How to add or remove Favorites in Windows Registry

Whenever we search for certain Windows 10 how to’s, many of them consist of editing, removing or adding new registries to the system. Computer geeks always try new things and changing Windows Registry is one of them. Today I will show you how to mark any Registry key as a favorite.

Windows systems rely on registry files since the release of Windows 3.11. The registry or Windows registry is a database of information, settings, and other values related to software and hardware installed on the system. When you install a new program, the installation creates a new Subkey in the registry. This subkey is very specific to that program, containing information like its location, version, and primary executable.

Add or Remove Favorites in Registry in Windows 10

If you are frequently editing some registry keys, then accessing them will be easier if you add them as Favorites. In this post we will take a look at the following topics:

1. Add a Registry Key to Favorites
2. Export Registry Favorites
3. Merge Registry Favorites
4. Remove a Registry Key from Favorites

1] Add a Registry Key to Favorites

Press Win + R keys. In the Run window, type regedit and hit enter.

Now search for the registry you want to mark as favorite.

Select the registry from the registry tree and click on Favorites on the menu bar. Now click on Add to Favorites.

Enter the name you wish to have for your favorite registry and click on OK.

Now to check if the registry is marked as favorite, click on Favorites again. Your recently added registry will be present in the list.

2] Export Registry Favorites

You can export your list of favorite registries to any location you wish. This step is helpful because when the computer is formatted or a clean installation is done, the system doesn’t retain the favorite registries. If you like to keep the changes of you made to any of the registries then exporting and saving somewhere safe is the best option for you.

Press Win + R keys. In the Run window, type regedit and hit enter.

Now navigate to the following registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Regedit\Favorites

It will contain every registry you have ever marked as a favorite.

In the registry tree section, right-click on Favorites and then click on Export.

Choose a location where you want to store all the favorite registries. Enter the name and click on Save. Do not change the branch path.

Place the saved file to any external drive or cloud storage for future use.

3] Merge Registry Favorites

Let’s just assume that you were successful in exporting the registries to a safer place and your system crashed, unfortunately. So, after a new installation, you want to merge the exported favorite registries? In this method, I will show you how to merge them.

Navigate to the folder where you saved it last. If it is on the external drive then connect it and open the folder where you saved it.

Right-click on the registry file and click on Merge or just double click on the file. If you get prompt by User Account Control (UAC) then click on OK.

Now you will receive two prompts. In the first one click on Yes and on the second one click on OK.

Now all the registries you edited and marked as favorites are back on your system. To make sure the registries are working as per your wish, restart your system once.

4] Remove a Registry Key from Favorites

Now if you want to remove any registry from the favorites then you can remove it very easily.

Press Win + R keys. In the Run window, type regedit and hit enter.

Go to the Menu bar and click on Favorites. Now click on Remove Favorite.

In the Remove Favorites dialog box, select the registry you wish to remove and click on OK.

To check if it is removed successfully or not, click on Favorites again and look for the registry you just removed.

In these small four methods, you can simply add and remove your favorite registries. Let us know in the comments below which registries you edit the most.