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Editor Overview

The Notely editor is the primary workspace for writing and reviewing Markdown notes. It supports four view modes, a rich toolbar, real-time validation, and statistics.

View Modes

Switch modes using the mode buttons in the editor header bar.

ModeDescription
EditRaw Markdown source editor with syntax highlighting and completions
SplitEditor on the left, live rendered preview on the right
PreviewFull-width read-only rendered output
WebWebsite-style rendering — higher-fidelity preview with full media support

Split Mode for Writing

Split mode is the most productive mode for writing. You can edit Markdown on the left while watching the formatted output update in real time on the right.

Status Bar

The status bar at the bottom of the editor shows live document statistics:

StatDescription
Word countLive count of words in the current content
Line countTotal lines in the document
Reading timeEstimated reading time (calculated at 200 wpm)

Statistics update independently when switching between Edit and other modes.

The breadcrumb trail in the editor header shows the full folder path to the current note.

  • Click any breadcrumb segment to navigate to that folder.
  • Updates automatically when you switch notes.
  • Useful when working in deeply nested folder structures.

Copy and Export Actions

From the editor toolbar you can export note content without leaving the app:

ActionOutput
Copy as HTMLFormatted HTML — paste into email clients, Notion, or CMS systems
Copy as Plain TextPlain text without Markdown syntax

Both actions show a success notification and copy to the clipboard.

Right-click any note tab or document list item to select Copy Link Path. This copies a workspace-relative reference link to your clipboard, making it easy to link documents together.

When viewing notes in Preview or Split modes, hovering over any note link displays a transient popup with two actions:

  • Copy: Copy the link target path to your clipboard.
  • Navigate: Open and jump to the linked note.

To prevent accidental navigation jumps, clicking a link directly in the preview pane is disabled.

Validation Indicators

Notely checks your Markdown as you write:

  • Markdown validation — flags structural issues (unclosed tables, bad heading levels, etc.)
  • Typo checking — underlines suspected spelling errors in prose (skips code blocks). Right-click any flagged word to ignore it or add it to your custom spelling dictionary.
  • Custom spelling dictionary — manage custom spelling dictionary words via the settings menu or the command palette (under "Manage Spelling Dictionary").

When issues are found, a badge appears in the editor header. Click it to jump to the first problem.

Typo and Validation Settings

Keyboard Shortcuts

ActionShortcut
New NoteCtrl + N
Find in noteCtrl + F
Find and ReplaceCtrl + H
Show OutlineCtrl + Alt + L
Focus ModeCtrl + Alt + F
Version HistoryCtrl + Shift + H
Screen CaptureCtrl + Shift + S
Switch to Next TabCtrl + Tab
Switch to Previous TabCtrl + Shift + Tab

Full Keyboard Shortcuts