Ye blog of Adam Wright

DIY, tutorials, stuff for geeks, all updated when I have the time to spare.

How to fix the Favorites shortcuts in Windows Explorer

14 Comments Posted by on 02/14/2012

I noticed my Favorites shortcuts weren’t showing up like normal in Windows Explorer, and after a little investigation and research, it was a simple fix.

  1. Navigate to C:\Users\[user]
  2. If there isn’t a “Links” folder, create one
  3. Right-click on the “Links” folder and select “Properties”
  4. Under the “General” tab, make sure “Read-only” is not checked (if there’s a blue box there that’s also bad)
  5. Once you’re sure that the folder is not flagged as read-only, close any Windows Explorer windows you have open and reopen one
  6. You should now be able to either right-click “Favorites” in Windows Explorer and click “Restore favorite links” or “Add current location to Favorites”

This worked for me.

My problem was that I mistakenly deleted my “Links” folder from my home folder. I added a new “Links” folder, but it still wasn’t working. That’s when I found that the folder was marked as read-only. Once I removed the read-only flag, it started working perfectly again.

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14 responses to “How to fix the Favorites shortcuts in Windows Explorer”

  1. Don Wilson 04/05/2012 at 3:25 PM

    Thanks, I use that area all the time and deleted the Links folder a while ago accidentally. I appreciate the help!

    Reply
  2. ned 02/06/2013 at 7:41 PM

    Thanks. I’ve been googling fixes for this for the last hour, glad I found this.

    Reply
  3. Amulet 04/15/2013 at 11:53 AM

    kool……..i was struggling to get a link back ! however weirdly…i am able to put the link for downlaods folder, but desktop is not appearing under Favorites. The shortcut to Desktop is however being shown in favorites folder !!!!!!1 any ideas

    Reply
    • Adam 04/15/2013 at 12:29 PM

      If you navigate to your “Desktop” folder, you should be able to right-click on “Favorites” on the left hand pane and select “Add to Favorites” so that the Desktop folder is in your Favorites pane.

      Reply
  4. Dale Martin 07/07/2013 at 5:22 PM

    Bravo! I’ve been googling for a solution to Favorites not working for two weeks now. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

    Reply
  5. skabdon 07/08/2013 at 9:42 AM

    thanks man….really appreciate.

    Reply
  6. vikas 08/04/2013 at 1:32 PM

    hi i m trying to get the fevo back but it still saying read only.

    plz help me out
    vikas

    Reply
    • Adam 01/20/2016 at 11:07 AM

      Maybe there’s more to it that I wasn’t experiencing at that time. For example, maybe there are domain settings that only allow the folder to exist read-only? Maybe that’s for a reason? Sorry I couldn’t help more.

      Reply
  7. amitai 05/19/2015 at 4:12 AM

    Hi,
    I’ve tried all the possible options written above, including keys and Link folder and nothing helps.
    I realized that also the favorites folder and also the Links folder change back to “read-only” right after I try to change them. any idea?
    Thanks,
    Amitai

    Reply
    • Adam 01/20/2016 at 11:07 AM

      Maybe there’s more to it that I wasn’t experiencing at that time. For example, maybe there are domain settings that only allow the folder to exist read-only? Maybe that’s for a reason? Sorry I couldn’t help more.

      Reply
  8. mswhitemichelle@gmail.com 03/21/2016 at 7:00 PM

    My favorite links was not working. After following the steps above, it now works. I followed the same steps for each folder (links and favorites) I’m using windows 7

    Reply

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