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Focus & writing modes

When it's time to write, the interface should disappear. φ has a few ways to quiet the page — use as much or as little as you like.

Focus mode​

Focus mode hides every piece of chrome — sidebar, panels, status bar — leaving just the page. Toggle it with ⌘⇧F (or Toggle focus mode in the command palette, ⌘P). Press it again to bring everything back.

Sanctuary​

Sanctuary is the deepest setting: chrome hidden and the window taken to full screen, so nothing else is visible. Toggle it with ⌘⇧↩. It lasts for the session — leave it the same way you entered.

Typewriter scrolling​

Typewriter scrolling keeps the caret centered on screen, so the line you're writing stays put and the text rises to meet it. Turn it on in Settings → Editor → Typewriter scrolling, or with Toggle typewriter scrolling in the command palette.

Focus typing​

Focus typing dims everything except where you're working, so your eye rests on the current thought. Choose the scope:

  • Sentence — only the current sentence stays bright.
  • Paragraph — the current paragraph stays bright.
  • Off — everything is fully lit.

Set it in Settings → Editor → Focus typing, the View → Focus Typing menu, or from the command palette.

Reading mode​

When you want to read rather than edit, reading mode opens the document read-only — a deliberate way to revisit a draft without risk of stray keystrokes. Toggle it with ⌘E. Press it again to return to editing.

Writing sessions​

A writing session tracks the effort of one sitting. Start one from the play button at the right of the status bar (or just begin typing), and it shows:

active time · words · wpm
  • Active time counts only while you're actually writing. It auto-pauses when you go idle, when the window loses focus, and when you leave the editor (for Settings, the graph, or reading mode).
  • Words is gross words written this session — deletions don't subtract — so a revision-heavy sitting still reflects the work.
  • wpm is your pace over the active time.

Use the pause/resume and stop buttons in the status bar to control the session by hand. Sessions live for the run of the app; quitting ends them. Your longest session and most words in a session are kept as personal bests.

Writing stats​

Click the word count in the status bar for the document stats popover: words, characters, sentences, reading time, readability (reading ease and grade level), a small word-count-over-time sparkline, your vault-wide totals, and your session bests.

Word goals​

Set a per-document target with Set word goal. When a goal is set, the status bar shows your progress as words / goal with a small bar that fills as you write and marks the goal as met when you reach it.