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Quick Start

This page walks you from a fresh install to your first note in a few minutes. If you have not installed VNote yet, see Installation.

1. Create a notebook

VNote organizes notes into notebooks. A notebook is simply a directory on your disk, so the first step is to choose where your notes will live.

  1. Open VNote. On the left, open the notebook selector and choose New Notebook.
  2. Pick an empty directory as the Notebook Root Folder. With the default Bundled notebook type, everything in this notebook — notes, images, and configuration — is stored here.
  3. Give the notebook a name and, optionally, a description, then confirm.

Already have Markdown files?

Create the notebook as usual, then use Import Folder from the toolbar's New menu to bring your existing directory in. If you would rather adopt that folder exactly as it is, set the notebook Type to Raw notebook to browse it in place — at the cost of tags, attachments, and the recycle bin. See Importing & Migrating.

2. Create a folder (optional)

Notebooks can contain folders, nested to any depth. Right-click the notebook in the navigation panel and choose New Folder to group related notes. You can skip this and add folders later.

3. Create your first note

  1. Select the notebook or folder where the note should live.
  2. Click New Note (or press the shortcut shown in the menu).
  3. Enter a name, such as welcome.md. The .md suffix creates a Markdown note.
  4. The note opens in the editor, ready for you to type.

4. Write and preview

VNote gives Markdown a live experience: as you type, headings, lists, and emphasis are highlighted in place. You can also open a side-by-side preview or switch to read mode to see the fully rendered result. See Editor Basics for the editing modes and the outline.

5. Find your notes on disk

Open the Notebook Root Folder in your file manager. Your note is there as a plain .md file, and any images you insert are saved as assets (by default under a vx_assets folder in the notebook root). Because everything is plain text, you can back it up, version it with git, or sync it however you like — see Notebook Sync.

Next steps