The Chrome extension

Capture a page, a selection, a link or an image into HandyBits with one shortcut, without leaving the page you are on.

Before you start

• Have a HandyBits account. The extension never creates one. Sign up first in HandyBits with Continue with Google.
• Sign in to Chrome with the same Google account. The extension signs in as the Google account Chrome is signed in to, so that account has to be the one you use for HandyBits.
• Download it only from this page. HandyBits never sends the extension by email, in a chat, or from any other website. If a copy reaches you any other way, do not install it.

Install it

1. Download the file with the button above.
2. Check the file (recommended). Its SHA-256 checksum must be exactly the one above. On a Mac, open Terminal and run:

   shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/handybits-extension-0.2.0.zip

   On Windows, open PowerShell and run:

   Get-FileHash $HOME\Downloads\handybits-extension-0.2.0.zip

   If the two do not match, delete the file and do not install it.
3. Unzip it into a folder that will stay. For example, a folder called HandyBits extension in your Documents. Chrome runs the extension from that folder: if you move or delete the folder later, the extension stops working and disappears from Chrome.
4. Open Chrome's extensions page. Type chrome://extensions in the address bar and press Enter. A website cannot link there, which is why you type it.
5. Turn on Developer mode with the switch at the top right of that page. Developer mode is Chrome's setting for installing an extension from a folder instead of from the Chrome Web Store. It changes nothing else.
6. Click Load unpacked, and choose the folder you unzipped: the one that holds the file manifest.json. HandyBits appears in the list of extensions.
7. Pin it. Click the puzzle-piece icon to the right of the address bar, then the pin beside HandyBits, so its icon stays in the toolbar.
8. Sign in. Click the HandyBits icon, then Sign in. If it says there is no HandyBits account, sign up in HandyBits first, then sign in again.
9. Try it. Select some text on any page and press ⌘ Shift S on a Mac, or Ctrl Shift S on Windows and Linux, to choose a folder; D instead of S saves it straight away.

Updating it

An extension installed from a file never updates itself, so fixes reach you only when you install a new copy. The version you have is at the bottom of the extension's popup; the current one is at the top of this page.

1. Download the new file from this page and check it as above.
2. Unzip it, and replace everything in your extension folder with what it holds.
3. On chrome://extensions, click the reload arrow on the HandyBits card. Your shortcuts stay as they were.

What to know

• Google Chrome only. Edge, Brave and other browsers built on Chrome accept the file, but signing in does not work in them.
• A work or school computer may not allow it. When an organisation manages Chrome, it often switches off Developer mode or extensions from files. Ask whoever manages it.
• Chrome may warn you about extensions installed in Developer mode. That is Chrome being careful about any extension from a file; it is why this page asks you to check the checksum.
• What it reads and sends. It reads a page only when you capture from it, and sends what you capture to HandyBits and nowhere else. The details are in the privacy policy.