Neat Bookmarks For Chrome, Search And Access Bookmarks Faster
If you want to have direct access to bookmarks in the Google Chrome browser, you either need to display the bookmarks toolbar, use the tools menu or install an extension that offers direct access to the bookmarks stored in the web browser.
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.
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.
Update: Neat Bookmarks has been removed from the Chrome Web Store by the author. An alternative is the Bookmark's Menu extension which offers a similar functionality.
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One thing I also like about this extension is that a middle-click on a folder only opens bookmarks directly in that folder – i.e. not bookmarks in subfolders. I find this to be tremendously useful, and I wish I could emulate this behaviour in the bookmarks bar.