How to save a web page as Markdown

Copying an article into a notes app by hand tends to lose its structure. Headings flatten, links vanish, and tables turn into runs of text. Converting the page to Markdown keeps all of that intact, and because Markdown is plain text, the file stays readable in any editor for as long as you keep it.

This guide uses Web to File, a free Chrome extension that converts pages inside your browser. Nothing is uploaded to a server.

Steps

1. Open the page and click the Web to File icon in the Chrome toolbar. The side panel opens beside the page.
2. Switch to Article mode. It extracts the title, body text, and inline images of an article-style page and leaves the surrounding clutter behind.
3. Review what was extracted. The panel shows the content that will be exported. If a newsletter box or a related-links block slipped through, remove it before you export.
4. Export as Markdown. The .md file lands in your Downloads folder, and a copy stays in the extension’s export history so you can open or re-download it later.

What survives the conversion

The converter preserves the structure that makes the file useful when you come back to it:

• Headings stay as # levels, so long articles keep their outline.
• Lists stay as lists, including nested ones.
• Links keep their destinations as inline [text](url) links.
• Tables become Markdown tables instead of being flattened into paragraphs.
• Images are referenced by their original URL, which keeps the file small.
• Source and date are written as YAML front matter at the top, so notes apps can read where the file came from. This applies to Article mode; Custom mode exports only the blocks you picked.

Using the file in a notes app

A Markdown file works in most tools without an import step.

• Obsidian: drop the .md file into your vault folder and it appears as a note straight away.
• Logseq: put it in the pages directory of your graph.
• Notion: use Import → Markdown, or paste the text into an empty page.
• Git repositories, static site generators, plain text editors: no conversion needed.

When Article mode is not the right fit

Article mode is tuned for pages built around a single body of text, such as news stories, blog posts, documentation, and long-form essays. Not every page is shaped that way.

On a dashboard, a product listing, or a discussion thread, the useful content is spread across sections rather than sitting in one article body. Custom mode handles those: click the blocks you want, reorder them in the panel, edit them if needed, then export the result as Markdown.

On a mostly visual page, such as a design portfolio, a chart-heavy report, or a receipt, text extraction loses what you were after. Use Full Page mode there and export a PDF or a full-length image instead.

If extraction misses the content

Some sites load their body text after the initial render. If the panel shows a fragment instead of the whole article, reload the page, wait for it to settle, and extract again.

Pages behind your own login work normally, because the extension reads the page your browser has already rendered. Chrome blocks all extensions on browser-internal pages such as chrome:// URLs and the Chrome Web Store itself.

If a particular site consistently extracts badly, send the URL through the support page. Site-specific extraction fixes ship in most releases.

Related questions

Does the Markdown file include the images? It references them by URL rather than embedding them, which keeps the file small and readable. Pages that hotlink to images will need a connection to display them later.

Can I export several pages at once? Not in a single action. Export runs on the page you are viewing, one page at a time.

Is any of this sent to a server? No. Extraction and conversion happen in your browser, and the file is written straight to your device. The privacy policy has the full statement.