Scroll Saver

Never lose your place again. Automatically save and restore your reading position on any article or long web page.

✨ What is Scroll Saver?

Scroll Saver is a lightweight Chrome extension that remembers exactly where you left off when reading long articles, blog posts, documentation, YouTube channel pages, or any lengthy web content. When you return to a page, it automatically scrolls you back to your last reading position.

Why You'll Love It

• Read without worry - Close tabs freely knowing your position is saved
• Zero friction - Works automatically in the background
• Privacy first - All data stays on your device
• Universal support - Works on news sites, blogs, documentation, social media, and SPAs

📦 Installation

From Chrome Web Store (Recommended)

1. Visit the Chrome Web Store page
2. Click "Add to Chrome"
3. Grant the requested permissions
4. Start reading!

🎯 How to Use

1. Install the extension - It's that simple!
2. Read an article - Scroll through any long page
3. Close the tab - Your position is automatically saved
4. Come back later - Revisit the page and you'll be scrolled right back to where you left off
5. Check the popup - Click the extension icon to see saved positions and manage settings

🔒 Privacy & Security

• 100% Local Storage - All data stored using chrome.storage.local
• No External Connections - Zero network requests, zero data sharing
• Transparent - Open source, auditable code
• Minimal Permissions - Only requests what's absolutely necessary

Permissions Used

Permission	Purpose
storage	Save reading positions locally
activeTab	Get current tab info for popup
alarms	Schedule weekly data cleanup
tabs	Query tab information
<all_urls>	Work on all websites (required for article detection)

🛠️ Development

Project Structure

scroll-saver/
├── manifest.json          # Extension manifest (v3)
├── content.js             # Content script - main tracking logic
├── background.js          # Service worker - storage management
├── popup.html            # Popup HTML
├── popup.css             # Popup styles
├── popup.js              # Popup functionality
├── icons/                # Extension icons
│   ├── bookmark_16.png
│   ├── bookmark_48.png
│   └── bookmark_128.png
├── test_scroll_restore.html  # Automation test (YouTube scroll restore)
├── package.sh            # Build script
├── LICENSE               # MIT License
└── README.md             # This file

Architecture

State Machine

     TRACKING        RESTORING        COOLDOWN
     ────────        ─────────        ────────

  ┌─────────┐    scroll event    ┌───────────┐  reached target  ┌──────────┐
  │  IDLE   │──────────────────▶ │ RESTORING │────────────────▶ │ COOLDOWN │
  │ saves   │                    │ saves     │                  │ saves    │
  │ ALLOWED │                    │ BLOCKED   │                  │ BLOCKED  │
  └─────────┘                    └───────────┘                  └────┬─────┘
       ▲                                                            │
       │                                  10 seconds elapsed        │
       └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Three guards protect against overwriting a valid position:

Guard	What it blocks	Where
isRestoring	Saves during the scroll animation itself	handleScroll, visibility handler
10s cooldown	Saves after restore finishes but page still loading content	handleScroll, visibility handler
min scroll threshold	Saves near the very top of the page (<5% scroll)	saveScrollPosition

Restore Flow

  restoreScrollPosition(url)
       │
       ▼
  isRestoring? ──YES──▶ abort
  isTrackingActive? ──NO──▶ abort
       │
       ▼
  get saved position from chrome.storage.local
       │
  ┌────┴────┐
  │ NO DATA │ YES, HAS DATA
  ▼         ▼
 SKIP    target > current page height?
           ┌─────┴─────┐
           │ YES       │ NO (smooth path)
           ▼           ▼
    PROGRESSIVE        SMOOTH SCROLL
    (infinite scroll)  window.scrollTo({ behavior:'smooth' })
           │               │
    scrollTo(instant)      settle checker (every 200ms, max 15s):
    dispatch scroll event       wait until currentY ≥ target - 50px
    wait 1s, repeat                  │
    (max 40 attempts)         ┌──────┴──────┐
           │                  │ reached     │ timeout
           └──────────────────┤ target?     │
                              └──────┬──────┘
                                     ▼
                              isRestoring = false
                              restoreCompletedAt = Date.now()
                              ▶ 10s cooldown starts

Save Flow

  scroll event               tab hidden              page unload
       │                    (visibilitychange)      (beforeunload/pagehide)
       ▼                         │                       │
  isRestoring? ──YES──▶ IGNORE   │                       │
       │                         │                       │
       ▼                         ▼                       ▼
  within 10s cooldown?      isTrackingActive         isTrackingActive?
  ──YES──▶ IGNORE           && !isRestoring          ──NO──▶ IGNORE
       │                    && !in cooldown?              │
       │                         │                       ▼
       ▼                         ▼                  ✅ save (no cooldown
  reset 1s debounce        ✅ save immediately           check — user is
  after 1s idle:                                         done reading)
    isTrackingActive? ──NO──▶ IGNORE
    isRestoring? ──YES──▶ IGNORE
    in cooldown? ──YES──▶ IGNORE
    ✅ saveScrollPosition() ──▶ chrome.storage.local

Building

# Create distributable ZIP
./package.sh

📝 Changelog

v1.1.2 (2026)

• Opt-in by default — extension starts disabled; enable per-site via the popup toggle
• Migration — existing saved sites are automatically carried forward as enabled
• Post-restore cooldown — prevents position overwrites from late-loading content after restore
• Scroll settle detection — waits for smooth scroll to actually finish before re-enabling saves

v1.1.0 (2026)

• YouTube channel support — scroll position now restores on YouTube channel pages (/videos, /shorts, etc.)

v1.0.0 (2025)

• Initial release

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

💬 Support

• Issues - Report bugs or request features
• Discussions - Ask questions or share ideas
• Star ⭐ this repo if you find it useful!