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Title: Self-hosted web browser bookmarks syncing |
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Author: Solène |
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Date: 02 November 2024 |
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Tags: security network |
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Description: In this guide, you will learn how to use Floccus to |
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synchronize your bookmarks |
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# Introduction |
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This blog post is about Floccus, a self-hosting web browser bookmarks |
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and tabs syncing software. |
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What is cool with Floccus is that it works on major web browsers |
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(Chromium, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Brave, Vivaldi and |
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Microsoft Edge), allowing sharing bookmarks/tabs without depending on |
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the web browser integrated feature, but it also supports multiple |
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backends and also allow the sync file to be encrypted. |
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Floccus official project website |
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The project is actively developed and maintained. |
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Floccus GitHub repository |
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If you want to share a bookmark folder with other people (relatives, a |
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team at work), do not forget to make a dedicated account on the backend |
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as the credentials will be shared. |
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# Features |
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* can sync bookmarks or tabs |
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* sync over WebDAV, Nextcloud, git, linkwarden and Google Drive |
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* (optional) encrypted file on the shared storage with WebDAV and |
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Google Drive backends |
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* (optional) security to not sync if more than 50% of the bookmarks |
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changed |
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* can sync a single bookmark directory |
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* sync one-way or two-ways |
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* non HTTP URLs can be saved when using WebDAV or Google Drive backends |
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(ftp:, javascript, data:, chrome:) |
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* getting rid of Floccus is easy, it has an export feature, but you can |
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also export your bookmarks |
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# Setup |
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There is not much to setup, but the process looks like this: |
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1. install the web browser extension (it is published on Chrome, |
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Mozilla and Edge stores) |
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2. click on the Floccus icon and click on "Add a profile" |
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3. choose the backend |
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4. type credentials for the backend |
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5. configure the sync options you want |
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6. enjoy! |
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After you are done, repeat the process on another web browser if you |
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want to enable sync, otherwise Floccus will "only" serve as a bookmark |
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backup solution. |
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# Conclusion |
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It is the first bookmark sync solution I am happy with, it just works, |
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supports end-to-end encryption, and does not force you to use the same |
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web browser across all your devices. |
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Before this, I tried integrated web browser sync solutions, but |
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self-hosting them was not always possible (or a terrible experience). |
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I gave a try to "bookmark managers" (linkding, buku, shiori), but |
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whether in command line or with a web UI, I did not really like it as I |
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found it rather impractical for daily use. I just wanted to have my |
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bookmarks stored in the browser, and be able to easily search/open |
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them. Floccus does the job. |
