Help

Getting started

WebDeck is a personal start page that keeps the sites you visit often in one place and opens the same list on any device. Before you sign in, the first screen shows a demo list, and that list isn't saved.

• Sign in with Google: Start with a single button. On desktop a pop-up window opens; on phones and tablets you're taken to the sign-in page and brought back afterwards.
• Sign up with email: Enter your email and a password and agree to the terms, and we'll send a verification email. Click the link in the email, then press I've verified my email in the sign-in window to finish. You can't use your list until you've verified.
• Your first list: A new account's list is empty. Start with the sites you visit most using Add your first shortcut or Add shortcut at the top right.

Once you sign in, your shortcuts, groups, and display settings are saved to your account and appear the same way when you sign in on another device.

Adding, editing, and deleting shortcuts

Adding

Press Add shortcut and choose a site address, a display name, and a group. You can leave out https://, as in example.com, and it's filled in automatically. If you add a shortcut while viewing a specific group at the top, that group is selected by default.

• Only http and https addresses can be used, and port numbers (for example example.com:8080) are supported.
• For your safety, addresses that include a username or password can't be saved.
• Addresses can be up to 2,048 characters and display names up to 100 characters.
• You can add up to 1,000 shortcuts per account.

Editing and deleting

Press the ··· button at the top right of a shortcut to open its menu. On devices with a mouse it appears when you hover over the shortcut, and on touch devices it's always shown.

• Edit name, address, or group: Fix the address or name, or move the shortcut to another group.
• Delete shortcut: After you confirm, it's removed from your list only. The actual site and your other shortcuts aren't affected.

Organizing with groups

When you have more shortcuts, split them into groups. Press a group button at the top of the screen to see only that group's shortcuts, or press All to see every shortcut at once. The group you were last viewing is remembered.

• Create, rename, and delete groups with the + button at the right end of the group buttons, or in Settings under Organize groups → Manage. You can have up to 50 groups, and names can be up to 50 characters.
• Uncategorized is the default group. It collects shortcuts that have no group or whose group was deleted. It can't be renamed or deleted, and it's always shown last.
• Deleting a group doesn't delete its shortcuts. They're moved to the end of Uncategorized.
• Use the ↑ ↓ buttons in the group window to change the order of groups. You can also drag the group buttons at the top.

Search and web search

The search box on the first screen finds your shortcuts and also works as a web search box. Search looks through the names of shortcuts in all groups, regardless of the selected group, and doesn't search site addresses. Results are shown in this order: names that match what you typed exactly, names that start with it, and names that contain it. Search isn't case-sensitive.

• When a shortcut matches: The shortcuts come first, followed by a web search tile (for example “Search Google”). You can reach the web search tile with the arrow keys.
• When no shortcut matches: Press Enter once to search right away with your chosen search engine.
• When you type an address: An address such as example.com or https://example.com isn't searched. Instead, an “Open” tile appears that goes straight to that site.
• In Settings you can choose Google, Naver, Bing, or DuckDuckGo as your search engine; the default is Google. Web search results follow your Open links setting (new tab or current tab).
• What you type isn't sent to our server or saved. It's only passed to your chosen search engine when you run a web search.

Lighter with the keyboard

You can do everything from searching to opening using only the keyboard, with no mouse.

While you're composing characters, as with Korean, the arrow keys and Enter are reserved for confirming the composition, so a site never opens by accident while you type.

Organizing by dragging

You can drag shortcuts and drop them where you want. In the All tab the order changes across groups, and in a group's tab it changes within that group. The overall order and each group's order are saved separately. A newly added shortcut goes to the end of the overall order.

• Drop a shortcut on a group button at the top to change the group it belongs to.
• You can also drag regular group buttons to reorder them. All is always first and Uncategorized is pinned last, and the add-group button sits at the right end after them.
• On phones and tablets, press and hold an icon or group button for a moment, then move it. If your device supports it, a vibration lets you know.
• Drag sorting is turned off while you have a search typed in. While offline, all sorting is locked.

Site icons

A shortcut's icon is found automatically from the site's favicon. When you add or edit a shortcut, its icon is fetched ahead of time, and an icon that has been loaded once is saved on this device so it shows right away on your next visit. Once a day, saved icons are checked again in the background while keeping the existing look.

If an icon can't be fetched from the site, the first letter of the name is shown on a colored tile. If a site changes its icon, the change shows up automatically after a little while, and a temporary lookup failure is retried shortly.

For sites that can't be looked up from outside, such as sites on an internal network, your browser loads the icon directly from the site. Your browser may ask for “local network access” permission, and the icon only shows once you allow it. If you aren't connected to that network, the first letter is shown instead, and the saved icon comes back once you reconnect. Sites served only over HTTP may not show an icon because of browser security rules.

Bookmark bar

Separately from shortcuts, you can keep bookmarks organized in nested folders, like browser bookmarks. Tap the small tab on the edge of the screen to open the bookmark bar, and click outside it or press Esc to close it.

At the top, bookmarks appear in a single row and folders open as drop-down menus. On the left or right, they appear as a folder tree. On narrow screens like phones, the bar opens as a side panel even when set to Top.

Right-click an item or use its ··· button to edit, delete, add a bookmark inside, or create a subfolder. Drag items to reorder them or drop them into another folder; hovering over a folder for a moment opens it. On phones, press and hold, then drag.

You can have up to 1,000 bookmarks and folders combined, nested up to 5 levels. Deleting a folder also deletes everything inside it. Use Import browser bookmarks in Settings to bring in an HTML file exported from Chrome, Edge, Safari, or Firefox with its folders.

On wide screens, use the pin button at the top of the bar to keep the bookmark bar open. While pinned, the bar stays open and the page moves aside to make room; press the pin again to unpin. Pinning is saved on this device only and isn't available on narrow screens like phones.

Tips for your browser's own bookmarks are in the guides How to organize your Chrome bookmarks and How to move bookmarks to another device or browser.

Display and behavior settings

Press the profile (or gear) button at the top right to go to Settings. Settings are saved to your account and apply on all your devices.

Before you sign in, you can preview the theme with the moon button at the top right. Once you sign in, the theme you choose is saved on all your devices.

Using it on multiple devices

Sign in with the same account to open the same list on your PC, phone, and tablet. Changes made on another device are checked and applied automatically when you return to the app or select the window again.

• If you edit on two devices at the same time, changes to different items are merged automatically. If you change the same item at the same time and they overlap, you'll be asked to check the latest value and edit again.
• When you sign out on one device, other tabs in the same browser are signed out too.

If your connection drops for a moment

The latest list confirmed with the server is saved on this device. Even if the internet goes down or the server can't be reached, you can still view and search the saved list.

• While there's no connection, changes such as adding, editing, deleting, and sorting are locked. This keeps your list from drifting out of sync with the server.
• Press Check again on the screen, or wait for the connection to return, and the server status is checked so you can make changes again.
• If the connection drops while saving and the result is unknown, you'll see “Can't confirm whether your changes were saved,” and the result is checked automatically once you're connected. You don't need to try the same change again.
• If you sign out or clear your browser storage, the copy saved on this device is removed. When you sign in again, your list is loaded from the server.

Backup and import

Export

Press Backup → Export in Settings to download a webdeck-date.json file containing the latest shortcuts, groups, order, and all settings saved on the server. Download one before you delete your account or switch devices.

Import

In Settings, choose a WebDeck backup file under Import backup → Choose file and a preview appears.

• Your existing list is left as it is, and only new items are merged in. Addresses that already exist are skipped as duplicates, and their current positions aren't changed.
• Groups in the backup (including empty ones), their order, and the saved settings are restored too. An older backup that doesn't include settings keeps your current settings.
• In the preview you can first check the number of links to import, duplicates skipped, invalid links, and links over the limit.
• Files up to 5 MB can be imported, and they're saved in batches of 50. If there are more than 50 groups, those links go into Uncategorized, and if there are more than 1,000 shortcuts, the excess is left out.
• If an import stops partway, import the same file again. Addresses already saved are skipped, so nothing is duplicated.
• Only JSON backups exported from WebDeck are supported. Browser bookmark files can't be imported.

Install it like an app

WebDeck supports PWAs. Use your browser's install button (the install icon in the address bar, or Install app in the menu), or Add to Home Screen in your phone's browser, to open it in its own window like an app. Menu names and locations vary by device and browser.

To have WebDeck open every time your browser starts, follow how to change your start page.

Managing your account

• Sign out: Find it in the account area at the bottom of Settings. It signs you out on this device only, and your saved shortcuts and settings are kept.
• If you forget your password: Email accounts can get a reset email from Forgot your password? in the sign-in window. For security, the same message is shown whether or not the email is registered, so please check your inbox and spam folder.
• Deleting your account: In Settings, press Delete my account and type DELETE as instructed. Your shortcuts, groups, settings, and sign-in account are deleted, and this can't be undone. Email accounts must enter their password once more to verify it's them. Check whether you need a backup before you delete.

You can find how personal data is collected, stored, and destroyed in the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Service.

When something goes wrong

The Google sign-in window doesn't open

Pop-ups may be blocked in your desktop browser. Click the pop-up blocked indicator in the address bar, allow pop-ups for WebDeck, and try again.

The verification email doesn't arrive

Check your spam folder first, then press Resend verification email in the sign-in window. After you click the link in the email, you must come back to the sign-in window and press I've verified my email.

The add and edit buttons can't be pressed

Changes are locked while there's no connection or while the server status is being checked. Press Check again in the message on the screen to check the connection. If it doesn't clear soon, your sign-in may have expired, so please sign in again.

I see “Changed on another device”

It means the item in the edit window you had open was changed on another device in the meantime. Close the window, check the latest content, and edit again.

Icons only show the first letter of the name

The site doesn't provide an icon, or it couldn't be fetched for now. It's retried shortly, and if it stays blank, the site itself has no icon.

I can't add more shortcuts

The limits are 1,000 shortcuts and 50 groups. Tidy up items you no longer use and try again.

Still have questions?

If you couldn't find an answer in Help, please contact us at webdeck@megawave.app. Telling us your device, your browser, and the message shown on the screen helps us assist you faster.