Quick start

Add a folder of org files, open one, and learn the handful of keys you need first.

Add a folder

Choose File ▸ Add Folder… (⇧⌘O) and pick the folder that holds your org files. It appears in the sidebar, and Orgstar indexes every org file under it for search, the agenda and links. You can add several folders. Nothing is copied or moved.

If you don't have org files yet, add an empty folder and create notes.org in it from Finder or the sidebar.

Choose your keys

Open Orgstar ▸ Settings… (⌘,) and pick Keys under General:

Emacs: Org's own bindings, C-c C-t and friends. The default.
Mac: standard Mac editing keys, with Org commands on ⌃⌘ combinations.
Doom (Vim keys): modal editing as in Doom Emacs, with SPC as the leader.

Keys and commands lists every binding in each preset. If you already use Emacs, Settings ▸ General ▸ Import from Emacs… reads your configuration: TODO keywords, agenda files, capture templates and more (see Configuration).

Open a file

⌘P (Quick Open) finds a file by name; the sidebar works too. Open files become buffers: the tab bar and Switch to Buffer move between them.

Write an outline

Type a heading and some text:

* Projects
** TODO Write the report
SCHEDULED: <2026-10-09 Fri>
Draft the summary first.
** Reading list
- [ ] The Org manual
- [ ] This manual

With the Emacs keys:

Key	What it does
`TAB` on a heading	Fold or unfold it (cycles through folded, children, everything).
`S-TAB`	Cycle the whole file the same way.
`M-RET`	New heading (or list item) at the same level.
`M-<left>` / `M-<right>`	Promote or demote the heading.
`C-c C-t`	Cycle the TODO state.
`C-c C-s` / `C-c C-d`	Schedule, or set a deadline, with the date picker.
`C-c C-c`	Context action: toggle a checkbox, align a table, run a code block.

With the Mac preset, the Org commands are on ⌃⌘ keys (⌃⌘T cycles TODO, ⌃⌘S schedules, ⌃⌘X is the context action); with Doom, they're under SPC m (SPC m t, SPC m d s).

The editor chapter covers how Org markup is shown and hidden, and Outlines and structure covers headings and lists.

See your agenda

Window ▸ Agenda (⇧⌘A) shows what is scheduled or due across every indexed file, day by day, and the TODO list. Select an item to jump to it. See The agenda.

Capture a thought

⇧⌘N opens capture from anywhere in the app. Until you define your own templates (in ~/.config/orgstar/capture.toml, or imported from Emacs), there are two: t files a TODO and n a note, each under an Inbox heading in todo.org or notes.org in your first folder. See Capture.

Search

⇧⌘F searches the text of every indexed file. Results open at the matching line.

The command palette (⇧⌘P) lists every command with its key.
The chapter list goes through every feature.