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The Sidebar

The sidebar is your project’s navigation panel. Located on the left side of the editor, it provides quick access to your chapters, scenes, pages, and notes. Its contents automatically adapt to the type of project you’re working on.

You can collapse or expand the sidebar at any time using the arrow button on its right edge.

Every project includes two tabs at the top of the sidebar:

  • A primary tab that contains your main document.
  • A Notes tab for supporting material.

The primary tab changes depending on the project type.

Project TypePrimary Tab
NovelChapters
ScreenplayScenes
Other DocumentsPages

The Notes tab is available in every project.

In novel projects, the primary tab is Chapters.

Each chapter appears as an item in the sidebar. Select a chapter to open it in the editor. The active chapter is highlighted, making it easy to see where you are within your manuscript.

Hover over a chapter to reveal the menu, where you can:

  • Rename the chapter
  • Delete the chapter

Click the + button in the top-right corner of the sidebar to create a new chapter. New chapters are created with a default name, which you can rename at any time.

Screenplay projects use Scenes instead of chapters.

Unlike other project types, scenes are created automatically as you write. Whenever you add a slugline that begins with INT. or EXT., a new scene is added to the sidebar.

Selecting a scene jumps directly to its location in the script, making navigation easy even in long screenplays.

If your screenplay doesn’t contain any sluglines yet, the sidebar displays a prompt explaining how to create your first scene.