Access Bookmarks from the System Tray

It can come quite handy sometimes to access the bookmarks as fast as possible to be able to visit a website without delay. A fast and convenient way is to add an icon to the system tray that provides access to all of the bookmarks. One software that provides that functionality is Links 2 Tray which sits in the tray quietly until the icon is left-clicked.

The bookmarks are then displayed in the usual order including submenus. A left-click on a bookmark opens that bookmark. The real beauty of Links 2 Tray is that it provides access to bookmarks of all three major browsers. The configuration provides settings for Internet Explorer’s Favorites, Firefox’s Bookmarks.html file and Opera.

Firefox changed the way bookmarks are handled with Firefox 3 which means that the user should export the bookmarks into html format once in a while to be able to use them in Links 2 Tray.

Firefox is not explicitly mentioned but it’s possible to add its executable in the Netscape field. One set of bookmarks will be the primary set which is immediately available after left-clicking the system tray icon while the other two are available in folders in that menu. Make sure you set the primary to the bookmarks you use the most.

Bookmarks were opened in Internet Explorer by default but I was able to change that by exchanging the Internet Explorer url with the Firefox one. From then on the bookmarks were opened in Firefox by default. If you prefer Opera just add the Opera executable in that field.

It’s probably no problem to add any other browser instead of the three ones mentioned by simply replacing their executables.