If a bookmarking app shuts down, you may lose access to its website, sync, and export tools—and the company may eventually delete account data. Your best protection is to export your links while you still can, save that export somewhere you control, and check what it actually contains. A bookmark export is usually a list of links, not a copy of every page those links point to.
What can happen when a bookmarking service closes?
A shutdown can happen in stages: the app may stop accepting new activity, then its website, mobile apps, browser extensions, sync, API, or export tools may become unavailable. The service may also set a separate deadline for deleting stored data. Those dates are not necessarily the same, so check the provider’s announcement for the last day to export and the date account data will be removed.
Pocket is a concrete example, not a timetable for every service. Mozilla announced that Pocket would shut down on July 8, 2025, and said users could export saves until October 8, 2025, after which data would be permanently deleted. Pocket API read/write access also ended on October 8, 2025. Those deadlines have passed; Mozilla’s announcement does not establish that Pocket’s official export is available now. Mozilla’s current Pocket page says the phase-out covered Pocket Web, Android, iOS, and macOS apps and browser extensions, and that Mozilla acquired Pocket in 2017. Mozilla’s Pocket update and its current Pocket page provide the service-specific details.
What survives—and what may not?
An export you already saved
A downloaded file stored on your computer or another location you control is not dependent on the app remaining online. Its usefulness depends on the format and the information it includes. Keep a second copy on separate storage if the links matter to you.
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The pages behind your links
A bookmark preserves a destination URL; it does not necessarily preserve the destination page. If a site removes or moves a page, the saved link can stop working. Mozilla describes Firefox’s HTML bookmarks export as a file for importing bookmarks into another browser or device, not as a universal full-page archive. Raindrop.io likewise documents HTML and CSV backups as bookmark-data formats. The reviewed documentation does not promise that either type preserves every linked page’s full text or offline copy.
Notes, tags, and attachments
App-specific information may not transfer completely even when a service offers an export. Check whether the export includes notes, tags, highlights, saved-page content, and attachments. Raindrop.io, for example, says its backups do not include files uploaded from a device, such as images, videos, and documents. Its backup documentation explains that limitation.
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How to protect your links before access ends
- Find the export or backup controls. Open the app’s account, settings, or data-management area while you can still sign in. If closure has been announced, note the exact export deadline and any separate data-deletion date.
- Choose a portable format. HTML is commonly intended for importing bookmarks into a browser; CSV can be opened or processed in spreadsheet software. For Firefox, Mozilla distinguishes an in-browser JSON/JSONLZ4 backup used to restore Firefox bookmarks from an HTML export intended for transfer to another browser or computer. Its support instructions say you can choose where to save the HTML file: Firefox bookmark export instructions.
- Save the file outside the service. Keep a local copy and consider a second copy on separate storage. An offline copy, such as one on a USB flash drive, is optional; the essential step is having the export file somewhere the app cannot revoke access to.
- Check that the export works. Open the file and confirm it contains the expected links. If moving to another service, test-import a small sample before relying on a full migration.
- Look for omitted data. Review the provider’s explanation of what is and is not included, especially uploaded files and app-specific details. Do not assume an export captures offline page content.
How to compare replacement options
Browser bookmarks and hosted bookmark managers can both be useful, but portability and backup scope vary by product. Compare the documented details rather than assuming that a current feature guarantees future access.
| What to compare | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Export formats and import compatibility | Check whether you can save data in a format another browser or service accepts. Firefox documents HTML for transfer and JSON/JSONLZ4 for restoring bookmarks in Firefox; see Mozilla Support. |
| Metadata and attachments | Find out whether notes, tags, highlights, and uploaded files are included. Raindrop.io says device-uploaded files are excluded from its backups; see its backup documentation. |
| Links versus saved page copies | Determine whether the service stores only URLs or also offers copies of page content. Do not treat a bookmark export as proof that original pages are archived. |
| Backup cadence and location | Check how often backups are made, how many are retained, and whether you can access a copy outside your account. Raindrop.io says Pro accounts receive daily backups on days when data changes, retain up to 30 backups, and overwrite older ones; see its backup documentation. |
| Plan requirements | Check which portability, backup, or search features require a paid plan, and whether those features meet your needs. Raindrop.io’s current FAQ describes free use and says Pro includes permanent copies of bookmarks, cloud backup, and full-text search; those are the provider’s current plan descriptions, not a guarantee of future availability. See Raindrop.io’s FAQ. |
Raindrop.io documents HTML backups for transfer to a browser or another bookmarking service and CSV backups for use in Microsoft Office or Google Sheets; both formats can be imported back into Raindrop. Its backup guide and import guide describe those uses. No general ranking follows from these examples: choose based on the export scope and recovery options you need.
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