How to Export Safari Reading List Items

Monday, August 16 2021

Today I found a need to export my Safari reading list to import them to a local archive. Building on a Python script I found that was dated and defunct, I cleaned it up a bit to get it into working order for Python 3. Hopefully this helps someone save some time, including my future self.

#!/usr/bin/env python3

import os
import plistlib

relpath = 'Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist'
fullpath = os.path.join(os.environ['HOME'], relpath)

with open(fullpath, 'rb') as fp:
    plist = plistlib.load(fp)

    for child in plist['Children']:
      if child.get('Title', None) == 'com.apple.ReadingList':
        bookmarks = child['Children']

    urls = (bookmark['URLString'] for bookmark in bookmarks)
    print('\n'.join(urls))