How to Migrate from Pinboard to Marqly
Pinboard is renowned for its minimalism and tag-centric design. Here is how to export your entire bookmark collection, preserve your tags, and unlock modern search, web highlighting, and AI summaries in Marqly.
What transfers from Pinboard to Marqly
| Data | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bookmark URLs | Preserved | Direct transfer without alteration |
| Titles & Page Names | Preserved | HTML entities decoded |
| Tags | Preserved | Pinboard tags become searchable Marqly tags |
| Extended Notes | Preserved | Stored as bookmark descriptions |
| To-Read Status | Flat Library | Imported into your primary library with tags |
Step-by-step migration guide
Export your Pinboard bookmarks to HTML
Log in to your account at pinboard.in. Click "settings" in the upper right navigation, select the "backup" tab, and click "HTML" to download your full bookmark export.
Inspect your export file
You can verify link count and formatting with our free Bookmark File Viewer. No data leaves your machine.
Upload to Marqly
Sign in to Marqly at app.marqly.com. In Settings → Import Bookmarks, select standard bookmark HTML and upload your file. Your tags and links populate immediately.
Move your Pinboard library to Marqly
Free plan: 100 bookmarks and search over your whole library. Pro adds semantic search and AI summaries.
What transfers — fidelity matrix
Every row below was read out of the importer Marqly actually runs in production, plus fixture runs of each export format. Where something is lost, we say so — the point is an import you do not have to redo.
Accepted input: HTML bookmark export or JSON export (Settings → Backup)
| Field | Outcome | What it means for your library |
|---|---|---|
| URL | Supported | Verbatim — query strings (including signed or tracking parameters) and fragments are preserved; nothing is normalized away. |
| Title | Supported | With HTML entities decoded (& → &). |
| Tags | Supported | Pinboard tags in TAGS attribute import cleanly into Marqly tags, preserving your taxonomy. |
| Descriptions / extended notes | Partial | Imported as the bookmark description. The current importer can pair a <DD> note with the following item and drops a folder’s very first note — open the first saves of each folder after importing and re-paste if a note landed wrong. |
| Folders | Not supported | Pinboard has a flat tag-based architecture without folders; items import into your primary Marqly board. |
| Private / toread status | Not supported | Pinboard’s private and toread flags are not preserved as separate statuses; items import as standard bookmarks. |
| Saved date | Not supported | The export carries it (ADD_DATE/created) and the parser reads it, but the import stores items with the import date. Sort by “recently added” after a big import with that in mind. |
| Duplicates | Not supported | Import writes every row; no dedup pass runs. Check the export first with the free duplicate finder, or clean up in Marqly after import. |
- URL
- Supported
- Verbatim — query strings (including signed or tracking parameters) and fragments are preserved; nothing is normalized away.
- Title
- Supported
- With HTML entities decoded (& → &).
- Tags
- Supported
- Pinboard tags in TAGS attribute import cleanly into Marqly tags, preserving your taxonomy.
- Descriptions / extended notes
- Partial
- Imported as the bookmark description. The current importer can pair a <DD> note with the following item and drops a folder’s very first note — open the first saves of each folder after importing and re-paste if a note landed wrong.
- Folders
- Not supported
- Pinboard has a flat tag-based architecture without folders; items import into your primary Marqly board.
- Private / toread status
- Not supported
- Pinboard’s private and toread flags are not preserved as separate statuses; items import as standard bookmarks.
- Saved date
- Not supported
- The export carries it (ADD_DATE/created) and the parser reads it, but the import stores items with the import date. Sort by “recently added” after a big import with that in mind.
- Duplicates
- Not supported
- Import writes every row; no dedup pass runs. Check the export first with the free duplicate finder, or clean up in Marqly after import.
parser code vs Pinboard Netscape bookmark export and JSON schema · checked 2026-11-10 against Marqly’s deployed importer. Preview any export file before uploading it with the bookmark file viewer; clean repeats first with the duplicate finder.
Frequently asked questions about Pinboard migration
Do Pinboard tags transfer to Marqly?
Yes. Marqly’s importer parses the standard Netscape bookmark HTML TAGS attribute and transfers Pinboard tags directly into searchable Marqly tags.
What happens to Pinboard extended notes and descriptions?
Extended notes written on Pinboard bookmarks transfer as bookmark descriptions, making them immediately visible in Marqly’s board view.
Are Pinboard private bookmarks preserved as private?
All bookmarks imported into your Marqly account are private to you by default. Marqly boards are completely private unless you explicitly choose to publish a shareable link.
Does Pinboard unread (to-read) status transfer?
Pinboard’s to-read flag is not preserved as a separate queue status during Netscape HTML import. Imported items appear in your library with all original tags intact.
Is Marqly free for Pinboard users?
Yes. Marqly offers a free plan with up to 100 bookmarks and search across your library with no credit card required. Pro offers unlimited bookmarks, AI auto-tagging, and semantic search.
