Favorite Links

How to Open and Use Favorite Links in Vista​

   Information

Favorite Links is inside the Navigation Pane in a Windows Explorer window. It contains shortcut links to the Documents, Pictures, Music, Recently Changed, Searches, and Public folders by default.

For more information see:
Microsoft Help and Support: Article KB926167

   Note

You can add any shortcut you like to use here as well. See below for how.

   Tip

Default Favorite Links Locations

• Documents - C:\Users\(your username)\Documents
  NOTE: This is the Documents folder for your user account.
• Music - C:\Users\(your username)\Music
  NOTE: This is the Music folder for your user account.
• Pictures - C:\Users\(your username)\Pictures
  NOTE: This is the Pictures folder for your user account.
• Public - C:\Users\Public
  NOTE: This is the folder that is shared by all users.
• Recently Changed - C:\Users\(your username)\Searches\Recently Changed
  NOTE: You must turn on Recent Items in the Start Menu's Properties for this to display recent files.
• Searches - C:\Users\(your username)\Searches
  NOTE: This is a search shortcut for recent Documents, E-mail, Music, Pictures and Videos, Changed items, and Shared by me.

OPTION ONE

How to Open the Favorite Links Location

METHOD ONE:​

1. Open the Start Menu. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: This is the same as typing shell:links in the white line (Start Search) area of the Start menu and pressing Enter.​

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METHOD TWO:​

2. Navigate to C:\Users\(User Name)\Links in a Windows Explorer window.​

NOTE: This is the Favorite Links section in the Navigation Pane. If the Favorite Links section is empty, then see: How to Fix Favorite Links Empty in Vista Windows Explorer​

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METHOD THREE:​

3. Right click on a empty space in Favorite Links (Navigation Pane), and click on Open Favorite Links Folder.​

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OPTION TWO

How to Add or Remove a Favorite Link

1. To Add a Folder Favorite Link​

A) Drag the folder to a empty area of the Favorite Links section (Navigation Pane) until you see the Create link in links message, then drop it to create a shortcut link for tha. (See screenshot below Method Three in OPTION ONE)​

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OR​

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B) Copy or Paste a folder shortcut into the Favorite Links folder location. (See screenshot below Method Two in OPTION ONE)​

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2. To Remove a Folder Link​

A) Right click on a folder in the Favorite Links section (Navigation Pane) and click on Remove Link. (See screenshot below Method Three in OPTION ONE)​

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OR​

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B) Right click on the folder in the folder location and click on Delete. (See screenshot below Method Two in OPTION ONE)​

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Turn the Navigation Pane On or Off in Vista
• How to Change the Open Folder Icon in Vista
• How to Hide Favorite Links in a Windows Explorer Window in Vista
• How to Turn the Preview Pane On or Off in Vista
• How to Fix Favorite Links Empty in Vista Windows Explorer

 

[cosmin2007]

I find the favorite links pane one of the best new features in Vista. Actually the favorite links pane was available in XP too, but you could not make it stay always on and it had another major disadvantage - the folder was for IE favorites by default. But one could have made a separate folder for local folders and use it very much the same as the links folder in Vista.
The best thing about links folder in Vista is that you can use saved search folders saved in there to quickly open file lists made by your own criteria using search folders. Actually I copied the pre-defined search folders into the links folder and now they are available everywhere on explorer windows. You might not realize this from the very first moment, but this is a huge productivity boost in working with files and folders on your computer. Just try poking around with search folders, then save the most useful searches and copy the saved searches inside your links folder. You'll be finding your most frequently needed files A LOT FASTER without conducting too many separate searches.

The idea of using links pane for saved searches came from browsing trough Paul Thurrott's website and viewing early Longhorn UI screen shots. I was browsing to look for removed features in the final version when this idea stroke me last night...

Use the directions here to create personalized searches