QuickOWL

Overview

Open saved URLs with selected text as input.

QuickOWL helps when the same copy, switch tab, paste, and search workflow repeats all day. Save URL templates once, then send selected text into the target page or app from the QuickOWL menu.

1Select text on a page or message.
2Open QuickOWL from the available client action.
3Choose the saved target URL.

Problem And Solution

Problem Statement

Regular work often involves copying text from one page and pasting it in another page to search or open a target record. When that happens many times a day, too much time gets spent on tab switching and paste steps.

Solution

QuickOWL passes selected text to favorite web pages through saved URL templates. In browsers, the flow is: select text → right-click → choose QuickOWL → choose the target page.

Demos

Chrome Extension Demo

See every option, sample URL setup, and the browser context-menu workflow.

Safari Extension Demo

Watch the Safari setup and usage flow on YouTube.

Screenshots

Sample Data

Download sample_urls.txt with ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Brave, Yahoo, Ecosia, Google Scholar, Wikipedia, Stack Overflow, YouTube, GitHub, Reddit, Amazon, and Google Maps targets. Then select the file from the Import URLs option.

Supported Clients

Client	Navigation	Instructions
Google Chrome	Window → Extensions → Find more add-ons	The extension link should be opened in Google Chrome, Brave, or Opera. Opera may warn that the source is another store, but the Chrome extension works in Opera.
Mozilla Firefox	Tools → Add-ons and themes → Find more add-ons	The extension link should be opened in Firefox.
Apple Safari	Safari → Preferences → Extensions	The extension link can be opened from any browser in macOS.
Microsoft Edge	Window → Extensions → Find more add-ons	The extension link should be opened in Microsoft Edge.
Thunderbird	Tools → Add-ons and themes → Find more add-ons → quickowl	Reach the add-on through Thunderbird to see the Add to Thunderbird button.
VS Code Extension	View → Extensions	The extension link should be opened in Visual Studio Code.

Using QuickOWL in VS Code

QuickOWL opens a saved web or app link with the selected editor text as input.

Install QuickOWL for Visual Studio Code.
Open the Command Palette with Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P, then run QuickOWL: Add Link to save a target URL.
Select the text you want to send from an open editor.
Right-click the selection and choose QuickOWL: Open Link from Selection, or run that command from the Command Palette.
Choose a saved QuickOWL link. The extension URL-encodes the selected text and opens the destination.

VS Code editor context menu showing QuickOWL: Open Link from Selection

1. Open QuickOWL from the selection. Select code, right-click it, and choose QuickOWL: Open Link from Selection.

QuickOWL link picker in VS Code with saved links

2. Select the destination. Choose one of your saved QuickOWL links from the picker.

Which URLs Work With QuickOWL?

Any work site, web page, or app deep link that accepts text in a URL can be used with QuickOWL.

URL Name	URL Before Selected Text	Selected Text Type
Search in Google Scholar	https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=	String
Ask ChatGPT	https://chatgpt.com/?q=	String
Open Google Meet	https://meet.google.com/	String
Ask Codex	codex://new?prompt=	String

To know more about URL parameters, refer to MDN's URL guide.

Implementation Details

Core APIs

storage: stores user-defined URLs locally.
context menu: creates QuickOWL entries for newly added or modified URLs.

Additional Privileges

unlimitedStorage: allows the extension to store more than 5 MB locally.
downloads: lets users export saved URLs to a .txt backup file.

Privacy Policy

QuickOWL does not collect, sell, or send personal information to QuickOWL servers.

Last updated: June 6, 2026

Browser Clients

Saved URL templates are stored locally in the browser extension storage used by Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Brave, and Thunderbird.
QuickOWL does not read browsing history, page content, cookies, passwords, or form data.
Selected text is used only when the user chooses a saved QuickOWL URL from the context menu.
Import and export actions read or write the user's local QuickOWL URL list file only when the user starts that action.

Email Clients

QuickOWL does not upload email content, mailbox data, sender details, recipients, attachments, or message metadata to QuickOWL servers.
The Outlook add-in requests Restricted permission and does not read the message body, sender, recipients, attachments, or mailbox data.
In Outlook, copied or pasted text stays in the visible QuickOWL text box and in memory. It is not saved to local storage.
Email-client URL templates use the same local QuickOWL data format as the browser extensions.

When Text Leaves QuickOWL

When the user clicks a saved URL, QuickOWL builds the destination URL from the user's template and the selected, copied, or pasted text.
The opened target website or app may receive that text as part of the URL. Users control which URL templates are saved and which target is opened.
QuickOWL does not add background analytics, tracking pixels, telemetry uploads, or hidden network requests around this workflow.

Workaround

Client	Workaround
Slack	Slack can be opened in any browser where the QuickOWL browser extension is supported.
Outlook	Open Outlook on the web in a browser where QuickOWL is installed. The QuickOWL extension can then open saved links using text selected in an Outlook email.

Thanks

Special thanks to wOxxOm, who helped resolve blocking issues while developing the Chrome and Firefox extensions.

Support

Feedback And Enhancement Requests

Request: Support for adding separators. Response: Implemented.
Issue: URLs getting duplicated while adding entries in Safari. Response: Could not reproduce the issue.
Request: Support for adding the context menu as a generic Windows right-click menu. Response: Will explore the possibility.
Issue: & getting converted to &. Response: Currently looking into this.