Prepful
The built-in ways to save a recipe on a computer
Nothing to install. These work in Chrome, Safari, and Edge, and each one is good at one thing.
A bookmarks folder. Press Ctrl+D (Cmd+D on a Mac) on the recipe page, or click the star at the right end of the address bar, and put it in a folder called Recipes. Quick, and it syncs if you're signed in to your browser. But a bookmark is a link to the whole website, so each time you cook you scroll past the ads and the story again, and if the site goes away, so does the recipe.
A reading list. In Safari on a Mac, click the Share button in the toolbar, then Add to Reading List. To keep pages readable offline, turn on "Save articles for offline reading automatically" in Safari > Settings > Advanced. In Chrome, open the three-dot menu, then Bookmarks and lists > Reading list > Add tab to reading list. Good for "read this later", less good for a recipe you want to find again in a year.
Save the page as a PDF. Press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on a Mac). In Chrome, and on a Chromebook, pick Save as PDF as the destination. On a Mac, use the PDF menu in the print window and choose Save as PDF. On Windows, pick the Microsoft Print to PDF printer. Switch to reading mode first to leave the ads out: in Chrome, right-click the page and choose Open in reading mode; in Safari, open the Page menu in the address field and choose Show Reader; in Edge, press F9. On a Chromebook, files save to the Downloads folder by default, so choose Google Drive in the save window if you want the PDF kept in your Drive.
A notes app. On a Mac, click Share in Safari, then Notes, and the page goes into a note that also shows up on an iPhone signed in to the same Apple Account. On any computer, the Google Keep extension for Chrome saves the page or a selected bit of text to Keep, where you can add a label like "dinners". Or paste the recipe text into a Google Doc in a Recipes folder in Drive. You keep a copy, but the ingredients are just text in a note, so nothing turns them into a shopping list.
| Method | Keeps the recipe if the site changes | Works for TikTok and Instagram | Turns into a shopping list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bookmarks or reading list | No, it saves the link | Saves the link, not the recipe | No |
| Yes, as a page you can read | Only what's printed on screen | No | |
| Notes, Keep, or a Doc | Yes, if you copied the text | Only if you type out the caption | No |
| Prepful | Yes, as a written ingredient list | Yes, from the link | Yes, one list for the whole week |
Save a recipe link in your browser
Prepful runs in Chrome, Safari, Edge, and on a Chromebook, with no download. About fifteen seconds.
Go to app.prepfulapp.com and sign in with Google, Apple, or email.
Copy the recipe's link from the address bar. For TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube, copy the post's link.
In Prepful, go to Recipes > Add > Import a Recipe, paste the link, and click Import Recipe.
Prepful pulls out the ingredients and steps as a written recipe, with a link back to the original. Check it and save.
No browser extension needed. On a computer, you copy and paste the link. On your phone it's one tap: Share, then Prepful. See saving recipes on iPhone and on Android.
Platform details are in the guides for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and any website.
Move a recipe document or a folder of PDFs
For the Word file, Google Doc, or email thread where your recipes live now.
Copy one recipe's text, ingredients and steps together.
In Prepful, go to Recipes > Add > Paste a Recipe and paste it.
Prepful sorts it into ingredients and steps. Check it and save, then do the next one.
For recipes saved as pictures or scanned PDFs, take a screenshot of each one and use Recipes > Add > Upload a Photo. You pick the files from your computer, up to six for one recipe (ingredients on one, steps on the next is fine), and photos from an iPhone work too. Prepful reads printed and handwritten text. More in how to save recipes from a photo and how to digitize recipe cards. A recipe ChatGPT wrote for you pastes the same way; see how to save recipes from ChatGPT.
Same recipes on your computer and your phone
Your recipes, your week's plan, and your shopping list are stored with your Prepful account, not on the computer. Save on the laptop, and they're on your phone the next time you open the app, and the other way around. Nothing to export or sync by hand. Plan the week on the big screen, then take the list to the store on your phone.
Cooking from a laptop
Just the recipe. A saved recipe is the ingredients and steps, with no ads or pop-ups between you and step four.
One step at a time. Open a recipe and click Start Cooking for big, one-step-at-a-time text you can read from across the counter. In browsers that allow it, the screen stays on while it's open.
Then actually cook it
Saving is the easy half. Put a few saved recipes on days this week and their ingredients go onto one shopping list, with repeats combined. See how to meal plan with the recipes you've saved, how to make a grocery list from recipes, and how to organize the recipes you already have.
If it doesn't work
A link won't import if the post is private, has been removed, or never contains the recipe (a finished-dish video with "recipe in comments"). If that happens, Prepful offers to paste the recipe instead: copy the text and use Paste a Recipe, or take a screenshot and use Upload a Photo. Photos need to be under 30 MB each. Dragging files onto the page doesn't work yet, so use the file picker. Prepful is also on iPhone, iPad, and Android, and your recipes are the same everywhere you sign in.
Comparing recipe apps? See the best apps to save recipes from social media.