista – Documents, say, or Computer – the left hand column displays a short list of “Favorite Links.” That Favorites list is easy to overlook but it can be made into your best friend.
When I started using Vista, I immediately discovered the “Folders” arrow at the bottom that restored the familiar tree of drives and folders that I knew from Windows XP. I ignored the Favorites list.
Recently I took a closer look at the Favorites list. Any folder can be added to the Favorites list by finding it on the right and dragging it over to the Favorites list on the left.
There are fifteen or twenty places that I go regularly on my computer and my office network. I’ve added them to the list of Favorites (and dragged the list into a convenient order). As a result, I rarely have to use the folder list or drill through level after level of computers and folders and subfolders – I’ve got single click access to almost everywhere that matters on the network.
When you combine the Favorites list with the powerful ability to maneuver using Vista’s breadcrumb display in the Explorer window, there’s not much reason to use the old Folders list.
The Favorites list is actually a collection of shortcuts in a folder named Links – click on your name in the Start menu and you’ll see it listed there. You can go to that folder to delete links or restore default links, or you can just right-click on the list in Explorer.
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November 9th, 2010 at 1:09 am
[...] EXPLORER FAVORITES Originally introduced in Vista, the collection of Favorites in the top left corner of Explorer windows and file dialogs can easily be customized to give you single-click access to your most-used folders. [...]
September 13th, 2011 at 1:43 am
[...] Downloads are a special problem, by the way. Internet Explorer asks if you want to run or save downloads; Firefox and Chrome don’t ask, they just save them. The files are saved in your default Downloads folder. Each browser has a way to open a download manager – in IE9, it’s a click on the gear / View Downloads. But you can also find your Downloads folder by clicking on the Start button and clicking on your name on the top right. It’s an easy way to display all the folders in your User folder – Downloads and Favorites, plus Documents/Photos/Music/Videos. (Fun fact – you can change your picture on the login screen and the top of the Start menu by clicking on Start, then clicking on the picture.) By default, you also have a link to the Downloads folder in the Favorites section of your Explorer windows. [...]