About the Favorites Folder

The Favorites folder in the public information store contains links to public folders selected by a user for quick access. A link is created in the Favorites folder when a user selects a public folder and chooses Add to Favorites from the File menu of the Microsoft Exchange Client. Folders that appear in the user interface under the Favorites folder are actually public folders under the IPM subtree, but they can be accessed directly from the Favorites folder.

The Favorites Folder is used for the following:

• As a shortcut to selected folders without requiring specific paths in the public folder hierarchy.
• As the method for synchronization with offline folders, which give the user access to public folder information when offline.
• As a means to provide an unread count on public folders, which allows the user to quickly judge the amount of new information in the folder.

The Favorites folder and the All Public Folders folder are part of the hierarchy table when it is obtained after opening the IPM subtree specifically, but not when the hierarchy table is traversed from the public information store root folder. For more information, see Opening the Favorites Folder. After you open the Favorites folder, you can add or delete links to public folders using the IExchangeFavorites interface.

When users are not directly connected to Microsoft Exchange Server, they can still have access to the Favorites folder by using local replication. See About Offline Folders.