Refto

Save to Refto from your browser

Save to Refto puts pictures, videos, links, text, whole pages and screenshots into your Refto library with a right click, a shortcut or a drag. It talks only to Refto on this Mac.

Chrome, Edge, Arc, Brave

Version 0.8.3

Download the extension (.zip)Get Refto first
Size
388 KB
SHA-256
09100a68c2546f67ad6e1f49508add604e9ac46e7ce9a161942c3e2e9b878b7f

The extension is not in the Chrome Web Store yet: you add it yourself in developer mode, as below. It takes a minute.

Safari: nothing to download. The extension comes inside Refto; you only turn it on. See Safari below.

The extension's popup: Region, What shows, Whole page, Save page and Save as bookmark.

Save without leaving the page

Everything goes into the Refto library that is open, with the page it came from.

Region screenshot on a moodboard page: a frame with handles round a poster, its size above it, and Cancel and Save to Refto.

Screenshot a region

Press ⌥⇧A or pick Region in the popup, drag a frame round what you want and press Return.

More in the guide
The drop zone at the window's edge while a picture is dragged: Save to Refto, the folders used lately and Choose a folder.

Drag to save

Drag a picture, a link or text and a drop zone slides in at the window's edge: drop it on Save to Refto or on a folder used lately.

More in the guide

Add it to a Chromium browser

Two ways to get the same extension. Exporting it from Refto gives the version that goes with your Refto.

Export it from Refto

Recommended
  1. 01Install and open Refto (download).
  2. 02In Refto, open Settings → Browser extension and click Export the extension. Refto writes a chrome folder in its data folder and shows it in Finder.
  3. 03In the browser, open the extensions page (addresses below) and turn on Developer mode.
  4. 04Click Load unpacked and choose the chrome folder.

Or use the download

  1. 01Download the zip above and double-click it in Finder.
  2. 02Move the refto-extension-chrome-0.8.3 folder somewhere it can stay, for example your Documents folder. The browser keeps loading it from there: do not delete it.
  3. 03In the browser, open the extensions page and turn on Developer mode.
  4. 04Click Load unpacked and choose that folder.

The extensions page

Chrome
chrome://extensions
Edge
edge://extensions
Arc
chrome://extensions
Brave
brave://extensions

Paste the address into the address bar. Developer mode is a switch at the top right (in Edge, in the left column).

Then click the puzzle piece in the toolbar and pin Save to Refto, so its icon is always at hand.

Nothing to paste

  • 01

    Keep Refto running

    The extension finds Refto on this Mac by itself and pairs with it. Refto lists it under Settings → Browser extension → Connected browsers.

  • 02

    Read the welcome

    The extension's options open once after you add it, with a short note on what it can do. The toolbar icon is grey whenever Refto is not running.

  • 03

    Save something

    Right click a picture and choose Save image to Refto. If Refto is closed, the extension opens it first: when the browser asks whether to open Refto, choose Open.

Turn it on in Safari

Refto carries the Safari extension inside the app, so it is already on your Mac. Safari 16.4 or later; whole-page screenshots need Safari 17.

  • 01

    Open Refto once

    Installing and opening Refto lets Safari list its extension.

  • 02

    Go to Safari's settings

    In Refto, Settings → Browser extension → Safari extension → Open in Safari's settings takes you to it. Or open Safari → Settings → Extensions yourself.

  • 03

    Turn it on

    Tick Save to Refto to turn it on.

  • 04

    Let it reach Refto and your sites

    Allow it on 127.0.0.1 (where Refto listens on this Mac) and on the websites you save from, or on every website. It pairs with Refto by itself, as in Chrome.

In Safari, use the context menu and the toolbar popup: keyboard shortcuts for extensions are limited there.

Keep it up to date

  • Exported from Refto: when Refto holds a newer extension, Settings → Browser extension says so. Export it again (the same folder is replaced), then click reload on the extension's card in the extensions page.
  • From the download: replace the folder's files with the new zip's, then click reload. Your settings and the connection to Refto stay.
  • Safari: updates with Refto. Nothing to do.

Why it asks for every website

When you add it, the browser warns that the extension can read and change data on all websites. It needs that for the drop zone, ⌥ + right click and its buttons on sites like X and Pinterest, which run inside pages, for screenshots of any tab, and to fetch pictures with your browser's cookies so that protected originals save too.

It sends nothing anywhere but to Refto at 127.0.0.1 on your Mac, and only when you save. To keep it away from a site, add the site to Not on these sites in its options.

Next: how to use it

Right click, screenshots, drag to save, batch saving, X, Pinterest and GitHub, settings and shortcuts.

Read the guide