BookmarkLane for Mac

BookmarkLane saves website links in a library on your Mac, where you can organize them with folders, tags, notes and favorites. You can also import bookmarks from Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Brave and Edge. BookmarkLane reads those bookmarks without changing the browser's files. If you enable iCloud sync, you can share your saved library with your other devices.

You need macOS 26 or later on an Apple Silicon Mac.

Free and Pro

Free saves up to 500 active bookmarks on each device. Trash does not use this allowance. Check your usage in Settings → Plan. Pro adds unlimited bookmarks and optional private iCloud sync, with one subscription for Mac, iPhone and iPad.

In Settings → Plan, choose Subscribe for [price]/month to review Apple's purchase confirmation. The app displays your App Store price and currency. Use Restore Purchases with the Apple Account that bought Pro, and Manage Subscription to manage or cancel it. A pending purchase unlocks Pro only after Apple confirms it. If pricing cannot load, use Try Again; you can keep using Free.

At the Free limit, existing bookmarks remain available to open, edit, organize and export. Adding links, browser refreshes, HTML imports, Inbox batches, Trash restores and backup replacement cannot grow the active library beyond its allowance. A rejected import or batch leaves the library unchanged, including earlier items in that operation. Move unneeded bookmarks to Trash to free space, or upgrade before retrying. A browser refresh that only updates existing bookmarks can still succeed.

If Pro expires, your existing library is kept even if it exceeds 500 bookmarks. You can still edit and export it, but cannot increase its size until you renew Pro or bring it below the Free limit. iCloud sync pauses; the local and iCloud copies are kept. Your Sync with iCloud choice stays on while paused, so renewing Pro resumes it. Turn that switch off to prevent automatic resumption or before restoring/resetting the library; you can turn it off without Pro.

First launch

Open BookmarkLane from Applications. If browser setup appears, you can connect a browser or skip setup and save links manually. To return to setup later, click Browsers…, the globe button in the library toolbar.

BookmarkLane saves the library on your Mac and loads it again when you reopen the app. If a browser is missing or a refresh fails, your saved bookmarks should still be available. You can use the app without connecting a browser or enabling iCloud.

Connect a browser

1. Open Browsers… and choose Connect [browser].
2. In the macOS folder panel, check the browser's usual data folder, which is already selected, and click Allow.
3. Wait for the import to finish, then check its status and the saved bookmark count.
4. Close setup and select the browser in the library sidebar. Expand it to browse its profiles and imported folders.

Chrome, Brave and Edge can have several profiles. Allowing access to the browser's usual data folder lets BookmarkLane find the profiles it can read inside that folder. If a source has only one profile, the sidebar may show its folders directly without a separate profile level. Safari uses one shared bookmark library.

For Firefox, quit Firefox completely before connecting or updating. If you see Quit Firefox to Continue, quit it and choose Try Again. Select Firefox's data folder in the panel, not Firefox.app or an item within that folder. A profile stored outside the granted folder needs separate access.

Use the browser's More menu for:

While BookmarkLane is running, it watches connected sources that it can read for changes. It also checks for updates when you open the app or return to it. Files you import manually do not update automatically. If a bookmark later disappears from its source, the saved copy can remain in All Bookmarks with a label indicating that the source is missing and the copy has been retained.

Some Chromium profiles store bookmarks in encrypted files. BookmarkLane can use a readable copy if one is available. Choosing another folder does not let it decrypt an encrypted store. Check Connection Details… to see any limits on how current the readable copy is. If BookmarkLane cannot read the bookmarks directly, export them as HTML and import that file.

Import a bookmark HTML file

1. Export bookmarks from the source browser as a Netscape bookmarks HTML file.
2. Open Browsers…, then the source's More → Import from [browser]….
3. Read the export instructions and choose Choose Exported File….
4. Select the .html or .htm bookmark export and confirm Import Bookmarks.
5. Review the import result and saved count.

Files must be UTF-8 bookmark exports; an ordinary saved web page is not accepted. If Safari exports a ZIP, extract it in Finder and choose Bookmarks.html. ZIP extraction is not built into BookmarkLane. Repeat the import when you need a newer exported snapshot.

Imported bookmarks keep information about their source browser and profile. Changes you make in BookmarkLane apply to its saved copy and do not change the bookmarks in your browser.

Save a link yourself

Choose Add Bookmark in the toolbar or File → Add Bookmark… (⌘N). Enter a URL and, if you want, a title, folder and tags, then choose Save. If you enter a domain without a scheme, BookmarkLane uses HTTPS. If you leave the title blank, it uses the hostname. Both HTTP and HTTPS links are supported, and you can save links manually while offline.

Use Paste in the Add form, or drop a website link into an enabled drop area in the library or form. Review the draft, then save it. Cancel leaves it unsaved. If the URL is already saved, you can choose Show Bookmark. Selecting a different folder can offer Move Bookmark, which moves the existing bookmark without creating a duplicate or changing its other details.

Use a bookmark's Edit… action to change its saved title, URL, notes, favorite status, folder or tags. If a URL matches only a bookmark in Trash, saving it creates a new active bookmark. The trashed bookmark stays in Trash.

Save the current browser page

With Safari, Chrome, Brave or Edge active, use Quick Save or the menu-bar panel's Save Current Page from [browser]. BookmarkLane asks that browser for the selected tab's URL and title, then opens a draft. Check the folder and tags, then choose Save.

macOS may ask for Automation permission for the selected browser. This permission is separate from access to its bookmark folder. BookmarkLane captures the current page only when you ask it to, and the draft is saved only after you choose Save. For a duplicate, it offers Show Bookmark or Move Bookmark as appropriate.

If you use Firefox, the page is unsupported, the browser is closed or Automation access is denied, use Add Bookmark and paste the URL manually. Current-page capture does not need a browser extension or a browser-account sign-in.

Save from a Mac Share menu

In Safari or another app's Share menu, choose BookmarkLane. Check the URL, title and folder, then choose Save. Open or return to BookmarkLane afterward so it can process the queued save. The app checks for duplicate links before saving. Choosing a different folder can move the existing bookmark. The extension saves locally first; the main app handles any later iCloud sync.

The Share menu queues the request; the main app checks the current library and plan when processing it. If a new link would exceed the Free allowance, the request stays queued. Free space or activate Pro in Settings → Plan, then retry from the shared-import notice. The extension's duplicate and folder choices reflect the last shared library snapshot, so open BookmarkLane if they seem out of date.

If BookmarkLane is hidden from the Share menu, look under System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → Sharing and enable BookmarkLane if offered. Make sure you have the latest available version of the app. Only website links are accepted; use Add Bookmark if the source app supplies unsupported content.

Navigate the library

Editing a bookmark does not change when it was added. After a merge, the bookmark appears once in All Bookmarks. Browser source views still show each occurrence from the browser.

Choose Go → Go to Collection… (⌘L) or its toolbar button to search collections, Smart Lists, folders and tags. Use the arrow keys and Return to choose a result, or click it. Full folder paths help you distinguish folders with the same name. Cancel keeps you where you are. Choosing a destination clears the previous bookmark search and selection.

Search, view and sort

Type in the search field to find bookmarks by title, link or saved information about their organization and source. The field's prompt tells you where you are searching. Search Favorites, Search Recently Added, Search this Smart List and Search Trash search only that collection. Search all bookmarks searches the active saved library, even if you started in a browser, folder or tag. Clear the field to browse again. Choose Reveal on a result to find it in the folder tree.

Saved notes are not included in the current search. Use titles and tags for words you want to find later.

In All Bookmarks, choose Folders to see and edit the folder hierarchy, or List to see the same bookmarks in a flat list. You can expand or collapse individual folder rows, or use Folder display → Expand All / Collapse All. Unfiled has its own group in the folder view. You can keep empty folders for future use.

Sort offers Manual (Drag and Drop), Alphabetically, Date Added — Newest First, Date Added — Oldest First, and Date Modified — Newest First. Choose Manual to drag items into order. Drop a bookmark onto a folder to move it there, or onto Unfiled or All Bookmarks to remove its folder assignment. Drop a folder into another folder to make it a subfolder, or onto All Bookmarks to move it to the top level. In Manual mode, drag near a row's edge to reorder items. These moves apply to the copies in BookmarkLane.

Large libraries load rows in groups. If Show Next … Bookmarks appears, choose it to see more results. The number of rows currently shown may be smaller than the total saved count. Select All includes every matching result, including those that have not loaded yet.

Open and edit a bookmark

Click a row to open its website. Right-click for Edit…, Organize…, Details…, browser choices, sharing and Move to Trash. Details shows the complete URL, folder, tags and source information. Expand the technical source information if you need to inspect it; it starts collapsed.

In Edit, you can change the title, URL, notes, favorite status, folder and tags. Choose Save to apply your changes or Cancel to discard them. Your changes appear in All Bookmarks, library folders and tags, and global search. Browser views may still show the browser's original title and URL.

Choose how a link opens

Set Preferred Browser from a bookmark's context menu or Details. It applies to normal opening from the library, menu bar and Quick Find on this Mac. System Default clears the preference. Open in System Default and one-time Open in… actions bypass the saved preference without changing it. If the preferred browser is unavailable, choose another browser or clear the preference.

Preferred browsers remain on this Mac and do not sync with the library.

Optional page previews and website icons

Use Fetch Page Details in Add, Edit or Details to request a title, description and image information directly from an HTTPS website. Use Page Title copies the suggested title into your draft, which you still need to Save. Fetching details by itself does not change the bookmark. Use Refresh to request the details again, or Remove Saved Details to clear the preview cached on this Mac. Some pages cannot provide a useful preview, including pages that require authentication, rely entirely on JavaScript or are too large.

Settings → General → Show website icons is off by default. If you turn it on, opening a bookmark from BookmarkLane can download that site's icon. Searching, scrolling and receiving synced bookmarks do not trigger these downloads on their own. Turning the setting off hides icons. Icons and previews are temporary caches on each device; backups and iCloud do not include them.

Folders, tags and batch organization

Choose New Folder in the toolbar. If you are browsing a folder, BookmarkLane may suggest it as the parent. Enter a name, choose a parent or Top Level, then save. Right-click a folder for New Subfolder…, Edit Folder… or Delete Folder…. The folder outline also has Rename or Move…. To move a folder without dragging, choose its new parent in the editor.

Deleting a folder and its subfolders keeps their bookmarks in Unfiled. Check the folder named in the confirmation, and use Undo promptly if you need to reverse the deletion. Moving, renaming or merging library folders changes your saved library's organization without renaming folders in your browsers.

When adding or editing a bookmark, use Choose tags to search for and select existing tags. Choose Done to apply the selection to the bookmark draft, or Cancel to discard changes made in the tag chooser. New tags are created when you save the bookmark. To delete a tag, right-click it and choose Delete Tag…. This removes the tag from active bookmarks and bookmarks in Trash, while keeping the bookmarks and their other tags. Undo can restore the deleted tag.

For several bookmarks:

1. Choose Select and mark rows, or use Select All to include every result, even rows that have not loaded yet.
2. Choose Organize.
3. Choose Keep Current, Unfiled or a destination folder.
4. Choose Add Tags, Remove Tags and optionally a new tag.
5. Choose Apply or Cancel.

Tags you do not add or remove stay as they are. Apply changes all bookmarks in the captured selection together. If Undo is available for the batch, one Undo reverses the whole batch. Choose Done Selecting to leave selection mode.

If a notice about older imports offers Place older imports in their browser folders, choose Review to check the proposed placements. This uses the saved source paths to place bookmarks without resetting your library. Folders with the same name are not necessarily identical. Use Find Duplicates to review similar folder names.

Smart Lists

Choose New Smart List in the sidebar and enter a name that no other Smart List uses. Enter search text and choose any Match All rules you need: favorites, a folder and its subfolders, one tag, a browser source or a date range for when bookmarks were added. Every enabled rule must match for a bookmark to appear. Choose newest first, oldest first or title order, then Save.

If you create a list from a folder, tag, Favorites or a search, BookmarkLane can fill in those filters for you. A Smart List filters saved bookmarks without moving or changing them. If a rule refers to a folder or tag that is missing, the list has no matches until you fix the rule or restore the missing item.

Right-click a list for Edit Smart List… or Delete Smart List…. You can also use the list's header or open Manage Smart Lists…. Deleting a Smart List keeps all bookmarks and tags. During the same app session, Undo Delete Smart List can restore the most recently deleted list. Resolve any conflicting list names first.

You can save up to 64 Smart List definitions on this Mac. They are not included in library backups or iCloud sync, so create them separately on other devices.

Link Inbox for batches of links

Open Link Inbox in the toolbar, File → Link Inbox… (⌘⇧I) or the menu-bar panel. These open the same queue.

1. Enter one website address per line and choose Add to Inbox. You can also use Paste or drop links or text onto Inbox.
2. Review the rows. Edit their URLs and titles, remove unwanted drafts, or deselect links you want to save later.
3. Choose a folder and tags.
4. Choose Save N Links for the selected new links.

Inbox skips repeated URLs in the input. Entries marked Already saved · skipped cannot be selected and do not change the existing bookmark. Unselected drafts and drafts for already-saved links stay in the queue until you remove them. Select New and Deselect All change the queue selection without affecting your library.

If available, Undo Save reverses the batch and returns its drafts to Inbox. Undo may be unavailable if the saved bookmarks have since changed or another action has replaced it. Inbox keeps up to 500 queued links on this Mac, even after you quit and reopen the app. Text you type is kept only after you choose Add to Inbox. Unsaved drafts are not included in library backups, exports or iCloud sync. Save important links to the library.

Find duplicates

Choose Find Duplicates in the toolbar. Groups marked Ready have matching, compatible URLs and details. Choose Merge All Ready… to preview the count and confirm the batch. Exclude any groups you want to keep separate. Groups marked Needs a choice have conflicting custom titles, notes or folder choices that you need to review individually.

A merge combines compatible favorites and tags and keeps information about the bookmarks' sources. All Bookmarks then shows one combined record, while browser source views keep the original occurrences. If the latest batch is eligible for Undo, Undo Batch Merge reverses it. Merging does not change browser files. Review duplicate folders and their merge previews separately from duplicate bookmarks.

Quick Find, Quick Save and the menu bar

The default global shortcuts are ⌃⌥⌘F for Quick Find and ⌃⌥⌘S for Quick Save. BookmarkLane must be running. The same commands appear in the File menu.

Quick Find searches the library saved on this Mac and shows up to eight results. Type your search, use the arrow keys to select a result and press Return to open it. Use ⌘1–⌘8 to open a numbered result, or ⌘Return to reveal the selected bookmark in the library. Escape closes the panel.

Click the bookmark icon in the macOS menu bar for quick library search, Add Bookmark…, current-page capture, Link Inbox, Settings and the full library. Use View All Results to continue a search in the app. Right-click a result to choose another browser or reveal it. Open BookmarkLane opens the library.

Closing the library window leaves BookmarkLane running for menu-bar and shortcut access. Quit BookmarkLane (⌘Q) stops the app. With Menu Bar Only, it is also absent from the Dock and Command-Tab switcher; open it from its menu-bar icon.

Keyboard reference

Share and export

Use Share…, Copy Link, Copy as Markdown or Copy BookmarkLane Link from bookmark actions or Details. A BookmarkLane link reveals that saved record on a device where it exists; it does not transmit its content or automatically open the website.

To share several bookmarks, choose Select, mark the bookmarks and use Share → Share Selected Links…. Review your selection before opening the system share menu. Copy as Markdown creates a bullet list. You can share or copy up to 500 bookmarks at once.

For another browser, choose Settings → Export → Export Bookmarks… and select a save destination. HTML export includes active bookmarks with their current title, URL and folder placement, including nested and empty folders. Trash, tags, notes and source history are excluded. Use JSON Backup to preserve the full library details.

Settings reference

Open BookmarkLane → Settings… (⌘,), the library gear, or Settings… in the menu-bar panel.

Quick Find and Quick Save must use different key combinations. If another app uses a shortcut, choose different keys and check General for any error registering the shortcut. Appearance, icon visibility, shortcuts, preferred browsers and launch-at-login behavior are settings for this device. Removing the menu-bar item brings back the Dock icon so you still have a way to open the app.

iCloud between Mac, iPhone and iPad

iCloud sync requires BookmarkLane Pro. Free includes up to 500 active bookmarks per device, saved locally. Subscribe or restore your purchase in Settings → Plan.

On each device, make sure you are using the intended iCloud account. Open Settings → iCloud, enable Sync with iCloud and review the merge confirmation. Keep BookmarkLane open on both devices for the initial transfer. Check the sync status and Last checked, and use Sync Now to retry a failed check.

Sync includes saved bookmarks, changes to their titles and URLs, folders, tags, notes, favorites and Trash. Browser connections and permissions stay on each Mac. Connect a browser separately on each Mac where you want its bookmarks to refresh. Smart Lists, unsaved Inbox drafts, settings, preferred-browser choices and cached data stay on the device.

Links you save offline stay on that device until sync catches up. BookmarkLane needs time to run to sync, and updates are not guaranteed while the app is quit or suspended by iOS. Turning sync off keeps both the local and iCloud copies. If you change iCloud accounts, sync pauses until you explicitly confirm the new account. Incoming library changes can make an earlier Undo unavailable.

Update all syncing devices to the current app before using the latest library format. Older app builds may be unable to read a library uploaded by the updated app.

Announcements

Open the library's Announcements bell or Settings → General → Announcements for news from BookmarkLane. A badge shows unread messages. Use Refresh or Try Again to check for updates, Mark as Read for one message, or Mark All Read for those shown. Opening the reader does not mark messages read automatically.

Announcements are fetched from the BookmarkLane website. When a refresh fails, previously saved messages can remain available; an empty successful feed shows No announcements yet. Some messages are shown only while Pro is active. Read status is saved on this Mac and does not sync. Read more on our website, when offered, opens the linked page.

Back up, restore and reset

Choose Settings → Backup → Back Up Library… and keep the JSON file somewhere safe. It contains bookmarks, Trash, folders, tags and import history, including details that a browser HTML export cannot preserve. Browser folder permissions, Smart List definitions, Inbox drafts and device preferences are separate from the library backup.

Before restoring, back up your current library. Turn off iCloud sync and wait for imports and other library operations to finish. Choose Restore → Choose Backup… and check the backup's date and counts. Choose Replace Library only when you want to replace the local library. BookmarkLane accepts supported older backup versions. Reconnect your browsers afterward to receive fresh updates.

Keep the current app on devices that will restore a newly created backup; older builds may reject its format. Backup files larger than 100 MB are rejected. If a restore would exceed the Free allowance, activate Pro or use a smaller backup; the current library is preserved when the operation fails.

Reset Library removes all saved library data, including Trash, folders, tags and import records, and disconnects browsers. You need a backup to recover from a reset. Restoring or resetting leaves your original browser bookmarks and the iCloud copy intact. Enabling sync again can bring cloud records back; neither action erases all iCloud data.

Trash and Undo

Choose Move to Trash on a bookmark, or use selection controls to move a batch. Trashed bookmarks disappear from the active library, search and duplicate review. Open Trash to search and restore one bookmark, a selection or all bookmarks. Their saved details are kept. If a bookmark's former folder has been deleted, restoring the bookmark places it in Unfiled.

Use the visible Undo [action] promptly after eligible saves, edits, organization, merges, moves to Trash or restores. Undo is available only during the current app session. Another operation or an incoming cloud change may replace it.

Delete Permanently and Empty Trash… show a count and confirmation and cannot be undone. They do not delete bookmarks from browser files. There is no automatic Trash expiry. Keep a backup before permanent removal.

Siri, Shortcuts and BookmarkLane links

Open Settings → Siri → Open Shortcuts. Save Bookmark accepts an HTTP or HTTPS URL, with an optional title, existing folder and tags. It saves directly, using the usual duplicate handling and Undo. Get Bookmark URLs returns up to 500 links for use in another action, such as Copy to Clipboard. You can combine search, direct-folder, tag and favorites filters. Both actions open BookmarkLane to access the current library. Find Duplicate Bookmarks and Organize Bookmark open a review before making changes.

Manage Siri in System Settings → Apple Intelligence & Siri. BookmarkLane's actions work without Apple Intelligence. The Apple Intelligence availability indicator checks a separate capability, independently of whether Siri is on. Try “Save a bookmark in BookmarkLane” or “Get bookmark links from BookmarkLane”. If the actions do not appear, make sure BookmarkLane is up to date, then reopen Shortcuts.

A bookmarklane://save?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com link opens a draft for review; Save is still required. Copy BookmarkLane Link creates an app link that reveals an existing record, useful when that same bookmark has synced to another device.

Troubleshooting