Bookmarks are an easy way to keep track of your favorite sites and bookmark interesting sites for when you have more time to explore.
The problem with bookmarks is that they can easily get out of hand. One way to keep them under control is to store them in folders. Of course, the process is easier if you set up folders before you start adding and editing bookmarks, but it’s never too late to get organized.
The Safari Sidebar
The easiest way to manage your bookmarks is through Safari’s sidebar (sometimes called the bookmarks editor). To access the Safari sidebar:
- Click the Bookmarks menu and select Show Bookmarks . If you’re using an older version of Safari, the menu item may say Show All Bookmarks .
- An alternative method to reveal the Safari sidebar is to use the Sidebar button on the Safari toolbar. It looks a bit like an open book.
With Safari Sidebar open, you can add, edit, and remove bookmarks, as well as add or remove folders or subfolders.
There are two main places to save bookmarks and bookmark folders: the Bookmarks Bar and the Bookmarks menu.
The Favorites Bar
The Bookmarks Bar is near the top of the Safari window. The Favorites Bar may not be visible depending on how you’ve configured Safari. Fortunately, it’s easy to turn on the Favorites Bar…
To access the Favorites Bar
- Select the Safari View menu , and then click the Show Favorites Bar item .
The Bookmarks Bar is a great place to keep your favorite websites close at hand, either as individual links or in folders. There is a limit to the number of individual links you can store horizontally in the toolbar, and still view and access them without clicking on a dropdown menu. The exact number depends on the length of the names you give the links and the size of the typical Safari window, but a dozen links is probably about average. On the plus side, if you put links instead of folders in the bookmarks bar, you can access the first nine using keyboard shortcuts instead of the mouse, as described in this tip:
If you use folders instead of links, you can have a nearly endless supply of websites available in the Favorites Bar, although you may want to reserve the Favorites Bar for sites you visit daily or at least once a week, and store everything else in the Bookmarks menu.
The bookmarks menu
The Bookmarks menu provides drop-down access to bookmarks and/or bookmark folders, depending on how you choose to organize them.
The Bookmarks menu also provides a second way to access the bookmarks bar, as well as bookmark-related commands. If you disable the bookmarks bar, perhaps to get a little more screen real estate, you can still access it from the Bookmarks menu.
Add a folder to the bookmarks bar or bookmarks menu
Adding a folder to the Favorites Bar or Bookmarks menu is easy; the hardest part is deciding how to set up the folders. Some categories, like News, Sports, Weather, Technology, Work, Travel, and Shopping, are universal, or at least fairly obvious. Others, like Crafts, Gardening, Woodworking, or Pets, are more personal. One category we highly recommend nearly everyone add is Temp (although you can name it whatever you want). If you’re like most Internet users, you’ll bookmark numerous sites, daily, to return to them later, when you have more time. Most of them are probably not places you want to permanently bookmark, but they are interesting enough to visit, but not today. If you keep them cornered in a Temp folder,
As for names, whether you decide to add bookmarks or individual folders to the Favorites Bar, keep their names short, so you can include more of them. Short names aren’t a bad idea in the Bookmarks menu either, but because the links are displayed in a hierarchical list, you have more leeway.
To add a folder, click the Bookmarks menu and select Add Bookmarks Folder . A new folder will appear in the Bookmarks section of Safari’s sidebar, with its name (currently `untitled folder’) highlighted, ready for you to change. Type a new name and press the return or enter key. If you accidentally click outside the folder before you have a chance to name it, right-click the folder and select Edit Name from the pop-up menu. If you change your mind about the folder, right-click it and select Delete (or Delete depending on the version of Safari you’re using) from the pop-up menu.
When you’re happy with the name, click and drag the folder to the Favorites Bar or the Bookmarks menu entry in the sidebar, depending on where you want to save it.
Adding subfolders to folders
If you tend to collect and save a lot of bookmarks, you may want to add subfolders to some of the folder categories. For example, you might have a top-level folder called Home that includes subfolders called Cooking, Decorating, Gardening, and Green Guides.
Open Safari’s sidebar (Bookmarks menu, Show Bookmarks), and then click either the Bookmarks Bar entry or the Bookmarks Menu entry , depending on the location of the top-level folder.
Click the destination folder to select it, and then click the arrow to the left of the folder to display the contents of the folder (even if the folder is empty). If you don’t, when you add a new folder, it will be added at the same level as the existing folder, rather than inside the folder.
From the Bookmarks menu, select Add Bookmarks Folder . A new subfolder will appear in the selected folder, with its name (‘untitled folder’) highlighted and ready for editing. Type a new name and press Return or Enter key.
The Favorites Bar may not be visible depending on how you’ve configured Safari. Fortunately, it’s easy to turn on the Favorites Bar…
To access the Favorites Bar
- Select the Safari View menu , and then click the Show Favorites Bar item .
The Bookmarks Bar is a great place to keep your favorite websites close at hand, either as individual links or in folders. There is a limit to the number of individual links you can store horizontally in the toolbar, and still view and access them without clicking on a dropdown menu. The exact number depends on the length of the names you give the links and the size of the typical Safari window, but a dozen links is probably about average. On the plus side, if you put links instead of folders in the bookmarks bar, you can access the first nine using keyboard shortcuts instead of the mouse, as described in this tip:
If you use folders instead of links, you can have a nearly endless supply of websites available in the Favorites Bar, although you may want to reserve the Favorites Bar for sites you visit daily or at least once a week, and store everything else in the Bookmarks menu.
The bookmarks menu
The Bookmarks menu provides drop-down access to bookmarks and/or bookmark folders, depending on how you choose to organize them.
To move a folder, click and hold the folder icon , and drag it to the desired location. You can move a folder to a different position in the same hierarchy level or drag it to another folder.
Organize folders in the bookmarks menu
Open the Safari sidebar and click on the Favorites Menu entry . From here, reorganizing folders is exactly the same process as the second option above. Just click on the icon of the folder you want to move and drag it to the destination location.
Delete a folder
To remove a folder from your bookmarks menu or Safari bookmarks, right-click the folder , and select Remove from pop-up menu. Check the folder first, to make sure it doesn’t contain any bookmarks or subfolders that you want to save elsewhere.
Rename a folder
To rename a folder, right-click the folder , and select Rename (older versions of Safari Edit Name were used instead ) from the pop-up menu. The folder name will be highlighted and ready for you to edit. Type a new name and press return or enter.