What is visualOS?

Most tools make you choose: a notes app or a whiteboard or a file manager. visualOS is built on a simpler idea — everything you’re working on belongs in one place, arranged the way you think. You drop a note next to a photo, sketch an arrow between them, put a to-do list underneath, and tuck the whole thing into a folder. Zoom out, and you see your entire project at a glance.

Three ideas behind everything

1. An infinite canvas. There are no pages and no rows. You place things anywhere, pan and zoom like on a map, and let the layout itself carry meaning. The canvas stays fast even with thousands of items on it.

2. Folders inside folders. Any folder on your canvas can be opened like a door — inside is another full canvas. Nest as deep as you like: a “Clients” folder holds a folder per client, each client holds moodboards, notes and files. Breadcrumbs at the top always show where you are.

3. Local-first, real files. visualOS has no server and needs no account. Everything is stored on your device — and when you connect a folder, your canvas is mirrored into it as real files: folders become actual folders on your disk, documents become Markdown files, images stay ordinary images. If you ever stop using visualOS, your work remains readable with any tool, forever.

What can go on the canvas?

Notes, free-floating text, folders, images, videos, PDFs, Word and Excel files, long-form documents, links with rich previews, interactive to-do lists, twelve kinds of shapes, freehand drawings, and magnetic arrows that connect any of the above. Each one has its own article in the Elements & Tools section.

Where does it run?

In your browser — free, fully featured, no sign-up — and as a native app for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Both work completely offline. Devices stay in sync through a cloud folder you control, like iCloud Drive or Dropbox. Read more in Sync across devices.