Move · Raindrop.io
How to export Raindrop bookmarks and move them to Barside
In Raindrop.io, open Settings, then Backups, and create a backup. Download the CSV when the email arrives, then choose Raindrop in Barside's importer. Your bookmarks land in Reading with their tags and highlights.
Raindrop.io is a polished bookmark manager with collections, tags and highlights. It exports everything as a backup in HTML, CSV or text, and Barside imports the CSV into its Reading inbox on your computer. This guide covers the backup, the import, and how Barside's bookmarks and reading work afterwards.
Before you start
Barside is a free desktop app for Windows, Linux and Mac. It has two homes for links:
- Reading, a read-it-later inbox for articles, with readable copies, highlights and newsletters by email. Raindrop's CSV lands here.
- Bookmarks, a bookmark manager for your projects that keeps links beside the notes they belong to.
Raindrop runs on phones, browsers and the web with sync; Barside is a desktop app without a phone app.
Keep your Raindrop account while you try Barside. The backup is a copy, so nothing changes in Raindrop until you delete it yourself.
Step 1: Back up your Raindrop library
From Raindrop's help page, for your whole account:
- Open Settings → Backups.
- Choose Create new.
- Wait for the email, then download the backup from the same page.
Raindrop's backup comes in HTML, CSV and TXT. HTML "produces a Netscape Bookmarks file supported by all browsers", and TXT "is a plain list of URLs". For Barside's Reading, download the CSV.
To export one collection or a selection instead, open the collection in the web or desktop app, or select items, and choose Export with a format. Raindrop notes that its backup does not include uploaded files such as PDFs and images; for those, open All bookmarks in the web app and choose Export → ZIP.
Step 2: Import into Barside
- Open Settings & backups → Notes from other apps → Import next to Import notes, or type
importin the search bar. - Find Raindrop and choose Choose CSV.
- Pick the CSV backup.
- Barside shows Ready to import with the number of reading items and highlights.
- Choose Import. Bookmarks go to Reading.
Links you already saved in Barside are skipped, so a second import does not double them.
What comes along
| In Raindrop.io | In Barside |
|---|---|
| Bookmark address and title | A Reading item |
| Tags | Kept as tags |
| Highlights and their notes | Separate highlights on the item |
| Collections | Use tags or workspaces to group again |
| Uploaded files (PDF, images) | Not in the backup: export them separately |
| Article text | Choose Get article text to download it |
A list of links instead of articles
If your Raindrop library is mostly links to tools and sites, not articles to read, a note full of bookmarks may suit you better than Reading:
- Download Raindrop's HTML backup.
- In Barside's importer, choose Browser bookmarks and pick the HTML file.
- Barside makes one note with every link in the note's bookmark bar, grouped by folder.
See the browser bookmarks guide for details.
If something looks wrong
- Too many items in Reading. Raindrop libraries are often large. Archive what you do not plan to read; it stays searchable.
- A bookmark is not an article. Tools, shops and videos do not have article text to download. Keep them as links, or move them to a note with bookmarks.
- Missing PDFs. Uploaded files are not in Raindrop's backup; export them as a ZIP from Raindrop's web app.
Collections in Barside
Raindrop groups bookmarks in collections. In Barside, use what fits each collection:
- Articles to read stay in Reading, with the collection's name as a tag when you add one.
- Links for a project go to that project's workspace bookmark bar, beside its notes.
- Reference lists, such as tools or recipes, work well as a note with a bookmark bar or a table of links.
After the move
- Save web pages fully: Barside's save web pages keeps a page with its layout and images for offline reading.
- Highlight and search across everything you saved, and ask Library AI questions with the AI account you connect.
- Pin project links next to their notes with Barside's bookmarks.
See more options in the best read-it-later apps, or move another app with the Pocket guide.
FAQ
Questions and answers
Which Raindrop export should I use?
The CSV from Settings, then Backups. Raindrop says its backup includes all your bookmarks, collections, tags, highlights and notes. Barside reads the CSV.
Where do my Raindrop bookmarks go in Barside?
To the Reading inbox, as saved articles with their tags and highlights. For a plain list of links in a note, export Raindrop's HTML file instead and import it with Browser bookmarks.
Do highlights come along?
Yes. Raindrop keeps highlights in one cell of the CSV, and Barside splits them into separate highlights on the saved article, with their notes when there are any.
What about files I uploaded to Raindrop?
Raindrop says its backup does not include uploaded files such as PDFs and images. Download those from Raindrop's web app with Export, then ZIP, and add the ones you need to Barside notes.
Is anything uploaded?
No. Barside reads the CSV on your computer and keeps your library there.
Sources
Where the facts come from
Checked on October 2, 2026. Products change: if something here is out of date, tell us at support@barside.space.
Product names are trademarks of their owners. Barside is not affiliated with them.