OnEdit User Guide
Welcome to OnEdit, a native macOS text editor focused on speed, clarity, and practical workflows. This guide reflects the 2.0 feature set.
What's New in 2.0
- New Markdown Workbench: Run trusted Markdown code blocks (bash/python/node), run all commands in order, and keep output plus receipt history.
- New Copy History tools: Paste your most recent copy, browse recent snippets, and open a quick copy-history picker.
- Refined interface: Updated toolbar, improved sidebar and theme handling, and better dark-mode text contrast.
- Faster editing: Performance improvements for syntax highlighting, search, line numbers, and large-folder loading.
- Stability fixes: Copy and paste keyboard shortcuts were hardened for reliability.
Get Started
- Choose File > New Tab (⌘T) to create a document.
- Choose File > Open... (⌘O) or drag a file into the window.
- Choose File > Open Folder... (⇧⌘O) to set a workspace.
- Choose View > Toggle Preview (⇧⌘P) on previewable files.
- Use the sidebar segmented control to switch between Files and Bookmarks.
Workspaces and Tabs
- Choose File > New Window (⌘N) for a separate workspace.
- Close a tab with ⌘W; close all tabs with ⌥⌘W.
- Control-click a tab for Close Other Tabs and Close Tabs to the Right.
- The main window restores tabs and the workspace on launch.
Editing
- OnEdit edits plain text; rich text is normalized on paste.
- Syntax highlighting is applied automatically by file extension.
- Toggle the toolbar with View > Hide Toolbar (⌃⌘T).
- Toggle line numbers with View > Show Line Numbers (⇧⌘L) or the editor context menu.
- Press Option (⌥) or ⌥⌘C to toggle Column Selection Mode; press again to exit.
- Drag to select a column block; typing edits multiple lines at once.
- Paste Most Recent Copy: ⌥⌘V.
- Show Copy History: ⌃⌥⌘V or Edit > Show Copy History....
- Paste from Copy History is available in the Edit menu and editor context menu.
- Format Document (⌘L) supports JSON and C-style languages.
- Print text and supported previews with ⌘P.
Markdown Workbench
- Open a Markdown file in Preview, then click Trust workspace to execute.
- Runnable fence languages: sh, bash, zsh, python, python3, node, javascript, js.
- Add optional metadata (title, timeout, module mode) in the code-fence info string.
- Run one block or click Run all commands to execute blocks in document order.
- Each runnable block captures output and a structured execution receipt.
- For saved Markdown files, results persist across edit/preview switches and app relaunch until cleared.
Search & Replace
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌘F | Find |
| ⌥⌘F | Find & Replace |
| ⌘G | Find Next |
| ⇧⌘G | Find Previous |
| ⌘E | Use Selection for Find |
| Esc | Close Search |
Preview & Media
- Markdown, HTML, and CSV support Edit/Preview mode.
- PDF, image, video, and Office files open in read-only preview tabs.
- CSV preview supports cell selection and copy.
- Image preview includes zoom, metadata, copy, and export tools.
- WebP and SVG files are fully supported.
Bookmarks & Recents
- Bookmark files from Bookmarks > Bookmark Current File or with ⌘D.
- Manage bookmarks from the Bookmarks sidebar and Bookmarks menu.
- The Recents area in the sidebar tracks recently opened files.
- Bookmarks are persisted across app launches.
Tools
- Base64 Encode / Decode: Works on selected text.
- Sort Lines: Sort selected lines alphabetically (ascending/descending).
- Remove Duplicate Lines: Clean up lists instantly.
- Change Case: Convert selection to Upper Case, Lower Case, or Title Case.
Appearance
- Set app appearance in Settings (⌘,): Light, Dark, or System.
- Interface themes include Mac Glass, macOS Classic, VS Code, JetBrains, and Windows.
- Per-tab background styles are available from the status bar menu (Default, Custom Color, Gradient, Glass).
- Dark-mode contrast was improved in 2.0 for clearer code and text readability.
Status Bar
- Shows current line and column for the cursor position.
- Displays selected character count.
- Displays current file encoding (for example, UTF-8).
- Provides quick access to per-tab background style selection.
Syntax Highlighting
- Supported languages include: Swift, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, JSON, Markdown, YAML, XML, SQL, C, C++, Ruby, PHP, Java, Go, Rust, and Shell Script.
- The editor auto-detects language based on file extension.
- Manually change language via View > Syntax.
Troubleshooting
- A file opens in preview and can't be edited: Some formats are preview-only. Convert to a text format to edit.
- File access prompts: Files outside your workspace require permission the first time you open them. Choose File > Open or drag the file into the window.
- Format Document doesn't change anything: Formatting currently targets JSON and C-style languages.
- "env: node: No such file or directory": Restart OnEdit after shell/profile updates if Node is managed through tools like nvm.