Support

1. Open Staple in the Chrome Web Store and click Add to Chrome, then Add extension.
2. To keep it handy, click the puzzle-piece icon in Chrome's toolbar and pin Staple.
3. Click Staple's icon. It opens in a tab of its own.

Yes. Each version is also published as a zip file on GitHub. A manual install doesn't update itself, so the Chrome Web Store is the better choice for most people.

1. Download staple-x.y.z.zip from the latest release and unzip it into a folder you'll keep (Chrome loads Staple from that folder each time it starts).
2. Open chrome://extensions and turn on Developer mode (top right).
3. Click Load unpacked and choose the unzipped folder.
4. Pin Staple from the puzzle-piece menu and click its icon.

To update, download the new zip, replace the folder's contents and click the reload arrow on Staple's card. If you later install Staple from the Chrome Web Store, remove the manual copy first so you don't have two. Chrome may show a reminder about developer-mode extensions; that's expected for manual installs.

Google Chrome 131 or later on a desktop computer: Mac, Windows, Linux or ChromeOS. A Substack account is only needed to import your subscriptions and to include paid posts you subscribe to. Free posts work without one: add a publication by its URL.

Staple itself doesn't: Chrome on phones and tablets doesn't run extensions. The files it makes do, though. Make the book on your computer, then read the EPUB in your e-reader app, or open the PDF or HTML file on any device.

Yes. There are no ads and no account. If Staple is useful to you, consider buying me a coffee.

Staple uses the Substack sign-in that's already in your browser. Sign in at substack.com in the same Chrome profile where Staple is installed (the message has a Sign in link), then click Import my subscriptions again.

If you use several Chrome profiles, check you're signed in to Substack in the one with Staple. You can also skip importing and add publications by URL; free posts work without signing in.

Type or paste its address into the field below your list, for example name.substack.com or a publication's own domain such as theorybrief.com, and click Add.

Some Substack publications use their own web address, such as www.theorybrief.com, instead of name.substack.com. Staple can read substack.com and its subdomains from the start, but needs your permission for each custom-domain site. Chrome asks once per site and names it. Staple never asks for access to all websites.

If you said no, the publication stays in your list, but Staple can't find its posts. It asks again the next time you look for posts with that publication ticked. You can see the sites you've allowed on Staple's Details page in chrome://extensions.

Your list is saved, so Staple doesn't re-import it every time. Click Refresh subscriptions at the top of the Publications step to pick up publications you've subscribed to since.

A group is a saved set of publications, such as “AI” or “Culture”. Click + New group, tick the publications you want, name the group and save it. Picking a group later ticks exactly its members. Change the ticks and you can update the group or save a new one. All ticks everything, and Selected only shows just the ticked publications.

Staple only includes what you can read. For a paid post from a publication you don't pay for, Substack sends only the free preview that anyone can see, so Staple marks it “preview only” and leaves it out by default. Staple never gets around a paywall.

To include those previews anyway (handy for deciding whether to subscribe), tick Also include previews of paywalled posts I can’t read in full, or click Include previews above the list of posts. Previews are clearly marked in the book.

If you do subscribe and still see “preview only”, check that you're signed in to Substack with the account that pays, in the same Chrome profile as Staple.

Staple only lists posts in your date range (the last 7 days unless you change it) that are at least as long as your minimum length (400 words unless you change it). Podcasts and threads are skipped. If a post you expected isn't there, try a longer date range or a lower word count.

Substack limits how many requests a browser can make in a short time, and with many publications ticked Staple can reach that limit. When it does, a banner at the top says so and counts down while Staple pauses and retries on its own, which can take a few minutes. If some publications still couldn't be checked, Staple lists them below the posts, with the reason.

Wait a few minutes and click Retry under that list to check just those publications again, or pick a group with fewer publications or a shorter date range.

1. Click Make PDF. The book opens in a new tab, with Chrome's print dialog.
2. Set Destination to Save as PDF.
3. Under More settings, untick Headers and footers. Otherwise Chrome prints the date and a web address on every page. The book has its own page numbers.
4. Click Save and choose where to put the file.

Closed the dialog by mistake? Click Save as PDF… at the top of the book's tab. The paper size (US Letter or A4) is set in Staple before you click Make PDF.

Amazon's Send to Kindle accepts EPUB files. Use the Send to Kindle website, the Send to Kindle app for Mac or Windows, or email the file to your Kindle's address. Amazon converts it for your Kindle, and it shows up in your library.

The EPUB has a cover, a table of contents and one chapter per post, with the images inside the file. Open it in Apple Books, copy it to a Kobo, or add it to Calibre, which can also send it to most other readers.

It's the whole book in one file, with the images embedded. It opens in any web browser, even offline, so you can keep it, send it to another device or read it on your phone. Printing it gives the same layout as the PDF.

Yes. Before you make the book, set the image size to 75%, 50%, 25% or no images. Smaller images make smaller files, which helps with email and Send to Kindle.

Every post in the book ends with a link back to the original on Substack. Follow it to like, comment or restack, or to subscribe and support the writer.

Your publication list, groups and preferences are saved in your browser's local extension storage. They never leave your device. Staple has no account and no server, and nothing is sent to me. The files you make are saved wherever you choose on your computer.

Uninstall Staple: right-click its toolbar icon and choose Remove from Chrome, or click Remove on its card in chrome://extensions. That deletes everything Staple stored. Files you've already made stay on your computer until you delete them. To remove a single publication, click the × next to it in your list.

Only Substack (substack.com, its subdomains and the custom-domain publications you approve) and Substack's image server, substackcdn.com. No analytics, tracking or ads. See the privacy policy for details.