The Bookmarks Bar is for commonly used links that you want quick access to:

  • News – MSNBC, CNN, NYT, etc,.
  • Social Media Sites – Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, etc,.
  • Financial Sites – Bank account, stock prices, currency exchange, etc,.
  • Hobby Pages – Technology, Crafts, Fashion,  etc,.
  • Online To Do List – Toodle Do, Remember The Milk, etc,.
  • Navigation Sites – Google Maps, Mapquest, etc,.

In Safari, it’s the thin strip under the white Address and Search field.

Safari Bookmarks Bar

If it doesn’t show in Safari:

  • Go to the View Menu.
  • Choose Show Bookmarks Bar.

The Bookmarks Bar should now be visible.

Adding Bookmarks To The Toolbar

As the Bookmarks Bar is relatively small, it can only show a limited number of bookmarks.

Choose Carefully – Only use the Bookmarks Bar for websites you visit often. All other bookmarks should be put in in the standard Bookmarks Menu. We’ll cover this in a later post.

Shorten Site Names – On the Bookmarks Bar, room is at a premium. Shorten the names of links wherever possible.

To Add A Bookmark

  • Open Safari.
  • Find a page you would like to add to the Bookmarks Mar.
  • In the Bookmarks menu choose Add Bookmark… or press Command D.
  • From the drop-down menu Add this Page To, scroll to select Bookmarks Bar.
  • Overwrite the page name with a shorter title, e.g; if the page is named Times Skimmer by The New York Times, abbreviate it to NYT.
  • Click Add.

Safari Bookmarks Bar Save Dialog

The bookmark is added to the front of the Bookmarks Bar.

If you’d like to change it’s position, click and drag the link to a different place on the Bookmarks Bar.

Adding Folders To The Toolbar

You can place several links inside a folder on the Bookmarks Bar,

When you click on that folder it will show a drop-down menu of these links and you can choose the link you want.

  • Open Safari.
  • Go to Bookmarks in the Menu Bar. Choose Add Bookmarks Folder.

Safari Bookmarks Bar - Add Bookmarks Folder

  • Safari instantly changes to the Bookmarks page.
  • On the left-hand side, under Bookmarks, is a new Untitled Folder.

Safari Bookmarks Bar - New Untitled Folder

  • Type in a name for the folder.

Safari Bookmarks Bar - New Named Folder

  • Under Collections, click Bookmarks Bar. The Bookmarks Bar library opens in a window on the right.

Safari Bookmarks Bar - Add A Folder To The Bookmarks Bar

  • Now click and drag your folder into Bookmarks Bar library.

Safari Bookmarks Bar - Drag And Drop New Folder

  • If you make a mistake, don’t panic. Press Command Z to undo the last command.
  • You can now place existing bookmarks in this folder. Click and drag the bookmarks over the folder until it darkens and then drop them in.

To add a new bookmark to this folder, follow the instructions in To Add A Bookmark above.

With links in a folder on the Bookmarks Bar, you can open these links individually or choose the last option in the drop-down menu and open all links simultaneously in separate tabs.

Safari Bookmarks Bar - Open All Tabs Option

All browsers have a Bookmarks Bar. Although, they may work differently the same organizational principles apply.

Have an excellent week.

If you’d like to learn more about Safari check out:

Setting Your Home Page on Safari, Firefox Or Chrome

How To Take An Image From The Web

How To Alphabetize Bookmarks In Safari

Surf in Secret – Private Browsing in Safari

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 If you have questions, please use the Comments section below.

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