Spaces, Folders, and Tags

Three ways to organize. They look similar at first - here’s how to pick the right one.

The 30-second answer

Tool	Job	Use when
Space	A separate context with its own browser, pinned tabs, and view	You want everything to switch together - links, tabs, browser identity
Folder	A grouping inside a space	You want organization without switching context
Tag	A cross-cutting label	A link belongs to multiple categories, or you want AI to organize for you

The most common mistake new users make: treating spaces like folders. Don’t make 10 spaces. Make 1 or 2 spaces with folders inside them.

A Space is the right choice when you want to shift everything at once: bookmarks, browser, pinned tabs, even the sidebar’s color tint.

Examples:

Work vs Personal: a Work space linked to your Chrome work profile, and a Personal space linked to Safari.
Client A vs Client B: separate spaces with their own pinned tools and tab sets per client.
Side project: a focused space for that one thing, kept out of your main view.

What a space gives you that a folder can’t:

If none of those matter, you don’t need a separate space. Use a folder.

A folder is just a grouping inside a space. Use folders when you want organization without context switching.

Examples:

A Work space with folders for “Clients”, “Tools”, “Reading”, “Reference docs”.
A Personal space with folders for “Recipes”, “Bookmarks I’ll read later”, “Apps”.

Folders are unlimited and free. Spaces beyond 3 require Premium. So when in doubt, use a folder.

Tags are cross-cutting labels. A link can have multiple tags, and tags don’t live inside any one folder or space.

Use tags when:

A link genuinely fits more than one category (“AI” and “tools” and “to-read”).
You want AI to organize for you - SupaSidebar can suggest tags from link content using OpenAI, on-device models, or Ollama.
You filter by topic across folders (“show me everything tagged to-read”).
You want a folder that auto-populates from a tag. Pair tags with Smart Folders: create a smart folder with a Tags condition, and every link you tag (in any space) shows up there automatically. You can also scope the smart folder to a single space with a Source Space condition if you want the aggregation to stay local.

Tags don’t replace folders. Most people use both: folders for structure, tags for topic - and smart folders to tie them together.

When you flip from one space to another:

The sidebar’s list of links and folders changes to the new space.
The Live Tabs section filters to the new space’s linked browser profile, if any.
Per-space pinned tabs change (if you’ve enabled per-space pinned tabs in Preferences -> Spaces).
The color tint and icon at the top of the sidebar change.
If Link Open Tabs to Space is on, the previous space’s tabs close and the new space’s tabs reopen in their original browsers and profiles.

What does not change:

Your global Pinned Links at the top of the sidebar. Those stay across all spaces unless you’ve turned on per-space pinned tabs.
Your browser’s native pinned tabs (the ones pinned in Chrome’s or Safari’s tab bar). SupaSidebar doesn’t touch those.

If you’re new to SupaSidebar, start here and expand later:

One space called “Main” with folders for the categories you care about.
5-10 Pinned Links at the top for sites you open every day - access with Cmd Opt 1 through Cmd Opt 9.
A second space only if you actually want a different browser or set of pinned tabs (e.g. a Work profile in Chrome).
Tags later, once you notice you’re saving the same kind of link to different folders.