Larry Magid: Take control of your browser’s bookmarks

Ever since Mosaic, the first web browser introduced in 1993, browsers have included bookmarking features that let users quickly return to favorite sites. Today, bookmarks are even more important, especially on PCs and Macs, where the browser has become the most frequently used software. It serves as the gateway to email, news, entertainment, video calls, shopping, banking and even word processing, graphic design, tax preparation and much more. The browser is so essential that Google even offers devices called Chromebooks, where the Chrome browser is essentially the primary software most people run. That works because there are websites that let you do almost anything you can do with standalone software.

Browsers are less central on smartphones and tablets, where dedicated apps handle many of those tasks, but they are still used to visit sites and for functions where there isn’t a dedicated app or you simply prefer using the website instead of an app.

Organizing bookmarks on computers and phones

Bookmarks are easier to use and more versatile when organized. Keep the sites you use regularly front and center, and place less frequently visited pages into labeled folders, so they remain easy to access without cluttering your screen. Most browsers let you display a Bookmarks or Favorites bar just below the address bar or in a sidebar. In Chrome, Edge and Firefox, you can right-click on that bar to create folders, then drag the padlock or site’s icon from the address bar directly onto the bar or into the appropriate folder.

If you use Safari on a Mac, go to the site you want to save, click the Share button in the toolbar and choose Add Bookmark, then select where you would like it stored. You can also press Command-D to save the page instantly.

I keep folders labeled News, Money, AI and TV, which allows me to save dozens of sites without overwhelming the bookmarks bar.

You can manage bookmarks on your phone as well. In Chrome for iOS or Android, tap the three-dot menu and select Add to Bookmarks. In Safari on an iPhone, tap the share icon at the bottom of the screen and choose Add Bookmark.

A better way to bookmark

Although I have a robust set of bookmarks, I recently started using a free service called Start.me to create a custom web page with links to my frequently used sites. What I like about Start.me is that it displays my bookmarks as large icons on a full web page and makes it very easy to add, delete or organize them.

Once you set up a free account and go to Start.me, you can click the plus sign and start adding bookmarks to your page. You can also add widgets. The ones I use most are basic bookmark widgets, where you add individual bookmarks. Just like with my Favorites bar, I’ve created bookmark widgets for different categories or sites I visit. One of the things I like about Start.me is that you can set the size of the bookmarks within the widgets to small, medium or large, depending on how many you want in each section. The bookmarks have easy-to-identify icons (which you can customize), so I use large icons for sites I visit often and smaller ones for categories I visit less frequently. If you use Chrome or Edge, you can add an extension that lets you quickly bookmark any page without having to leave that page.

Works on all devices with browsers

Once you have an account, you can access your Start.me page from any browser on any device.

Once I got used to my Start.me page, I made it my home page for both Chrome and Edge on my PC and my Mac and iPhone and also configured my browser to open it by default when I start a new tab. Even though I still keep my browser’s Favorites bar, I mostly use Start.me when navigating the web.

In addition to the bookmark widgets, you can add specialized ones, including notes, a task list and whether in the ad-supported free version, or upgrade to the Pro version for $25 a year or $99 for lifetime access. The paid version removes ads and adds widgets such as Google Calendar, Google Tasks, a currency converter, an image gallery and more.

I recommend you start with the free version and then decide if you want to upgrade.

The free version of Start.me allows you to have up to 3 pages so you could, for example, have one for home, one for work and maybe one for one of your hobbies. The Pro version gives you an unlimited number of pages. Even though I upgraded to Pro, I only use one page just to make life simpler, but others might prefer having more than one.

As I said earlier, the basic favorites bar does a great job, but if you want a versatile and visually appealing option, Start.me is a good place to start.

Larry Magid is a tech journalist and internet safety activist. Contact him at larry@larrymagid.com.