Features

Why Hookmark?

Hookmark is not “just” a bookmarking app. It is a system-wide linking, bookmarking, and context-navigation tool for macOS, designed for people who work with large amounts of information across many apps.

Hookmark lets you:

  • Link directly to files, emails, tasks, notes, PDFs, web pages, and more
  • Hook related items together bidirectionally, across apps
  • Instantly return to the exact context you were in—without searching
  • Accumulate a growing, navigable web of connections as a natural by-product of your work

That is why this page is long.

Hookmark doesn’t do one clever thing. It does a ton of things—all in service of helping you stay oriented, reduce friction, and keep context attached to your work.

Hookmark’s context-sensitive window enables you to get more out of all your favorite linkable apps by letting you copy, create, connect, and revisit links to real work items—across apps.

Whether you are in Finder, Mail, Safari, Apple Notes, Photos, DEVONthink, or any other link-friendly app, just invoke Hookmark’s popup window to copy links to the current item, or act on it in powerful new ways. See all your bookmarks (across apps) in one place.

The sections below describe Hookmark’s major features in detail. Many are unique to Hookmark; others are implemented in ways that make them far more robust, shareable, and interoperable than conventional alternatives.

Copy and open links to information in any linkable app

This is Hookmark’s core capability: linking real items across apps and jumping back to them instantly.

  • Copy links to almost anything from any linkable app: web pages, files, emails, tasks, notes, Apple Photos items, and many other data types.
  • Hook items together. After copying a link, you can bidirectionally link it to the current item using Hook to Copied Link.
  • Open hooked links. Hookmark’s context window lists everything linked to the current item; press Return or double-click to open.
  • Navigate hooks recursively with arrow keys or clicks—Hookmark doubles as a lightweight link browser.
  • Hook to New — create a new item in the app of your choice, name it, optionally tag it, and hook it to the current item. Ideal for linked notes and project scaffolding. 🟡 Pro feature

Clean My Links™

Automatically removes tracking cruft so your links stay clean, readable, and durable.

  • Cleans web links across browsers without requiring an extension.
  • Updates cruft-removal rules automatically, without restarting.
  • Create and edit your own cleaning rules. 🟡 Pro feature
  • See the Clean My Links help page

Adaptive links to files

File links that survive renames, moves, cloud sync, and version control.

  • Copy a link to a Finder file, move or rename it, and the link still works.
  • Works with locally synced cloud storage such as iCloud and Dropbox.
  • Works with version-controlled files (Git, Subversion), even across re-checkouts.
  • Create .hook files—plain-text, editable link files that can point to anything. 🟡 Pro feature

Links to emails

Link directly to specific email messages and escape your inbox.

  • Copy links to emails and paste them into tasks, notes, or project documents.
  • Helps you focus on relevant messages without staying inside your inbox.
  • Works with Apple Mail, Airmail, MailMate, Mimestream, Missive, Mailplane, Postbox, and Spark.

Paste app links that work in web apps

Make custom app links usable in web-based tools.

These wrap custom links in `https://hookmark.net` URLs that web apps accept. Clicking them recreates the original app link locally.

Paste well-formatted links into Apple Mail

Work around Apple Mail’s tendency to strip link titles.

Deep PDF links to specific locations in a PDF file, and more

Return to the exact passage you were reading.

  • Create deep links to text selections inside PDFs.
  • Links reopen the PDF at the precise location.
  • Links are robust and shareable.
  • Also supports deep links to specific locations in QuickTime videos.

Read more

More new forms of linking

Effortless bookmarking

The world’s first truly universal automatic bookmarking system.

  • Bookmark anything—not just web pages.
  • Bookmarks are created automatically as you work.
  • Add bookmarks manually (⌘D).
  • Search bookmarks instantly with ⌥⌘F.

Bookmarks window

Resume work instantly, without re-orienting.

  • Views: Pinned, All, Recent, Tags
  • Pin and tag bookmarks for projects and focus areas.

Integrates with other bookmarking software

  • Integrates with DEVONthink, Pinboard, GoodLinks, Instapaper, and Linkding.
  • Automatically add bookmarks to those systems.

Hook to New PDF

Create a PDF, store it, hook it, tag it, bookmark it, and open it—in one command.

  • Saves the PDF to a configured location
  • Hooks the PDF to the source webpage
  • Tags and bookmarks both
  • Opens the PDF automatically

🟡 Pro feature

Share the previously unshareable

  • Share links to emails
  • Share links to files
  • Share Spotlight search links

Recipients land directly in the right context.

Markdown innovation

  • Universal Copy Markdown Link for anything
  • Embed resilient file links in Markdown
  • .hook files can contain Markdown links

🟡 Some features require Pro

Automation

🟡 Some features require Pro

Customize and automatically update software integrations

Reveal current file in Finder

Instantly reveal the current file in Finder using ⌘R.

Works with information managers, search tools, and launchers

  • Personal information managers (DEVONthink, Keep It, Evernote, etc.)
  • Search tools like HoudahSpot
  • Launchers such as LaunchBar, Alfred and Raycast

Keyboard-friendly

Every command is accessible via the keyboard, including configurable global shortcuts.

Sync with other Macs, iPhone and iPad

Open, interoperable

Hookmark champions interoperability and inter-app communication.

Learn more

More features

In sum

Hookmark is a power tool for people who work with complex, interrelated information.

Its unusually rich feature set reflects over two decades of R&D on cognitive productivity, linking, and context preservation on the Mac.

If your work involves depth, continuity, or complexity, Hookmark helps you stay oriented—and stay in flow.

Download a free trial