Cascade Bookmark & Backup Manager: Complete Step-by-Step Tutorial

Welcome to the complete guide for the Cascade Bookmark and Backup Manager. This tutorial covers everything from initial installation to advanced features like local file linking, custom tile types, and automated backups.

1. Installation & Launch

1. Open your browser and navigate to the Chrome Web Store page for Cascade.

2. Click Add to Chrome in the top right.

3. In the confirmation pop-up, click Add extension.

4. Once installed, click the Cascade icon in your Chrome toolbar.

5. A resizable sidebar will slide in from the right. This is your Cascade workspace.

2. Crucial Step: Change Chrome's Default Downloads Folder

Before configuring Cascade, you must change your browser's default download location to a custom folder.

Why is this necessary? Cascade uses Chrome's File System Access API to automatically save backups, metadata, and configuration files directly to your hard drive. For security reasons, Chrome strictly blocks automated write operations to default Windows/Mac user directories (like your default Downloads, Documents, or Desktop folders) to protect critical system files. If you use these default locations, Chrome will throw an error and prevent Cascade from functioning properly.

How to change your Chrome Downloads folder:

1. Click the three vertical dots (⋮) in the top right corner of your Chrome browser.

2. Select Settings from the drop-down menu.

3. On the left-hand sidebar, click on Downloads.

4. Under the "Location" section, click the Change button.

5. Create and select a brand-new, dedicated folder somewhere on your drive that is not a default system folder (for example:"C:\Users\username\Documents\downloads" or "C:\Users\username\Downloads\downloads").

6. Important: Ensure the toggle for "Ask where to save each file before downloading" is turned OFF. If this is left on, Chrome will interrupt Cascade's automated background backups with a save prompt every time.

3. Initial Setup: Linking Your Local Folders

To unlock Cascade's backup and local file features, you need to grant it access to your local file system.

• Set the Project Folder: In the top header of the extension, click Save Project. A folder picker will appear. Select an empty folder on your computer (ideally inside or alongside your new custom downloads folder) where you want Cascade to store your backups, metadata, and configuration files.

• Note: Due to Chrome's security model, you may be prompted to manually paste the absolute path to this folder to verify write access.

• Link the Downloads Folder: Many backup features require knowing where your browser saves files. If prompted (or via the File System popup), ensure the new custom Chrome Downloads folder you created in Step 2 is linked and access is granted.

4. Navigating the Interface

The Cascade sidebar is split into two main sections, divided by a draggable resize handle.

• The Header: Contains the Theme Toggle (Light/Dark mode), Plan Manager (Free/Pro), Save/Load Project buttons, Export/Import menus, and window controls (Minimize, Restore, Maximize, Close).

• Left Pane (Explorer): Displays your root folders. You can drag and drop to reorder them, use the Sort icon (A→Z, Z→A, Original), or click the Add Folder icon to create new top-level categories.

• Right Pane (Contents): Displays the contents of the currently selected folder. It features a breadcrumb trail at the top so you can easily navigate nested subfolders.

  • View Controls: Toggle between List view (☰) and Tile view (▦). Adjust the Tile Scale (e.g., 75%, 100%, 150%) using the percentage button.

  • Sort Controls: Sort items in the current folder alphabetically or reverse-alphabetically.

5. Importing Content (Bulk Add)

Open a folder by double-clicking it in the Left Pane. In the Right Pane header, you will find three main import buttons:

A. Add YouTube Subscriptions

1. Click the YouTube Subscriptions icon (the YouTube badge).

2. The picker will open in Manager Mode. It will automatically fetch your subscriptions (falling back to secure local page scraping if the API quota is exhausted).

3. Click on Manager Mode to switch it to Add Mode

4. Check the boxes next to the channels you want to track. You can use the search bar, tag filters, or the "Subscribed/Not Subscribed" dropdown to find specific channels.

5. Click Add Selected Subscriptions to Current Folder.

6. Manager Mode: You can click the "MODE" button to switch to Manager Mode to delete stale channels from your master picker list entirely, or click Update from YouTube to sync your list with your live YouTube account.

B. Add YouTube Playlists

1. Click the YouTube Playlists icon (the list icon).

2. The picker will open in Manager Mode. Cascade will fetch playlists you have created and playlists you have saved from other creators.

3. Click on Manager Mode to switch it to Add Mode

4. Check the boxes next to the desired playlists and click Add Selected Playlists to Folder.

C. Add Chrome Bookmarks

1. Click the Browser Bookmarks icon (the star/folder icon).

2. A tree view of your existing Chrome bookmarks will appear.

3. Check individual bookmarks or entire folders. (Bookmarks that are already in the current folder will be pre-checked).

4. Click Add Selected Bookmarks to Folder.

6. Adding Tiles Manually

If you want to add a specific link or local file without bulk importing:

1. Click the Add Tile icon (the green + square) in the Right Pane header.

2. In the modal, select a Tile Type from the dropdown:

   • Folder: Creates a subfolder. Just type a name.

   • Webpage, YouTube Video, YouTube Short, Subscription, Playlist: Paste the specific URL. Cascade will automatically fetch the title, description, and thumbnail for it.

   • Local Files: Select the file category (PDF, Video, Image, Folder, etc.) and paste the absolute file path (e.g., C:\Users\Name\document.pdf). This creates a tile that opens a file:/// link directly to your hard drive.

   • Custom: Paste a URL. Cascade will automatically assign it an icon and layout based on Custom Tile Rules you have defined.

Creating Custom Tile Rules

In the "Add Tile" modal, under the "Custom" dropdown:

1. Click Create new custom tile type.

2. Name it (e.g., "Google Drive"), set a label, and upload an icon.

3. Set a Match Rule (e.g., Wildcard: *google.com/drive*).

4. Any time you add a custom tile that matches this rule, it will automatically be styled with your chosen icon and layout.

7. Organizing Your Library

Cascade offers a deep organizational toolkit via drag-and-drop and right-click menus.

• Drag and Drop: Click and drag any folder in the Left Pane or any tile in the Right Pane to reorder them.

• Multi-Select: Hold Ctrl (or Cmd on Mac) to select multiple tiles. Hold Shift to select a range of tiles.

• Context Menu (Right-Click): Right-clicking a tile or folder reveals powerful options:

  • Copy / Cut / Paste: Move or duplicate tiles between folders.

  • Duplicate Folder: Creates a deep copy of a folder and all its contents.

  • Rename: Change the display name of a folder or tile.

  • Add/Change/Remove Icon: Customize folder icons with your own images.

  • Properties: View detailed metadata (Creation date, precise URLs, YouTube UCID, etc.).

  • Tags: Apply custom tags to tiles for easy filtering later. (Tags on YouTube channels/playlists apply globally; other tags are specific to that tile).

  • Edit Metadata: Manually override the title, description, and thumbnail image of a tile.

8. Search and Tag Filtering

1. Click the Search icon (🔍) in the Right Pane header.

2. Search Bar: Type any keyword. It searches titles, descriptions, and folder names. Click the gear icon (⚙️) to toggle "Match whole word" or "Match case," or to search the entire library vs. just the current folder.

3. Tags Filter: Click the Tags button next to the search bar. Check the boxes for specific tags. The view will instantly filter to show only tiles containing all selected tags.

9. Backups and Archiving

Cascade allows you to back up webpage data, videos, and playlists directly to your hard drive.

Webpage Backups

1. Right-click any Webpage tile and select Backup webpage....

2. Choose a depth (e.g., 0 for just the page, 1 to also download pages linked on that page—Depth > 0 is a Pro feature).

3. Choose the method (MHTML or SingleFile).

4. Click Start. The file(s) will be downloaded and saved to your Project Folder.

5. Right-click the tile and select Open Backups to view your history of backups for that page. You can star (★) important backups, open them, or copy their local file paths.

Video and Short Backups

1. Right-click a YouTube Video or Short tile.

2. Select Backup with yt-dlp... (Pro feature) to automatically generate and execute a download using yt-dlp, saving the video to your Project Folder.

3. Alternatively, select Backup via custom site... to open a custom downloader URL of your choice. Cascade will monitor the download and attach it to the tile.

4. Right-click and select Open Backups to manage, open, or delete the downloaded video files.

Playlist Backups

1. Right-click a YouTube Playlist tile.

2. Select Backup playlist with yt-dlp... (Pro feature) to download the contents of the entire playlist to a dedicated subfolder in your Project Folder.

3. Use Open backups to view the backup history, see the video count for each run, and open the destination folder directly.

10. Saving, Loading, and Exporting 

Cascade saves your daily working state automatically to browser storage, but you can explicitly export it or save it to your local disk to keep your data safe and portable.

Save Project

Located in the top right of the explorer header. Clicking this button synchronizes your current workspace—including all folders, subscriptions, playlists, and settings—directly to your designated local Project Folder. You will see a prompt to confirm, followed by a success message once your state is securely backed up.

Load Project

Located next to the Save button. This reads the files from your Project Folder and fully restores your entire library, including custom tags, UI preferences, and backup managers.

• • Portability Tip: Because your Project Folder is just a standard folder on your computer, you can easily copy it, zip it up, and transfer it to another directory or a completely different computer. Just unzip the folder in its new location, click "Load Project," and select it to pick up exactly where you left off.

Export Menu

• • Export as JSON: Downloads a single, comprehensive .json file containing your entire Cascade database. This includes all custom tile types, user preferences, layout settings, and metadata. Choose this if you want a perfect single-file clone of your workspace.

  • Export as Netscape Bookmarks HTML: Translates your folder tree and web links into a standard HTML bookmarks file. This skips local files, but it is incredibly useful if you want to natively import your Cascade layout into a standard web browser like Chrome or Firefox.

Import Menu 

• • Import JSON: Allows you to restore a previously downloaded Cascade JSON file from another device. A file browser will open; once selected, the system will read the file, verify the folder depth limits based on your plan, and instantly restore your entire folder tree, subscriptions, playlists, and custom settings.

  • Import Netscape Bookmarks HTML: Imports a standard HTML bookmarks file into a new folder within your Cascade library.