diff --git a/NEWS.org b/NEWS.org
index 0ae02961..0b43462a 100644
--- a/NEWS.org
+++ b/NEWS.org
@@ -63,6 +63,16 @@
    - Add message-id's to messages when saving drafts, so we can find them even
      with ~mu4e-headers-skip-duplicates~.
 
+   - Bookmarks (as in ~mu4e-bookmarks~) are now simple plists (instead of cl
+     structs). ~make-mu4e-bookmark~ has been updated to produce such plists (for
+     backward compatibility). A bookmark now looks like a list of e.g.
+        ~(:name "My bookmark" :query "banana OR pear" :key ?f)~
+    this format is a bit easier extensible.
+
+   - For instance, we now recognize an attribute ~:hide t~, which will hide the
+     bookmark item from the main-screen (and speedbar), but keep it avilable
+     through the completion UI.
+
 *** toys
 
     - Updated the ~mug~ toy UI to use Webkit2/GTK+. Note that this is just a toy
diff --git a/mu4e/mu4e-main.el b/mu4e/mu4e-main.el
index fc277c9f..9580c78d 100644
--- a/mu4e/mu4e-main.el
+++ b/mu4e/mu4e-main.el
@@ -142,10 +142,11 @@ clicked."
         ;; TODO: it's a bit uncool to hard-code the "b" shortcut...
         (mapconcat
 	        (lambda (bm)
-	          (mu4e~main-action-str
-	            (concat "\t* [b" (make-string 1 (plist-get bm :key)) "] "
-	              (plist-get bm :name))
-	            (concat "b" (make-string 1 (plist-get bm :key)))))
+            (unless (plist-get bm :hide)
+	            (mu4e~main-action-str
+	              (concat "\t* [b" (make-string 1 (plist-get bm :key)) "] "
+	                (plist-get bm :name))
+	              (concat "b" (make-string 1 (plist-get bm :key))))))
 	        (mu4e-bookmarks) "\n")
         "\n\n"
         (propertize "  Misc\n\n" 'face 'mu4e-title-face)
diff --git a/mu4e/mu4e-speedbar.el b/mu4e/mu4e-speedbar.el
index 1aa65d7f..28eecb85 100644
--- a/mu4e/mu4e-speedbar.el
+++ b/mu4e/mu4e-speedbar.el
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ;;; mu4e-speedbar --- Speedbar support for mu4e -*- lexical-binding: t -*-
 
-;; Copyright (C) 2012-2018 Antono Vasiljev, Dirk-Jan C. Binnema
+;; Copyright (C) 2012-2020 Antono Vasiljev, Dirk-Jan C. Binnema
 ;;
 ;; Author: Antono Vasiljev <self@antono.info>
 ;; Version: 0.1
@@ -56,10 +56,10 @@
   "Install those variables used by speedbar to enhance mu4e."
   (add-hook 'mu4e-context-changed-hook
     (lambda()
-        (when (buffer-live-p speedbar-buffer)
-          (with-current-buffer speedbar-buffer
-            (let ((inhibit-read-only t))
-              (mu4e-speedbar-buttons))))))
+      (when (buffer-live-p speedbar-buffer)
+        (with-current-buffer speedbar-buffer
+          (let ((inhibit-read-only t))
+            (mu4e-speedbar-buttons))))))
   (dolist (keymap
             '( mu4e-main-speedbar-key-map
                mu4e-headers-speedbar-key-map
@@ -80,13 +80,13 @@
   (when (buffer-live-p speedbar-buffer)
     (with-current-buffer speedbar-buffer
       (mapcar (lambda (maildir-name)
-		(speedbar-insert-button
-		  (concat "  " maildir-name)
-		  'mu4e-highlight-face
-		  'highlight
-		  'mu4e~speedbar-maildir
-		  maildir-name))
-	(mu4e-get-maildirs)))))
+		            (speedbar-insert-button
+		              (concat "  " maildir-name)
+		              'mu4e-highlight-face
+		              'highlight
+		              'mu4e~speedbar-maildir
+		              maildir-name))
+	      (mu4e-get-maildirs)))))
 
 (defun mu4e~speedbar-maildir (&optional _text token _ident)
   "Jump to maildir TOKEN. TEXT and INDENT are not used."
@@ -98,12 +98,13 @@
   "Insert the list of bookmarks in the speedbar"
   (interactive)
   (mapcar (lambda (bookmark)
-            (speedbar-insert-button
-	      (concat "  " (plist-get bookmark :name))
-	      'mu4e-highlight-face
-	      'highlight
-	      'mu4e~speedbar-bookmark
-	      (plist-get bookmark :query)))
+            (unless (plist-get bookmark :hide)
+              (speedbar-insert-button
+	              (concat "  " (plist-get bookmark :name))
+	              'mu4e-highlight-face
+	              'highlight
+	              'mu4e~speedbar-bookmark
+	              (plist-get bookmark :query))))
     (mu4e-bookmarks)))
 
 (defun mu4e~speedbar-bookmark (&optional _text token _ident)
diff --git a/mu4e/mu4e-vars.el b/mu4e/mu4e-vars.el
index ce414a6f..afe974b8 100644
--- a/mu4e/mu4e-vars.el
+++ b/mu4e/mu4e-vars.el
@@ -209,6 +209,8 @@ If the string exceeds this limit, it will be truncated to fit."
 - `query': the query for this bookmark. Either a literal string or a function
    that evaluates to a string."
   `(:name ,name :query ,query :key ,key))
+(make-obsolete 'make-mu4e-bookmark "`unneeded; `mu4e-bookmarks'
+are plists" "1.3.7")
 
 (defcustom mu4e-bookmarks
   '(( :name  "Unread messages"
@@ -225,14 +227,15 @@ If the string exceeds this limit, it will be truncated to fit."
       :key ?p))
   "List of pre-defined queries that are shown on the main screen.
 
-Each of the list elements is a plist with
-three-element list of the
-form (QUERY DESCRIPTION KEY), where QUERY is a string with a mu
-query, DESCRIPTION is a short description of the query (this will
-show up in the UI), and KEY is a shortcut key for the query."
-  :type '(repeat (plist (string :tag "Query")
-                       (string :tag "Description")
-                       character))
+Each of the list elements is a plist with at least:
+:name  - the name of the queryt
+:query - the query expression
+:key   - the shortcut key.
+
+Optionally, you add the following:
+:hide  - if t, bookmark is hdden from the main-view and speedbar.
+"
+  :type '(repeat (plist))
   :group 'mu4e)
 
 (defcustom mu4e-split-view 'horizontal