Can You Use Bookmarks in Tor Browser?

Yes, you can use bookmarks within the Tor Browser to easily save and organize your favorite onion services and standard clearnet websites. Because Tor Browser is built on Mozilla Firefox, it retains standard browser functionality, including the bookmarking system. While saving bookmarks does not compromise your network anonymity or reveal your identity to websites, it does save data locally to your device, making it important to understand how the feature works and the security implications involved.

How to Add and Manage Bookmarks

Saving and organizing pages in the Tor Browser is straightforward and mirrors the Firefox interface:

• Address Bar: Click the star icon on the right side of the address bar to bookmark the active tab instantly.
• Keyboard Shortcuts: Press Ctrl + D on Windows/Linux or Cmd + D on macOS to create a bookmark and choose its destination folder.
• Managing Saved Links: Press Ctrl + Shift + O on Windows/Linux or Cmd + Shift + O on macOS to open the Bookmarks Library. From here, you can create custom folders, edit URLs, and export or import bookmark lists.
• Bookmarks Toolbar: You can toggle the Bookmarks Toolbar on for quick access by right-clicking an empty space in the tab bar and selecting the toolbar option.

Privacy and Security Considerations

Using bookmarks in Tor Browser introduces specific privacy trade-offs related to local data storage rather than network security.

• Local Storage Persistence: By default, Tor Browser operates in private browsing mode, meaning it automatically erases your browsing history, cache, and cookies when the session closes. However, bookmarks are deliberately designed to persist across sessions. Anyone with physical access to your device or your user profile files can see which sites you have bookmarked.
• No Network Leakage: Bookmarking a site does not broadcast your actions to the Tor network, your Internet Service Provider (ISP), or the destination website. Traffic to and from bookmarked sites remains encrypted and routed through the standard three-hop Tor circuit.
• Default Bookmarks: Tor Browser includes pre-configured bookmarks for official resources, such as the Tor Project website and DuckDuckGo on Onion, ensuring users have safe starting points without typing complex addresses.

Best Practices for Sensitive Browsing

If you require high levels of operational security or plausible deniability, consider following these guidelines:

• Avoid Sensitive Bookmarks on Shared Devices: Do not bookmark sensitive onion links on hardware shared with other users or on work computers.
• Use Full Disk Encryption: If you save bookmarks, ensure your device’s drive is encrypted using tools like BitLocker, FileVault, or LUKS to prevent offline extraction.
• Use Amnesic Systems: If your threat model requires zero traces on physical hardware, run Tor Browser inside an amnesic live operating system like Tails. By default, Tails runs entirely in RAM and erases all data upon shutdown unless explicitly saved in an encrypted persistent volume.