LinkSweep

Tired of clicking on Safari bookmarks that lead to dead pages, 404 errors, or duplicates you saved months ago? LinkSweep is a powerful, privacy-focused utility designed to reclaim your bookmark library, making it clean, fast, and useful again. All processing is done securely on your Mac—your data is never uploaded or shared.

[Benefit] Never Click a Dead Link Again
LinkSweep acts as your personal bookmark janitor. It meticulously checks every single one of your bookmarks to see if it's a valid, working link.

• Powerful URL Validation: Automatically crawls your library to find and isolate broken links, including permanent "404 Not Found" and "410 Gone" errors, as well as temporary server issues like "500 Internal Server Errors" or "503 Service Unavailable."

[Benefit] Instantly Find and Eliminate Clutter
A clean bookmark library is a useful one. LinkSweep provides smart, organized views to help you quickly identify and remove digital clutter.

• Duplicate Detection: Scans your entire library for bookmarks with identical URLs and groups them together, giving you a simple "Keep One, Delete Rest" option to resolve them in seconds.

• Empty Folder Finder: Automatically locates and lists all folders that contain no bookmarks, allowing you to delete them in a single click.

[Benefit] Intelligently Handle Special Cases
Not every "error" is a true failure. LinkSweep is smart enough to distinguish between a genuinely broken link and one that just needs a second look.

• "Requires Review" Category: Automatically isolates links that may be valid but failed the automated check due to server security (like Twitter/X links) or being on a private network. This prevents you from deleting good links by mistake.

• Persistent Exceptions: Mark any link as an "Exception" with one click. LinkSweep will remember your choice and permanently exclude it from future validation scans—perfect for private servers or links behind a login.

[Benefit] Organize with Speed and Ease
Managing your folders shouldn't be a chore. LinkSweep provides intuitive tools to restructure and organize your library exactly how you want it.

• Drag & Drop Bookmarks: Effortlessly move bookmarks from any list and drop them directly onto a new folder in the navigation tree.

• Simple Folder Renaming: Quickly rename any folder with a simple right-click context menu.

[Benefit] Work with Confidence and Peace of Mind
Your bookmarks are important. LinkSweep includes robust safety features to ensure you're always in control.

• Undo Last Action & Undo All: Made a mistake? Instantly undo your last move or deletion. You can even revert all changes back to the state they were in when you last imported or validated.

• Automated & Manual Backups: The app automatically creates a complete snapshot of your library on import and after validation. You can also create manual backups at any time and restore from them whenever you need to.

• Safe Saving: LinkSweep gives you the choice to safely overwrite your original Bookmarks.plist file or use "Save As..." to create a new, clean copy without touching your original data.

LinkSweep Support

Welcome to the official support page for LinkSweep. Here you can find answers to frequently asked questions and learn how to get the most out of the app.

Getting Started: Finding Your Safari Bookmarks File

To begin using LinkSweep, you need to import your Bookmarks.plist file. This file is stored in a hidden folder on your Mac.

The App will attempt to open the correct folder for you automatically when you select File > Import Bookmarks...

If you need to find it manually, the typical location is:

/Users/YourUsername/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist

(Remember to replace "YourUsername" with your actual Mac username. You can access the hidden Library folder by opening Finder, clicking the "Go" menu, and holding down the Option (⌥) key.)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What does the "Validate" function do?

Validation is the core feature of LinkSweep. It checks every single one of your bookmarks by sending an automated request to the URL. This process identifies:

• Hard Failures: Links that are definitively broken (e.g., "Error - Host Not Found," "Error - SSL") or permanently gone ("Error - HTTP 410"). These are moved to the Failuresscreen.

• Issues Requiring Review: Links that might be valid but failed the automated check. This includes pages that block simple scripts ("Valid (Server Block)") or are on a private network. These are kept in their original folders but marked with an orange dot for your review.

2. Why do some links fail validation but still work in my browser?

This is usually a security measure. Many large websites (like X.com/Twitter) can detect simple, automated requests (like our validator) and will block them with a generic error (e.g., "HTTP 400"). A full web browser sends much more information, so the server lets it through. This is why these links are placed in the Review category instead of being marked as failures.

3. What's the difference between the "Failures" and "Review" categories?

• Failures (Red): These are links that are almost certainly dead or broken. We have very high confidence that these bookmarks can be safely deleted.

• Review (Orange): These are links that could not be automatically confirmed. They are often perfectly fine but may require you to open them in a browser to verify. This category prevents you from accidentally deleting good links that are just protected by server security.

4. What is an "Exception"?

An Exception is a bookmark you want to protect from the validation process entirely. If you mark a link as an Exception, LinkSweep will remember your choice and will not check it during future validations. This is perfect for links to private servers, work intranets, or any other link you know is valid but may not be publicly accessible.

5. What is the difference between "Save" and "Save Bookmarks As..."?

• Save (Cmd+S): This action will overwrite your original Bookmarks.plist file with all the changes you have made in the app. Use this when you are confident in your changes.

• Save Bookmarks As... (Shift+Cmd+S): This allows you to save a new, clean copy of your bookmarks to a different location, leaving your original file untouched. This is the safest option if you want to preserve your original file.

6. What do the backups do?

The App automatically creates a complete snapshot of your library every time you import a file or complete a validation. This allows you to easily restore your entire bookmark collection to a previous state if you make a mistake, using the Backups > Restore from Backup... menu option.

Contact Us

If your question isn't answered here or you've found a bug, we'd love to hear from you. Please email us directly at:

info@sycis.com

Additional Information

• Privacy Policy

• Terms and Conditions