bookmark names have ".url" character string appended to all names
This problem appeared sometime in the last few updates to Firefox. The original problem was that Firefox would only import about half the bookmarks from Internet Explorer. I used a workaround by exporting the I.E. bookmarks to a file and then importing the file directly into Firefox. All the imported bookmarks have the character string ".URL" appended to the bookmark NAME. For Example: "eBay home" appears as "eBay home.url"
The url of the actual bookmark is correct however the NAME of the bookmark is modified with the appended ".url" character string. I have the same identical problems on three different computers, each running the latest updates to XP Pro and I am running the latest version of Firefox.
Modified by wpwedlake
All Replies (4)
Windows hides the .url extension on web shortcuts, but that actually is was part of the file name.
I have one idea for bulk clean-up, which is to export / clean / import.
(1) Export bookmarks to an HTML format file
(2) In a text editor, find and replace .url with nothing
(3) Import the edited file
The imported file will be a folder on the bookmarks menu. If you can confirm that the clean-up worked without causing unintended consequences, then you can reorganize the cleaned bookmarks up to the top level.
What do you think. Worth a try?
Thank you for your speedy response and your input. I was able to remove the .url file extensions as you specified. It is always a good thing to learn something new and of course, upon closer inspection, I found the .url file extension embedded in the bookmark file.
Having said that, going through all the acrobatics each time a bookmark file is imported is a real pain. My observation is that Firefox should automatically strip that file extension from the bookmark names just like I.E. does. How about an enhancement?
Modified by wpwedlake
Firefox 14 changed the way it imports bookmarks; it now is more particular about the format of the import file. However, whether I use Import data from another browser or Import HTML file, I do not get .url extensions when importing from IE9. How did you create your export file?
Why the need for repeatedly importing bookmarks from IE?
Usually that is done once, when the user first installs Firefox.