Moving Your Library In and Out

Your library is yours to bring in and to take with you. Bindle reads exports from other read-later apps and browsers, writes its own exports in common formats, and can keep the whole library as plain files in a folder you choose.

Books are not part of imports, exports, or the mirror, so this book is not either.

Import Links

Where to Find It

Settings > Saving & Storage > Import and export > Import Links…, to pick a file.
Settings > Saving & Storage > Import and export > Paste Links, to import whatever text is on the clipboard.
Mac: File > Import Links… in the menu bar.

Bindle works out the format from the file itself, so you do not need to say what it is.

What Bindle Can Import

Source	What comes in
Browser bookmarks (HTML)	Bookmarks exported from Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers. Folders and tags become tags. Safari's Reading List comes in unread; other bookmarks come in read.
Pocket	Its CSV export. Tags come with the links. Archived links come in read and archived; the rest unread.
Instapaper	Its CSV export. Archive comes in read and archived, Starred comes in starred, and other folders become tags. Your selection becomes the note.
Raindrop.io	Its CSV export (or its HTML export, read as bookmarks). Folders and tags become tags, the note or excerpt becomes the note, and favorites are starred.
Omnivore	The ZIP file it exported, as it is. Labels become tags, archived links come in archived, and highlights come in as highlights. Deleted items are skipped.
GoodLinks	Its JSON export. Tags, stars, read state, and highlights come with the links, and the summary becomes the note.
Bindle JSON	An export from Bindle, or the `Bindle.json` backup from a mirror folder. Everything comes back as it was: state, tags, notes, highlights, reminders, collections, places, and Ask conversations.
Plain text	Any text with web links in it. Every link found comes in unread.

The Import Sheet

Before anything is saved, Bindle shows what the import will do:

Source and Format: the file and what Bindle found it to be.
Links found, New, Already saved, and Not a link: what it will add and skip.
"Save all for offline reading": also downloads every page in the import on this device, usually 0.5 to 2 MB each, and keeps the copies until you remove them. Downloads follow the offline reading settings (Wi-Fi only unless cellular is allowed).

Choose Import (the button shows how many new links) to go ahead, or Cancel. A large import shows its progress, "Importing" so many of so many. When it is done, the sheet reports New links, Already saved, Tags added, Collections added, and Skipped (not a link). Choose Done.

Things to know:

A link you already have keeps its state, and only gains tags it did not have.
The newest links from the source show first in your library.
New links sync to your other devices.
A very long title or note is cut short, and the note is marked "Cut short on import".

Export Links

Where to Find It

Settings > Saving & Storage > Import and export > Export Links…
Mac: File > Export Links… in the menu bar.

Choose a format, then where to save the file. Its name is "Bindle Links" followed by the date.

Format	What it is for
Bindle JSON (everything)	A complete copy: links with their state, tags, notes, highlights, reminders, collections, places, and Ask conversations. Bindle can import it back.
Bookmarks HTML (for browsers)	Import into a browser. Each link goes in a folder named for its first tag, with all its tags kept.
CSV (spreadsheets)	One row per link: address, title, note, tags, read, starred, archived, reminder, and dates.
Markdown (notes apps)	One file, grouped by first tag, with each link's title, address, marks such as starred or unread, tags, and note. Ask conversations come at the end.

Keep Your Library as Plain Files

The library mirror writes your whole library into a folder you choose, as ordinary files, and keeps them up to date as your library changes. Any text editor, notes app, or Obsidian vault can open them, with or without Bindle. If Bindle ever went away, your library would still be there.

Set It Up

Go to Settings > Library mirror and choose Choose Folder…, then pick a folder. Bindle starts writing at once.

Each device has its own mirror setting and its own folder. Nothing about the mirror syncs.

What Is Written

A Markdown file for each link, named by its title with a short code after it. It starts with the link's details (address, title, tags, dates, and whether it is read, starred, or archived), then the note, the highlights with their notes, and the article itself as Markdown.
The saved article as a web page, where this device has an offline copy. Its images go in a folder named _attachments.
Page snapshots as web pages, where this device keeps them and "Include page snapshots" is on. They open offline and never contact the site.
Saved PDFs and images beside their Markdown file, named like it ("Title (abc123).pdf"), where this device has the file. The Markdown links to it.
Archived links go in a folder named Archive.
Ask conversations go in a folder named Conversations, each source linked to its link's file.
A backup, Bindle.json: the whole library as a backup that Bindle can import.

When a link's title changes or it is archived, its files move to match.

Settings

Once a folder is chosen, the section shows:

Item	What it does
Folder	The folder's name.
Status	How many links are written and when, or the progress while writing. While the folder's drive is not mounted, it says "Waiting for (the drive's name) to mount. Mirror Now tries again."
"Include page snapshots"	Writes this device's snapshots into the folder, with each one's PDF and screenshot when it has them, named like the link's Markdown file ("Title (abc123).pdf" and "Title (abc123).screenshot.jpg"). On by default. Snapshots can be large, so you can leave them out.
"Only While Charging"	Waits to update the folder until this device is plugged in. On by default. While it waits, the section says "Waiting for the charger".
Take Over This Folder	Shown when another device writes the folder. Makes this device write it again.
Mirror Now	Writes everything again now, even while waiting for the charger. It says "Writing…" until it's done, then a note says "Mirror updated" with the folder and how many links it holds. While the folder's drive is not mounted, it looks for the drive again, and a note says it is still waiting if the drive is not there.
Choose Another Folder…	Moves the mirror to a different folder.
Stop Mirroring	Stops writing, after you confirm. The files already there stay where they are.

Things to Know

One way. Changes go from Bindle to the folder, never back. Editing a file there does not change your library.
Your edits are kept. A file you edited by hand is never overwritten. Bindle moves it into .bindle/replaced first, in a folder named for the day.
One device per folder. If you pick a folder another device writes, Bindle asks whether to take it over. If you choose Take Over, the other device stops writing it and offers to take it back.
A folder on a network drive waits for it. If the drive is asleep, disconnected, or not mounted, the mirror stops and the section says "Waiting for (the drive's name) to mount." That is not an error: nothing is written until the drive is back, and your library is untouched. Mirror Now looks for the drive again. Mac: On the Mac, mirroring picks up on its own as soon as the drive mounts.
iPhone and iPad: On iPhone and iPad, the folder is written while Bindle is open, and catches up when you come back.
Mac: On the Mac, the folder is written whenever Bindle is running.