SDL Research
How people save, forget and rediscover what they find online.
We study the gap between what people save and what they come back to. Original surveys, plain-English findings, and the method behind every number.
The State of Saving 2026
Where people keep what they find, how often they return to it, and what would help. Results publish on 1 December 2026.
The Save–Revisit Gap: how often people return to what they save
Layout preview. Bars show real shares once fielding closes on 15 November.
Four questions we keep asking
Every report, chart and explainer answers one of these.
Saving behaviour
Where do people keep what they find, and why do they rarely go back?
Attention
How much time goes into searching for things we have already found once?
Second brains
How do people organise ideas so they come back when needed?
Tools and market
Which tools do people use, and what makes them switch?
Stat Sheet
Information overload, in numbers
Published research from other organisations, with the source and year beside every figure.
Every 2 min
the average knowledge worker is interrupted, about 275 times a day
Microsoft Work Trend Index, 202542%
of people sometimes or often avoid the news, across 48 markets
Reuters Institute Digital News Report, 2026Frameworks
Two ways to see your own saving habits
Both are scored from survey answers, so every reader can find themselves in the data.
The three Curator Types
Deep Diver
Saves to understand. Long reads, papers and the things worth a second pass.
[X%] of respondents
Quick Collector
Saves fast and moves on. Headlines, links and anything that might be useful later.
[X%] of respondents
Trend Tracker
Spots what's next. Visuals, culture and ideas before everyone else finds them.
[X%] of respondents
The Saving Maturity Curve
- Stage 1
Scattered
Open tabs, screenshots and messages to yourself.
- Stage 2
Stockpiled
One place, but a pile nobody revisits.
- Stage 3
Sorted
Save Boxes by topic, and a habit of returning.
- Stage 4
Curated
A second brain that resurfaces ideas and shares them on The Lookout.
From the desk
Research notes and explainers, published every week or two.
How we work
A number is only useful if you can trust where it came from.
- The sample is on every chart. You'll always see how many people answered, and when.
- We say what kind of survey it is. Ours are opt-in and shared online, not national samples.
- Small groups are labelled. Any group under 100 responses is marked as directional.
- Other people's figures are traced. We link the original study and note its year.
New findings, when they're ready
One email when we publish something new. No noise in between.