Why it's a strong pick

Copy as Markdown does one small job well: it puts Markdown on your clipboard. It is open source under the MIT license, and its code is public on GitHub. It uses Manifest V3, Chrome's current extension format. Its latest repo release came in June 2026.

What it does

The README says it copies things as Markdown. You can copy selected text, a link, an image, or the current tab as a link. You can also copy a list of links or a GitHub task list for all tabs or the highlighted tabs. It then pastes cleanly into notes, issues and docs.

Key features

Selected text. Copy a selection as Markdown.
Links and images. Copy a link, or an image, with the option to wrap an image in its link.
Tab lists. Copy all or highlighted tabs as a list of links or a GitHub task list.
Current tab. Copy the open tab as a link.
Your shortcuts. It sets no default keyboard shortcuts. You assign them at chrome://extensions/shortcuts.
Custom formats. The manifest lists 5 custom tab formats.

Who it's for

Copy as Markdown is for writers, developers and note-takers who paste links and tab lists into Markdown notes, issues or docs. It suits anyone who writes Markdown by hand and is tired of retyping links. It does not save pages. For that, see the archivers and note clippers.

What permissions does Copy as Markdown ask for?

Its manifest asks for activeTab, alarms, contextMenus, clipboardWrite, offscreen, scripting and storage. It lists tabGroups and tabs as optional. It needs Chrome 116 or newer. Tab-list export asks for the optional tabs permission the first time. These are narrower than most clippers, and none is an all-sites host permission.

Does it copy image alt text on Chrome?

No. The README lists a known issue: on Chrome, a copied image's Markdown has no alt text, because of API restrictions. If you need alt text, type it in by hand after you paste. This matters for accessibility, so check images before you publish.

What does it do with my data?

The README does not include a privacy policy, so we make no claims about its data handling. We could not read the developer's privacy policy when we checked; read it before installing. The manifest lists tabs as an optional permission, which Chrome asks for the first time you export a tab list, so you decide whether to grant it.

FAQ

Is it free? The README does not state a price. It is open source under the MIT license.

Does it have keyboard shortcuts? Not by default. Assign your own at chrome://extensions/shortcuts.

Can I copy all my tabs at once? Yes, as a list of links or a GitHub task list. Chrome asks for the optional tabs permission the first time.

Good to know

Set a shortcut for the format you use most. Add alt text by hand to any image you paste, since Chrome does not supply it. If you upgrade from an older version, expect a permission warning, because the June 2026 release added clipboard writing through an offscreen page.

Other web clippers to compare

Copy as Markdown is one of 5 picks in our web clippers and archivers guide:

ArchiveWeb.page: Record a full page with its loaded content into an archive in your browser, and replay it offline. Open source.
Web Archives: Find archived and cached copies of a page from the right-click menu or toolbar. Open source.
Wayback Machine: The Internet Archive's official extension to see how a page changed over time, save pages and find archived copies. Open source.
SingleFile: Saves a full web page, with its CSS, images, fonts and frames, as one HTML file you can open offline. Free and open source.

Related tools in other guides:

Obsidian Web Clipper: save whole pages as local Markdown notes in Obsidian.
Joplin Web Clipper: save pages and selections into Joplin (needs the Joplin desktop app).
Notion Web Clipper: save a page into a Notion database.