Missing folders or links: Check & Repair

If links still appear in search or in a space’s saved-link count, but their folders are missing from the sidebar, use Preferences → Backups → Check & Repair.

Start with Check Now, review the folder rows, then click Update. The check reads your current library. You do not need to find or import a backup first.

Each row shows a folder, its links, and a destination space. Where the existing links clearly identify the space, it is already selected for you.

When to use it

• A space shows fewer folders than you expect, or none at all.
• You can find a saved link in search, but cannot find its folder in the sidebar.
• A space’s saved-link count includes links that are missing from its visible folders.

For links you deleted, start with Trash. If the links themselves are gone, use Restore Backup to import content into new spaces.

New .ssb and .json imports restore folder structure from the folder records and the names or paths recorded on links. You do not need a separate repair step for folder paths that the importer can recover from the file.

What is an unassigned folder?

A disconnected, or orphan, folder still exists but has no space assigned to it. Its links may still belong to a space, which can leave those links searchable while the folder is missing from the sidebar.

Different space assignments within a folder tree do not mean the folder is duplicated or needs to be moved. Check & Repair does not list already-assigned folders just because their links refer to different spaces.

An ordinary unfiled link is different: saving a link without putting it in a folder is valid. Global saved links outside spaces are also valid. The scan does not flag those just because they have no folder or space.

Run a check

1. Open Preferences → Backups and find Check & Repair.
2. Click Check Now, or Check Again if you have already run a scan.
3. Review the folder rows in the same Check & Repair section. Each row has a folder name and a space dropdown.
4. Expand Links (N) to review the links in that folder tree. It shows link titles and addresses, with Trash or history status where relevant. The list starts collapsed and scrolls inside a fixed-height panel, even for folders with hundreds of links.
5. Choose a space for each folder you want to reconnect. Keep a suggested destination, or choose Choose a space… to clear the selection and skip that folder.

Update appears to the left of Check Again whenever at least one folder has a selected space. Suggested spaces count as selections too. Nothing changes in your library until you click Update and save the recovery copy.

A row can describe a whole folder tree. If an assigned parent contains unassigned subfolders, the row is labelled Unassigned folders in [folder name]. Updating only changes the unassigned folders.

What it checks

The link list can include saved links, Trash, and history. A completely empty folder tree is labelled as containing no links.

The dropdown only offers destinations that preserve the current spaces of existing links and already-assigned folders. Links in Trash or history can restrict these choices, but cannot identify a destination on their own.

Choose a space for disconnected folders

An empty folder can still be worth keeping. Each listed folder tree has its own dropdown. You can send separate trees to different compatible spaces.

Your selection applies to the unassigned folders in that tree, keeping the hierarchy together. Selecting a space only updates the repair preview; it does not move anything immediately. Unselected folders stay unchanged.

If no space is available in the dropdown, create a space, then click Check Again. A new scan resets your choices and selects any clear suggested destinations, so review them again before updating.

Apply your selected spaces

In Check & Repair:

1. Check the selected space beside each folder.
2. Click Update, to the left of Check Again.
3. Choose where to save the .ssb recovery copy, then click Save & Update. Canceling the save dialog leaves your folders unchanged.
4. The selected folder assignments are applied and the scan refreshes. Check the affected spaces in your sidebar.
5. Use Show Recovery Copy to find the saved file in Finder.

Repair restores the selected unassigned folders’ connection to their chosen spaces. It does not change the parent connections of existing folders.

Existing links keep their content, notes, tags, and ordering. Already-filed links keep their folder, and links stay in their current spaces. Repair does not merge duplicates or delete content. Unselected changes are not applied.

What the recovery copy does

The copy uses the same saved-content format as automatic backups. It saves your current content before applying the repair. It includes the disconnected folders being repaired and their saved links. Empty folders you select are included under their chosen destination spaces, with their subfolders, before the app changes any folder connections. Unselected empty trees with no connection to a space or saved link are not included and stay unchanged.

To recover from the copy, open Preferences → Backups → Restore Backup…, select the .ssb file, and choose the spaces to import.

Still missing folders after an older import?

An older import may have kept the links but lost their folder grouping. If the scan has no folders it can reconnect and your spaces still contain unfiled saved links, an optional Still missing folders? section appears. It starts collapsed.

Unfiled links are normal. Use this option only if you expected those links to be in folders and still have an earlier export that records their folder names or paths.

1. Expand Still missing folders?, then click Choose Older Backup….
2. Choose the original .ssb or .json export that still contains the folder names or paths.
3. Review the proposed folders and destination spaces. Expand Links (N) to check the links that will go inside them.
4. Keep the folders you want to recover selected, then click Update.
5. Save the recovery copy with Save & Update. The app creates the selected missing folders and puts the matched, currently unfiled links inside them.

For example, an earlier export may label nine links as belonging to Help even though the folder itself was omitted. If those same links are still unfiled in the matching space, this option can recreate Help and put those links inside it.

The file must identify one matching space and one matching link for each item. Recovery checks the space identity or name and its link contents, including titles, addresses, saved or pinned status, and order. Ambiguous spaces, links, or folder paths are skipped with an explanation. Edits made since the export can prevent a match.

This option does not import extra links or create new spaces. Already-filed links keep their folders. It can create missing parents needed for a new folder’s path, but leaves existing folders and their parent connections unchanged. Links stay in their current spaces.

Keep the original export as well as the recovery copy. The copy saves your library before the new folders are created. If an older import discarded the folder names, exporting that imported library again cannot restore the missing information.

Delete a folder you no longer want

A trash button, Delete Folder & Links…, appears when every folder in the listed tree is unassigned. Use it only when you want to remove the entire listed folder tree. It is not offered for a tree that contains an already-assigned folder or for a missing folder that has not been created yet.

1. Expand Links (N) to review its contents.
2. Click Delete Folder & Links…. The confirmation shows the folder name and total folder and link counts, including Trash and history entries.
3. Choose Save Backup & Delete…, then save the recovery .ssb file. Canceling either dialog leaves the folder unchanged.
4. After saving the copy, the app checks the preview again and permanently deletes that folder tree and all attached links. Other folders and spaces remain.

This action does not move links to Trash. Its recovery file contains only the selected tree, including its saved, trashed, and history links. Open it with Restore Backup to recover into a new space named Recovered folder: [folder name]. The original space assignments are not recreated. Trashed links retain their Trash state when restored in this version, and normal Trash retention still applies. Older versions may not preserve that state.

Deletion is separate from Update. Updating folder assignments never deletes content. If the backup fails or the reviewed content changes, deletion stops.

If repair cannot continue

What this check does not do

The normal check reconnects eligible unassigned folders using your current library. It does not assume an unfiled link is damaged. The optional older-export recovery cannot reconstruct a folder whose name or path is absent from both your library and that file.

It does not fix individual links with missing space assignments or treat different assignments in an already-assigned tree as an error. It also does not test whether a website still loads, recover permanently deleted links, repair browser profiles, or identify what originally caused a folder connection to break.

If you need help, include your SupaSidebar version, the affected space names, and a screenshot of the scan results in your feedback.

Quick summary

• Check Now finds unassigned folders that can be reconnected without changing your data.
• Each folder row has a space dropdown. Clear its selection to skip it.
• Update saves a copy before applying the selected folder changes.
• New imports restore the folder paths recorded in the file. Older imports that lost grouping can use the optional Still missing folders? section.
• Delete Folder & Links… lets you remove an unwanted tree after confirming and saving its recovery copy.
• Already-filed links keep their folders. Unclear matches are skipped, not guessed.