# Bookmarks But Better

> Your bookmarks as a beautiful new tab. Local, private, no account. Optionally stored as Markdown you own.

Bookmarks But Better is a browser extension that replaces the new-tab page with a private bookmarks dashboard. It shows the bookmarks you already have, organizes them with drag and drop, and finds them with a search palette. An optional local daemon keeps bookmarks as plain Markdown files in folders you own, called Vaults.

Key facts:

- Free and open source under the MIT license. Version 4.3.0. No account.
- Chrome ([Chrome Web Store](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/nflojekghnganlcjncbepnnnkgakghif)) and Firefox ([Firefox Add-ons](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/bookmarks-but-better/)) today. The Safari version is coming soon and can be built from source now; Safari gives extensions no access to its bookmarks, so there it uses a Markdown vault.
- No accounts, analytics, tracking, ads or bookmark-content collection. The extension's only default network request is a favicon lookup that sends bookmark origins, never full URLs.
- The optional daemon runs on your own computer, binds to loopback only, and serves the extension at 127.0.0.1:52222.
- A Vault is an ordinary folder: one Markdown file per bookmark with YAML front matter, one folder per bookmark folder, and no hidden database.
- Bookmarks come from sources that are never implicitly merged. Operations affect only the Active Source, and switching sources never moves or copies anything.
- The legacy Standalone source is retiring over one major version. Migration is an explicit copy that leaves the legacy data intact.

## Pages

- [Home](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/): product overview, features and installation links
- [Live preview](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/preview/): the real app running on seeded demo data, with every theme
- [Privacy](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/privacy/): data location, network requests and permissions
- [Documentation](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/): Install Bookmarks But Better, choose your bookmark sources, import and export, and keep your bookmarks as Markdown files in a vault you own.

## Getting started

- [Install the extension](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/start/install/): Install Bookmarks But Better from the Chrome Web Store or Firefox Add-ons, find out where Safari stands, and finish the first-run setup.
- [Bookmark sources](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/start/sources/): How Browser bookmarks and daemon Vaults work as separate sources, how to switch between them, and how to move off the retiring Standalone source.
- [Import and export](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/start/import-export/): Import bookmarks from any browser's HTML export or from Raindrop and Pocket CSV files, handle duplicates, and export to a standard HTML file.
- [Safari](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/start/safari/): The Safari version is coming soon. Until then you can build it from source on macOS 14 or later, and it needs the local daemon.

## Markdown vaults

- [Markdown vaults](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/daemon/): Keep your bookmarks as plain Markdown files in a folder you own, served to the extension by a small local daemon on your own computer.
- [Install the daemon](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/daemon/install/): Install the Bookmarks But Better daemon with npx bookmarks-but-better, or with a shell or PowerShell script, and learn what goes where.
- [Connect the extension](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/daemon/connect/): Connect the extension to the local daemon at 127.0.0.1:52222, allow the loopback permission, refresh Vaults, rename them and forget a daemon.
- [Multiple vaults](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/daemon/multiple-vaults/): Serve several Vaults from one daemon with vault add, vault remove and vault list, choose ids, and see why each Vault stays a separate source.
- [Back up your vault](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/daemon/backups/): What to back up in a Vault, how to take a consistent copy, which tools work (copy, rsync, Time Machine, git), and how to restore safely.
- [Troubleshooting](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/daemon/troubleshooting/): Diagnose the daemon with status and doctor, fix common errors such as an unreachable daemon or a busy port, and report an issue.
- [Uninstall the daemon](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/daemon/uninstall/): Remove the daemon and its background service with npx bookmarks-but-better uninstall, or by hand. Your Vault folders are never deleted.

## Guides

- [Guides](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/guides/): Articles for choosing a private bookmark manager: moving from Pocket or Raindrop, keeping bookmarks as Markdown in Obsidian, and going without an account.
- [A Pocket alternative for your saved links](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/guides/pocket-alternative/): A Pocket alternative with no account: import your Pocket CSV into a private new-tab dashboard, and see what carries over and what doesn't.
- [A Raindrop alternative that needs no account](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/guides/raindrop-alternative/): Raindrop alternative compared: cloud or local bookmarks, where your data lives, supported platforms, and importing a Raindrop CSV or HTML.
- [Obsidian bookmarks as Markdown files](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/guides/obsidian-bookmarks/): Keep bookmarks as Markdown files in or next to your Obsidian vault, shown on your browser's new tab. What the files look like and how to set it up safely.
- [A bookmark manager without an account](https://bookmarks.but-better.dev/docs/guides/bookmark-manager-without-account/): When a bookmark manager without an account makes sense: what local means in practice, the exact network requests, and the trade-offs for sync and backup.

## Optional

- [GitHub repository](https://github.com/farhadeidi/bookmarks-but-better): source code and issue tracker
- [Releases](https://github.com/farhadeidi/bookmarks-but-better/releases): release notes and downloads
- [MIT License](https://github.com/farhadeidi/bookmarks-but-better/blob/main/LICENSE): the license the project ships under