Save Your Favorites When Switching Internet Browsers

Q. I’m told that because Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser has become the principal target of hackers, I’d be wise to switch to one of the other less popular, but equally effective, browsers. I’m hesitating making the switch because I’ve built up so many handy bookmarks over the years that I’d hate to have to create a new browser list. Is there a way to copy them to the new browser?

A. I share your concern about Internet Explorer. I suggest you experiment with several browsers—they’re all free and downloadable. While it may take an hour or so to uncover how each works, it’s time well-spent. Not only will you get, in my opinion, a safer browser, but you’ll find they do everything, and sometimes more, than Internet Explorer. To locate all the available browsers, type Internet Browsers into Google or any search engine.

To answer your question, yes, all of the browsers have a way to import bookmarks and the processes are similar. To begin, open Internet Explorer and go to the File menu, where you’ll find the Import and Export option; click on it.

That will take you to the Import/Export Wizard ; click on Next and in the screen that appears click on Export Favorites , which then will take you to a screen that asks which group of Favorites you want to import (you can export only one group at a time). Then continue to follow the screen instructions.