Guides and answers for everything in visualOS — from your first note to the way your files live on disk.
Getting Started
What visualOS is, how the canvas works, and the one setup step that makes your data truly yours — all in a few short reads.
An infinite canvas for notes, images, documents and to-dos — local-first, offline, and saved as real files you own.
Read articleFrom an empty canvas to your first notes, folder and to-do list — a five-minute hands-on tour.
Read articleToolbar, top bar, breadcrumbs, zoom controls and the save indicator — what every part of the screen does.
Read articleOne minute of setup turns your canvas into real files on your disk — and unlocks sync, backups and version history.
Read articleThe native app is the full canvas — not a cut-down list. Touch gestures, Apple Pencil, and sync through your own iCloud folder.
Read articleWhich browsers support the full experience, what works everywhere, and why folder access needs Chrome, Edge or Brave.
Read articleA two-minute guided tour on your first launch — and how to bring it back anytime from Settings.
Read articleYour Files & Sync
How visualOS stores everything, what each file in your folder means, how devices stay in sync — with practical checks for cloud delivery and recovery.
Local work, shared files and recovery history have distinct roles.
Read articleThe workspace file, readable board files and hidden version snapshots explained.
Read articleNotes live inside board.json, documents are .md files, images are image files — and without a connected folder, everything is in browser storage.
Read articleOne shared folder, mixed devices and updates that arrive through your own cloud.
Read articleReduce placeholder delays with iCloud, Dropbox and Google Drive settings.
Read articleRestore automatic snapshots of your workspace, and know the limits of media recovery.
Read articleOne click exports your entire workspace — every folder, element and image — into a single file you can store anywhere or import elsewhere.
Read articleHow visualOS combines edits from two devices and keeps both versions when they collide.
Read articleDrop images or PDFs into a board’s folder in Finder or the Files app — visualOS notices and offers them for placement on the canvas.
Read articleDrop .heic photos straight from your iPhone — visualOS converts them to JPG on import and keeps the untouched original in a hidden .originals/ folder.
Read articleEdit images, PDFs and other files in place; documents and board.json are written by visualOS. Great for reading, search and AI agents.
Read articleWhat happens when you disconnect, how to move your folder somewhere else, and why a moved folder just needs reconnecting.
Read articleElements & Tools
Eleven kinds of building blocks — from sticky notes to magnetic arrows. Each article covers creating, editing and the tricks you’d otherwise find months later.
The workhorse: colored cards with rich text that grow as you type. Colors, font sizes, lists and auto-detected links.
Read articleFrameless text directly on the canvas — for headings, labels and annotations. Same rich editing as notes, no card behind it.
Read articleThe organizing principle of visualOS: every folder opens into its own canvas — and is a real folder on your disk.
Read articleDrop, paste or upload images; crop to aspect ratios, add captions, attach links, and view full-screen in the lightbox.
Read articleInteractive checklists right on the canvas: chain tasks with Enter, reorder by drag, bold/italic inline, and optional auto-cleanup.
Read articleFreeform-style grids of rich-text cells: rows grow with their text, drag grid lines to size columns, colour cells, pick a border style.
Read articleLong-form writing in a focused editor — headings, highlights, links and lists — stored as real Markdown files in your folder.
Read articlePaste any URL to get a link card — YouTube, Spotify, X and friends unfurl into rich preview cards with thumbnail and title.
Read articleTwelve shapes from rectangle to speech bubble — with fill, border color and thickness, rotation, and drag-to-size creation.
Read articleMagnetic arrows that snap to elements, stay attached when things move, bend into curves, and take any end caps.
Read articleFreehand sketching with pressure, smoothing and palm rejection — every stroke becomes a normal element you can move and scale.
Read articleDrop PDFs, videos, Word, Excel, text and ZIP files onto the canvas — file cards with previews, players and real files on disk.
Read articleCanvas & Navigation
Panning, zooming, selecting, arranging, finding — the moves that turn an endless canvas into a place where nothing gets lost.
Scroll, pinch, Space-drag; zoom from 4% overview to 600% detail — and Fit all to frame everything in one keystroke.
Read articleClick, Shift-click, marquee, select-all — and the touch logic that makes sure you never move something by accident.
Read articleRed guide lines appear as edges and centers align — and the element clicks into place. Hold Cmd/Ctrl to place freely.
Read articleGroups move as one, locks make backgrounds untouchable, rotation adds life — with snapping at the right angles.
Read articleCopy works across folders and even across windows; paste lands at your cursor; Cmd/Ctrl+D is the fastest way to repeat yourself.
Read articleInfinite depth, a breadcrumb trail that always knows where you are, and browser-back that walks up the tree.
Read articleCmd/Ctrl+F searches every folder at once — notes, tasks, documents, links, captions — and jumps you straight to the hit.
Read articleUndo everything, redo anything — and deleted folders (files included) can be brought back whole for several minutes.
Read articleFully separate canvases with their own folders — one for you, one for the studio, one for that shared iCloud folder.
Read articleOne click renders the current view as a crisp 2× PNG — for sharing, decks, or printing a snapshot of your thinking.
Read articleEvery shortcut in visualOS on one page — tools, editing, navigation, zoom and text formatting.
Read articleSettings & Customization
Grid, background, shadows, language, input behavior — small dials that shape how the canvas feels.
Toggle the grid, pick any background color (dark ones included), and tune element shadows and padding to taste.
Read articleEnglish or German, automatic by default — and an input switch that decides whether dragging on empty canvas selects or pans.
Read articleA map of the whole Settings dialog — three tabs, what lives where, and links to the deep dives.
Read articleTroubleshooting & FAQ
Symptom-first fixes for the questions we actually get — plus the honest answers on offline, privacy and pricing.
Check unavailable originals, folder access and storage without confusing local saving with cloud upload.
Read articleCheck local saving, cloud delivery and receiving-device availability separately.
Read articleCheck the workspace and folder while preserving remaining local copies.
Read articleUnderstand local saving, folder confirmation, pending files and recovery messages.
Read articleEdit available content offline; cloud-only files and transfers may need a connection.
Read articleShort answer: you. No account, no visualOS server, no analytics on your content — and sync runs through your own cloud.
Read articleThe browser app is fully free — no caps, no account. The native iPhone/iPad/Mac app is a one-time purchase, no subscription.
Read articleTell us what’s missing — feature ideas and bug reports land directly on our roadmap. Or just open the canvas and poke around; you can’t break anything.