Neat Bookmarks falls into the last category. The Chrome extension adds an icon to the address bar of the browser which offers direct access to all bookmarks stored in the web browser.

A click on the icon displays a bookmark tree menu and a search form on top. The search works in realtime and displays matching bookmarks only in the tree menu.

neat bookmarks, tree bookmarks menu

Bookmarks can be loaded like any other link in the browser. A left-click opens the selected bookmark in the active tab, a middle-click in a new tab. A right-click displays a context menu with the same options, plus options to load the bookmark in an incognito window (private browsing), and to edit or delete it. A double-click on a folder opens all bookmarks of that folder in new tabs.

Neat Bookmarks remembers the last search term and position in the bookmark’s menu. A click on the icon displays the last state, even after restarts of the web browser.

The extension supports several keyboard shortcuts to quickly navigate in the bookmarks tree. It is for instance possible to quickly jump to a bookmark by entering the first letters of it in rapid succession. The cursor keys on the keyboard can be used to navigate the bookmark tree menu as well.

The extension has five options:

• Popup stays open when opening (left-clicking) bookmarks
• Middle-click or control-click opens bookmarks in new background tab (instead of foreground)
• Close unused folders when opening a folder
• Display confirmation when opening a lot of bookmarks from a folder
• Remember previous state (scroll position and opened folders)

Neat Bookmarks has several advantages over other accessibility options. It only uses a small icon in the Chrome bar, offers a sophisticated search and remembers the last used bookmarks location.

The Bookmark Sentry extension adds the option to scan the bookmarks in the Chrome web browser either automatically or manually. The default scan interval has been set to 30 days which means that the extension will automatically check the bookmarks stored in the Internet browser every 30 days.

This scan interval can be configured in the extension’s options. Manual scans can be performed in the extension’s options as well. The extension will check every bookmark and display a progress bar and the number of problematic bookmarks,

The scan takes some time depending on the amount of bookmarks stored in the Chrome browser and the Internet connection speed of the computer system.

A new screen with statistics is displayed once the scan of all bookmarks finishes. It displays all bookmarks with errors and separates them into not found and connection errors categories.

The bookmarks are listed with their title and url. A click on a bookmark opens that page in the web browser for a manual check. The X at the end of each row can be used to delete the bookmark from the bookmark database.

Bookmark Sentry is a useful extension for the Google Chrome web browser that can regularly and automatically verify bookmarks.

Update: The developer has pulled the extension from the official Chrome Web Store. There is no extension alternative available. Chrome users looking for an alternative beyond, can download and run the AM-Deadlink software, a bookmarks checker for the Windows operating system that is supporting the browser.

Lee over at the Download Squad found a great switch for the Google Chrome browser to add a bookmark button to the Google Chrome address bar. This might be interesting for Google Chrome users who want to access their bookmarks quickly but prefer to have additional screen estate by removing the bookmarks toolbar.

The bookmarks button can be enabled by launching the Google browser with the parameter –bookmark-menu. This apparently only works in the Windows version of Google Chrome but there in Google Chrome 2, 3 and 4. A new bookmark button is displayed after launching the Google browser with the parameter that provides access to all bookmarks that have been created or imported into the web browser.

The bookmarks bar can then be disabled by right-clicking it and left-clicking the entry Always show bookmarks bar. It will still be displayed when opening a new tab but it will be hidden when a website is opened. Users who want to launch the Google browser with several switches can do so by adding a space between the switches. The easiest way to launch Google Chrome with switches is to press Windows R to open the run box and to enter chrome –switch1 –switch2 –switch3 in the run box which will launch the Chrome browser with the parameters switch1, switch2 and switch 3. via Download Squad.