How to Manage Bookmarks Privately Without a Cloud Account

The problem with most bookmark managers

You've probably been there. You find a useful article, save it to your bookmark manager, and carry on. What you don't think about is what happens next — your bookmark, along with the URL, the title, and the timestamp of when you saved it, is now sitting on someone else's server.

Raindrop, Pocket, Pinboard, even the built-in sync in Chrome and Firefox — all of them require an account and send your data somewhere. That list of URLs says more about you than you'd think. Your health concerns. Your financial situation. The news sources you trust. The tools you use for work. It's a detailed profile, and you handed it over in exchange for a convenient save button.

There's a better way.

Why "just use Chrome bookmarks" isn't enough

Chrome's built-in bookmarks are local by default, which sounds good — but the moment you sign into your Google account, they sync. That's Google's business: connecting data points. If you've ever searched for something in Chrome and noticed eerily relevant ads, you've seen this in action.

Firefox is better, but still sync-first if you use Firefox Sync. Safari ties everything to your Apple ID.

The deeper problem with browser bookmarks isn't just privacy — it's organisation. Browser bookmark folders become a graveyard fast. No search across everything, no tagging, no descriptions, no way to see what you've saved at a glance.

What "local-first" actually means

A local-first bookmark manager stores your data in your browser's built-in database — a technology called IndexedDB — directly on your device. Nothing is sent to any server. No account is required. No company, including the one that built the tool, can see what you've saved.

This isn't a compromise. IndexedDB is the same storage mechanism that makes offline web apps work. It's fast, reliable, and private by design.

The only real trade-off: your bookmarks are tied to the browser and device you use. Clear your browser data and they're gone unless you've exported a backup. This is why a good local-first tool makes backup and restore easy — not an afterthought.

Squirrel: a private bookmark manager that runs in your browser

We built Squirrel to solve exactly this problem. It's a bookmark manager that runs entirely in your browser — no sign-up, no cloud, no subscription.

Here's what it does:

• Sections — organise bookmarks into labelled categories with custom emoji icons
• Tags — add keywords to any bookmark and filter across sections instantly
• Search — real-time search across all titles, URLs, descriptions, and tags
• Backup to file — export everything to a JSON file and store it wherever you want
• Import from browser — bring in your existing Chrome, Firefox, or Safari bookmarks in one step
• Ctrl+V detection — copy a URL from any tab, switch to Squirrel, press Ctrl+V and a prompt asks if you want to save it

Free to use with unlimited bookmarks. A one-time $9 upgrade adds auto-backup every 30 minutes, vault folder sync, and 7-day backup history.

Getting started in under two minutes

1. Open squirrel.aditco.in — no sign-up, no install
2. Click Import from Browser to bring in your existing bookmarks, or click Add a Bookmark to start fresh
3. Create sections to organise by topic, project, or however you think
4. Use the search bar to find anything instantly
5. Click ☰ Menu → Backup to File to save a copy of your bookmarks — do this regularly

That's it. Your bookmarks are now in your browser, under your control, accessible even when you're offline.

A note on backup

The one discipline local-first requires: regular backups. Because your bookmarks live in the browser, clearing your site data clears them too. Squirrel makes this obvious — there's a warning in the footer and a one-click backup button in the menu.

Premium users can connect a Vault folder on their computer, and Squirrel writes a backup automatically every time they save a bookmark. Point it at a OneDrive or Dropbox folder and you get cross-device access without any cloud account needed by the app itself.

Privacy shouldn't require a compromise

The tools we use to organise our digital lives shouldn't harvest data about us. A bookmark is a private note about what matters to you — and it should stay that way.

Squirrel is free to try. No account required. Your data never leaves your browser.